Beyit (Beyıt / Beyıte)

Types of Beyıte and Their Ritual Contexts ^[1]

Kılamê Haqiye

Kılamê Haqiye are sacred utterances recited spontaneously by dervishes during ritual worship, usually performed only once. In these expressions, sacred jiare (holy visitation sites)-especially Duzgı and Xızır-are directly addressed and called upon for assistance so that they may demonstrate their miraculous powers. The form of expression may vary between supplication, warning, or challenge. Kılamê Haqiye are performed in Kırmancki or Kurmanci, usually accompanied by the saz or tanbur. No example has been found of dervishes reciting these utterances in Turkish.

Because dervishes generally do not remember these utterances after the ritual, and due to the rapid decline in the number of dervishes after 1938 as well as the discontinuation of dervish cem ceremonies from the 1960s onward, it has not been possible to systematically document Kılamê Haqiye. As a result, many of them have largely been forgotten. Dervishes who are still alive today state that these utterances emerge from the emotional and spiritual state of the dervish and the participants present during the ritual. For this reason, they cannot be recited outside the ritual context. The limited number of Kılamê Haqiye that have survived to the present consist mainly of examples preserved in the memories of those who once participated in dervish cem ceremonies.

Asparê taye kimeti asparo
Duzgın rameno, mordemi neverdano
Bêro comerdeni, no nazliyo
Xatire xo mın u simara nemano
De bê, de bê, bê hawar Wayıro
De bê, de bê, bê hawar Wayıro

Beyit and Deyiş

Although they are often used as synonyms today, Beyit and Deyiş carry distinct meanings within the Raa Haqi tradition. Beyit are poems with the character of religious epics and are divided into three main groups according to their content.

The first group consists of beyit that narrate events experienced by an individual which reach a miraculous and positive outcome through the intervention of sacred jiare (holy visitation sites). The beyit of Sılo Feqır is one of the best-known and most widespread examples of this type.

“Way de wurze wurze Sılo sodıro

Lawo no Belukbaşi ame ez berdu Mose buro

Mı niyada ke niştoro ostorê qıre kimêt rameno ververê mıro

Herme huyê raşyt serde mı kêmalde niyada bıra Bozatlu Xızıro

Vake: Sılo nine dest-paê to giredê to benê koyt Sılo feqırro?

Mı va: Zerrê mı na kafırra terseno huske soyna mı vılê mı danê puro

Vake: Mıxenet! Horê efkar meke sata tengede lewê tode hazıro”

The second group consists of beyit that recount disasters believed to have occurred because sacred jiare (holy visitation sites) were disregarded or disrespected. Such beyit are recited so that these events are not forgotten and may be transmitted from generation to generation as moral lessons. The narrative of Çığê Xane Jivan is among the well-known examples of this type.

“Ğancıye cor yeno vana khalo hayde şime ğane cori

Khal vano mıde çien phonc qurşi pere ğani

Vano khalo mıke tora phonc qurşi gureti

Çı derde hore dermakeri

Khal vano ğanci tore nusno deftero xêr

Ğanci khal ceno beno ğane cor

Ozet xızmeta khal de niadano

Khal koye Jivanere amr keno

Çığ yeno bıne ğane ceri vezono ser

Khal vano ğanci reye tevera niade

Kotra yeno veng u jivane

Ğanci beno tever çı niado

Koye Jivane ra çığ ama, bıne ğane ceri vetero ser

Ganci dano zonine hore vano çığ amo

Bıne gane ceri veto ser, ez sekeri laze mıno ki tey

Khal vano ğanci tore nusno deftero ğer

Mı piye bojiye laze to gurreto kerdo bıne servere çever”

The third group consists of beyit that offer advice and moral guidance to the community. Because this is the most widespread type, the authorship of these poems is often known. The beyit “dewe dewe” by Sey Qaji is among the well-known examples of this category.

“Jela zeng u zerde wayire Heyderana

Harşiya murodi yegliya wayire Demenano

Khalmem Khalferat wayire Alan u Arezano

Kemere Duzgıni qonağe werte Kuresano

Hewse dewa Kureş paga piy u khalıkano

Horiya Xızır’i qapiya murodano

Xızır`e denguz u deryayi sere kelek u gedigano

Çıme Muzır Bavayi wayire Avasano

Nisane Oli Mehemed`i kare uzaxano

Ewlaye Tewnaşiye wayire Bilezano

Bağıra Sıpiye mılakete des u dı koano

Gola Bugere şundore Şexsen u Desimano

Khalo Sıpe rındo wayire Çarekano

Sarre Dolu Bavayi wayire Avasano

Sarre Sulvıs Bavayi werte Xurmeçkano

Hopa Şeğank’i wayhire Şıxankano

Şıx Delil Berxeyca wayire Pilvankano

More şiay perskene wayike Kudano

Sulta Padisa rındo wayite Mıluzano

Dêse Muxındiy dêso kano wayire Seydano

Ali Doşt perskena wayire Xırancıkano

Çewres ospore Qelxeru baş koye sero Şexano

Ewliyaye Kistim`i uluye uluyano

Sey Sovin`i perskene wayire ma Qajiyano

Dundıl`a Hezret Eli koye werte Wusıvano”

Deyiş

Deyiş are poems performed entirely in Turkish and were incorporated into the Raa Haq belief tradition mainly from the twentieth century onward. These poems largely draw upon the works of foundational figures of Alevi-Bektashi literature such as Pir Sultan Abdal, Hatayi, and Nesimi, as well as the broader poetic repertoire of the Bektashi tradition. Within the context of Raa Haq, deyiş emerged as a product of historical and cultural interaction with the wider Alevi-Bektashi literary sphere, differing from the locally rooted oral forms centered on language and ritual. In this respect, deyiş constitute an important domain of oral transmission that makes visible the relationship between continuity and transformation within the Raa Haq tradition.

Gulbeng / Gulvang (Gulveng)

Within the context of Dersim Alevism (Raa Haqi), two related yet distinct terms appear: gulvang/gulveng and gulbeng. Gulvang or gulveng literally means “a voice or echo emerging from the throat.” In this usage, gul refers to the throat (gule/guli), while veng directly means “voice.” The term denotes the prayers and invocations recited loudly and rhythmically by the pir during the cem ceremony.

Gulbeng, by contrast, means “to stand in a circle.” In the ritual context of the cem, the expression “Cem de gulbenge vinitene” refers to standing in a circular formation before the pir. In this sense, gulvang and gulbeng represent two complementary elements of the same ritual: the vocal recitation of prayers by the pir (gulvang) and the circular formation of the talip participants (gulbeng).

Because of this functional and ritual proximity, the distinction between the two terms has gradually become blurred over time. Today, the term gulbeng is widely used to refer to the prayers recited by the pir during the cem ritual.

Conclusion

The Beyıte / Beyıt tradition reveals the integrated relationship between ritual performance, the formation of religious authority, and the transmission of collective memory within the belief world of Dersim Alevism (Raa Haqi). This tradition represents not merely an aesthetic or poetic domain but a fundamental ritual mechanism through which belief is orally produced, legitimized, and transmitted across generations.

Kılamê Haqiye, with their dervish-centered character, represent the immediate, experiential dimension of ritual that establishes a direct connection with the sacred. These utterances do not rely on the transmission of a fixed textual corpus but rather emerge from the emotional state of the ritual moment and from the relationship established between the dervish and sacred entities. In this respect, ritual authority in the Raa Haqi tradition is shaped not through an abstract doctrine or written canon but through experiential and performative relations established during the act of worship.

Beyit, through narratives of miracles, disasters, and moral guidance, connect religious knowledge with historical events, spatial memory, and sacred jiare. These narratives incorporate individual experiences into a collective memory field, ensuring the continuity of social remembrance. The narrative power of beyit serves to reproduce moral and religious boundaries by interpreting lived events through the lens of sacred intervention.

Deyiş, on the other hand, reflect the historical and cultural interaction established at a later stage between the Raa Haqi tradition and the wider Alevi-Bektashi literary sphere. Performed in Turkish, these poems represent a transitional domain between the locally rooted, language-centered oral forms of Raa Haqi and the broader Alevi-Bektashi repertoire. In this sense, deyiş make visible the transformative capacity of the tradition and its continuity through external interactions.

The concepts of gulvang/gulveng and gulbeng, referring respectively to prayer, voice, and circular formation, constitute essential elements that complete the ritual performance of the Beyıte tradition within the ceremonial space. The rhythmic vocal address of the pir, together with the circular formation of the talip, creates a ritual field in which oral expression becomes integrated with bodily and spatial organization.

This multilayered structure demonstrates that the Beyıte / Beyıt tradition functions within the Raa Haqi belief world not merely as a form of oral literature but as a central religious practice through which ritual authority, relations with the sacred, and collective memory mutually reinforce one another.