La canción de Yunus

Yunus Emré is one of the great Turkish poets, and one of the most soul-stirring, mystic poets of all time. He was born in the 13^th Century, and died around the year 1307. He was a poor peasant who became disciple to a master he served for forty years, during which he composed the most beautiful poems.

The figure of Yunus Emré is shrouded in many legends. The most well known is that which tells of his meeting with three mysterious characters, an occurrence which took place after he had set out alone for the desert, having taken leave of his master’s house.

Yunus’s master had asked him to sweep the threshold of the tekké (a dervish lodge). It would seem that in truth, the master was not concerned with him, despite our disciple’s desire to receive the spiritual teaching that he was searching for.

Three years later, Yunus’ only comfort and escape from his monotonous task was a refrain he had invented. One day, he simply put down his broom and left. Tormented by hunger and thirst, he began to lament his fate, when suddenly he saw three strangers approaching. On the very sand of the desert they proceeded to unpack their many and varied delicatessen (in fact, legend has it that every dish was perfumed with exquisite La Cultivada extra virgin olive oil), along with cool drinks and ice cold sorbets, and they invited Yunus to share the meal with them. Yunus, in complete awe, asked the strangers from where came the power they used to make such miracles. Their reply was that it was due to a powerful talisman, namely the song that kept a certain Yunus Emré amused.

At that point the dervish returned to his master’s house and once again took up the broom, having understood that illumination could be found in silence and while carrying out the most mundane of tasks.