This article was automatically translated from the original Turkish version.
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"Yağmur" is a poetic work in the naat genre, composed in 1990 by the Turkish academic and poet Prof. Dr. Nurullah Genç, dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The work was awarded first prize in the "Naat-ı Şerif Competition" organized in 1990 by the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs. It is regarded as one of the most significant naats in Turkish literature for its fusion of the classical divan poetry tradition with modern poetic form.
"Poems from Nurullah Genç to the Heart" (Timaş Publishing Group)
According to the poet’s own account, the genesis of the poem spanned a decade of searching and struggle, beginning in 1979 and concluding in 1990. This decade-long preparatory period reflected the journey of a Muslim poet deeply influenced by the rich traditions of Turkish literature—particularly genres such as naat, münacat, and tevhit—and acutely aware of the void left by the absence of such poetry in contemporary expression. Simultaneously, Nurullah Genç was profoundly shaped in childhood by the adage he heard from family elders: “A poet who does not write naat cannot be considered a true poet.” For many years he attempted naats, but found his early compositions inadequate and continued his quest for a more profound expression.
The first lines of the poem emerged during a bus journey from Istanbul to Erzurum in January 1990. While gazing out the bus window, the poet recalled the verse from Surah At-Takwir in the Qur’an: “Fe eyne tezhebun” (Then where are you headed?). This question expanded within him in a spiraling, wave-like manner until he felt he was posing it to all of humanity. The question acquired a historical dimension, reaching a point where he could direct it toward the archers at the Battle of Uhud who abandoned the Prophet (peace be upon him) despite his command. In this inner transformation, he wrote the opening lines of the poem on the back of his bus ticket. The completion of the work followed three months of intensive study, during which he secluded himself in his home in Erzurum, mentally reconstructing Islamic history chronologically.
A false sky fell upon my horizons without you
A homeland stretching across continents fell without you
When the soul is condemned to slavery
The sultan who waited for centuries on the peak fell
“Yağmur” does not adhere to the established classical poetic forms (such as koşma or gazel), but instead employs a unique arrangement of lines specific to the poet. Nevertheless, despite this originality in structure, it remains faithful to the folk poetry tradition in its meter, rhyme, refrain, and rhyme scheme. As it is composed to praise the Prophet (peace be upon him), it belongs to the naat genre.
“Yağmur” consists of twelve sextets, three triplets, four quatrains, and one single fourteen-line stanza. The final section is composed of the concluding lines of the triplets. The poem comprises a total of 37 stanzas, giving it a distinctive architectural structure, as no specific name exists in Turkish literature for such a unique poetic arrangement. Although the meter is original to the poet, the poem is composed strictly in syllabic meter: each line contains exactly fourteen syllables, making it a 14-syllable poem. The rhyme scheme is as follows:
Rhyme Scheme (Created by the Author)
Full and rich rhymes are predominantly used, though in a few instances harmony is achieved through half-rhymes and refrains alone. The thematic divisions of the sextets, triplets, and quatrains in Nurullah Genç’s “Yağmur” are as follows:
These sections generally present a historical panorama and depict the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) life on earth.
These are the most lyrical (emotional) parts of the poem, reflecting the poet’s inner world. Each triplet concludes with the refrain “De ben olsaydım” (If only I were). Here, the poet expresses his longing to be an insignificant object—a stone, a clod of earth—placed near the Prophet, renouncing his own inadequacy and humbling his pride.
This section employs the refrain “düştü” (fell) and generally explores themes of deprivation and decay.
The selection of the central image, “Yağmur” (Rain), is not accidental; it is grounded in verses from the Qur’an and symbols from Islamic literary tradition.
1. Symbol of Mercy and Revival
2. Explicit Metaphor
3. Water Metaphor
The poem contains numerous allusions to key events from Islamic history and Qur’anic narratives. Below are some of the most significant examples of this rich network of allusions.
The line “In every drop, a palace seeks Sumayya” alludes to a historical event following the Battle of Uhud involving Hz. Sumayya bint Kays (may God be pleased with her). After learning that her father, husband, brother, and sons had all been martyred, she persistently inquired about the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) condition. Upon seeing him alive, she declared: “May my mother and father be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of God! As long as you live, all other calamities mean nothing to me, and I am untouched by them.” In this line, the poet contrasts the imagery of “palace” (worldly grandeur and comfort) with “Sumayya” (pure love that disregards worldly loss), employing the art of antithesis.
The line “Rain’s... lightning shatters the body of the vile” alludes to the incident of Raja. After the martyrdom of Asim ibn Thabit by the polytheists, God sent swarms of bees and then a torrential rain to protect his body from desecration. Here, rain is portrayed as a protective force that thwarts the enemies’ plans.
Referring to verses 264 and 265 of Surah Al-Baqarah, the poem likens rain washing away the soil atop a rock to reveal the solid stone beneath, symbolizing how the Prophet distinguishes the believer from the hypocrite, the genuine from the superficial—a true cornerstone.
Rain is described as “ab-ı hayat” (the water of immortality) pouring from valleys of mercy. This water serves as the medium through which the faithful are carried to eternal bliss.
The Light descended upon humanity in the name of the Revealed One
One night, as it reflected upon the city, from Mount Sibir
A rain cleanses the earth of its filth
A blessed victory from the lips of the ebabil birds
The water of immortality flows from the valleys of mercy
The cosmos is pregnant with the most exceptional birth
For years I sipped murky, polluted waters
I walked the shores with the sorrow of a pelican
Rain, if I were a stone waiting for you
A moment of longing, flame upon flame, fell within me
My dream-palace changed; ruin fell in my eyes
In my heart, eternity was adorned with flowers
A new era fell upon my plundered soul
From the Prophet’s old robe, blood drips
The sky ripples with wings of silk
As he dreams of the seal’s owner
Abu Qubays trembles with expelled cries
Green flags are raised on every home’s mother
The earth is a call, lonely and parched
Time expired step by step beneath my feet
A dream-weaver wove my dreams into a net
If I were a bird in the desert longing for you
Rain, without you, a hyena fell upon our rose garden
Enmity entered us; friendship became wild
Defeat was knotted stitch by stitch into history
On every page, thousands of unfortunate victims fell
A precious letter from beyond the ages
Reaches the gilded dawn of waiting
That greatest light spreads from Monday
Whiteness has touched the blackness of night
The lips of souls parched by thirst
Silence is as deep as joy, as profound as prayer
I counted days of solitude from a useless calendar
I lived a prison that never was, in the past
If I were a small embroidery touched by you
Without you, many beautiful souls fell upon the sidewalks
Hope fell, wounded from our torn chests
Rain, we lost all the treasures of your grandfather
Finally, pearls and coral slipped from our hands
Angels smile in torrents from the heavens
Birds with emerald beaks carry silver pitchers
They hear melodies of joy from Hira
Mountains tremble with revolutionary fear
A baby’s hands stretch in prostration
The king’s dreams lie shattered, in pieces
If only I could remain as close as a shadow
I would gaze eternally upon that radiant face
If only I could offer you a single, drenched glance
The green leaf turned yellow; the branch broke; the sapling fell
The owl found a double prison; the nightingale a cell
Murderous flies pierced the veil of the sacred
In the void of independence, the ignorant fell
If I were the blood flowing in Sâve’s veins
I would paint the portrait of every ruined minaret
On the mysterious paths leading to eternal love
I would trace the spark of you, the gleam of a star
I would sweep the ash from your thousand-year-old hearth
Sometimes I was a mad storm in love with itself
Sometimes, before storms, I was a dry leaf
If I were a head torn away for your sake
With the earthquake of loneliness, the innkeeper fell; the inn fell
The exile home went to the oppressed; the world went to the tyrant
To those devoted and awestruck by you
A trial fell within a dark tunnel
If I could inhale your scent on the highland meadows
The wind blowing from Ebvâ would cut my shroud
If I could wash away sorrows with you through the threshold
What would remain to blame fate for? What would remain of suicide?
Upon a rock where you dripped, pure and brilliant
I choose a date seed over the world
My cries in the streets turned to silence
Doubt gnawed, carved, and eroded my pride
If I were a tear flowing from Bahîra
Blood fell on the whitest point of the map
The sword of justice broke; the shield fell
Prisoners are judged; judges are now the condemned
As if a volcano erupted at the foundation of truth
In the desert, sand grains burn with separation
Within sighs, love glows like molten metal
Your virtue and blessing fill the houses
Without you, life is a burden on the earth’s back
You walk beneath clouds, their umbrella
Without you, even the most beautiful blessings are poison
If I asked the giants’ secrets from mirrors
Frozen thoughts in my mind would melt
If I were a scrap of fabric you caressed
Without you, a snake fell from the branches we clung to
First the paths darkened; then an avalanche fell
Snow fell, one by one, upon trusted mountains
A lie with tufts fell from the land of loneliness
Rain, if I heard your voice from the skies within me
You would fall; even stones would sprout emerald shoots
Lightning shatters the body of the vile
Floods recede; the garbage of oppression is cleansed
Rain, one day, freed from the cradles of the age
I would take immortality from your crystal lips
Behind material desires, I wandered into dreams
I gazed upon the rotting roses of a moldy landscape
If I were a dream seen for your sake
Cities are filled with nightmares; smoke fell upon villages
Everything turned upside down; the sky fell
A broken, imaginary boat remains in our hands
A treasure, whose purpose is to overcome suffering
A wound grows in my chest from separation
A heart unaware of you is a prison without doors
Without you, truths become crooked; even white turns black
Those who do not hear your voice drown in the whirlpool
A fetus dies in the mother’s womb from loneliness
Its eyes open in bewilderment, to one who cannot see
Hour after hour, I searched for myself
My fingers became entangled in a chain of weariness
If only I had seen you once upon this earth
Without you, a false sky fell upon my horizons
Without you, a homeland stretching across continents fell
When the soul is condemned to slavery
The sultan who waited for centuries on the peak fell
You are like the moon; suns shine in your eyes
With your passion, Majnun roams the sun and moon
Each drop adorns the heavens with a star
In every drop, a palace seeks Sumayya
Seeds and climates are yours; the seasons are yours
The painting that never fades is yours, painted by your brush
Rain, if I ever found my hand in yours
The queen of beauty would smile upon my face
If only I had smiled with your reunion
The ceiling of love collapsed; walls lay bare
A fierce rebellion settled upon society’s agenda
Moans rise from east and west
A disaster fell upon the balance broken by loneliness
My sighs and breaths are wet with your moisture
Within me, melodies ignite with longing
The eternal jewel of my thoughts is yours
Your gaze pierces darkness like an arrow
This mill turns with you; harmony is yours
You are the cornerstone that distinguishes colors
My step sank, buried in a land of sorrow
Doors closing before my face
If I were a Qurayshi who emigrated for hijrah
Rain, with you, healing fell upon my affliction
An immortal decree fell into the center of my mind
All illusions of your life vanished from my dream
At a turning point, Rahman entered my awareness
Patterns redrawn with your breath
Faces will undergo a complete transformation
Halls will reunite with the light of your radiance
Mothers will pour you into their children’s hearts
Rain, with you, the universe’s thirst ends
The heavens are faithful to you; the earth is in need of you
If every vein, every drop, were filled with you
The sword you wore to overthrow falsehood
If I were a dirham of silver on its hilt
Enmity and suspicion fell among brothers
Common sense was violated; blind obedience fell
We lived through springs for years with your song
Loneliness fell upon our human garden
Rain, if I were a stone waiting for you
If I were a bird in the desert longing for you
If I were a small embroidery touched by you
If I were a single, drenched glance at you
If I were a head torn away for your sake
If I were a tear flowing from Bahîra
If I were a scrap of fabric you caressed
If I were a dream seen for your sake
If I had seen you once upon this earth
If I had smiled with your reunion
If I were a Qurayshi who emigrated for hijrah
If every vein, every drop, were filled with you
The sword you wore to overthrow falsehood
If I were a dirham of silver on its hilt
Note: The accuracy and verification of all information presented in this article have been reviewed and approved by Nurullah Genç.
Composition Process and Sources of Inspiration
The First Lines of “Yağmur” Written on the Bus
Form and Structural Features
Sextets (Six-Line Sections)
Triplets (Three-Line Sections)
Quatrains (Four-Line Sections):
Content and Imagery
Religious and Historical Allusions
Hz. Sumayya bint Kays
The Incident of Raja and Asim ibn Thabit
The Emergence of Truth (The Cornerstone)
Ab-ı Hayat (Water of Immortality)
Poetic Text