Very little is known about the Bektashi Sufi poet Muhittin (or Muhyiddin) Abdal. He appears to have been from the region of Edirne, near the present day border between Turkey and Bulgaria, and is said to have died in 1529 CE.

They’re always talking about human, human —
     What a human being is, now I know.
They are always discussing heart, the heart —
     What the heart is, now I know.

Within the heart of the believer it was found —
     it wasn’t found anywhere outside.
We found it in our own vast selves.
     What faith is, now I know.

This is how they pick the wheat from the chaff,
     and where your words and deeds must speak for you.
This is where the wise ones guide the Path —
     What the essence of this Sufi way is, now I know.

What the pious fearful carry like baggage,
     why they shoot their arrows at the faithful,
What they hide and trumped in nice language —
     What doubt is, now I know.

Given all these attributes, I became a person.
     Through God’s vastness I was forgiven everything.
I found absolute oneness with Reality.
     What the guest is, now I know.

I said to my inner self Be humble,
     and the Glorious One showered me in blessings;
There was a sign that seared me in the heart.
     What the proof is, now I know.

Muhittin proclaims the Truth is a spectator.
     God is everywhere if you are willing to see.
What is the hidden, what is the apparent —
     What a human being is, now I know.

Translation Jennifer Ferraro & Latif Bolat