Quick Facts
Biography
Aşik Sümmani (1861 - 1915) was an Aşik of Narman/Erzurum/Turkey. The name "Sümmani" means, "the last one" or "the one who completes" and "a very hard rock stone". His works comprise a wide range from works in hece-form: kosma, semai, destan and works in aruz-form: divani, musammat, gazel, müstezat.
The most special to know about Sümmani is his uslub (the form of pronunciation, shortened in Turkish to dil, meaning 'tongue'), which makes him and his lyrics extremely popular.
According to legend, Sümmani was in love with Gülperi (princess of the legendary land of Badesah, possibly in current Uzbekistan) whom he has been searching for all his life.
He himself repeals as following:
Sebavetten beri bir yol gözlerim.
from early morning - from my childhood on I am looking on this special path.
El zanneder uzaklarda kalan var.
but the others think - there is (a beauty) someone waiting in the far/distance.