Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi (NEVÜ) Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi Öğretim Üyesi Doç. Dr. Günil Özlem Ayaydın Cebe, İstiklal Marşı'nın, duygu bütünlüğünü de dikkate alarak İngilizce çevirisinin resmi kabulü için TBMM ile Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığına başvurdu.
Milli şair Mehmet Akif Ersoy ve İstiklal Marşı konusunda tarihi arşiv kayıtlarından faydalanarak 2009 yılından beri çalışma yapan Cebe'nin, "Hilalin gülümsemesi: İstiklal Marşı'nda tarihsel muğlaklıkta geleceğin kimliğini inşa etmek" başlıklı makalesi ve milli marşın 10 kıtasının İngilizce çevirisi Hollanda'daki "Die Welt des Islams" adlı uluslararası dergide yayımlandı.İstiklal Marşı'nın anlam bütünlüğünü koruyarak uzun çaba sonrası çevrilen İngilizce metinin resmiyet kazanması için NEVÜ tarafından, TBMM ile Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığının ilgili birimlerine başvuruda bulunuldu.Cebe, AA muhabirine, İstiklal Marşı'nın günümüzde çeşitli çevirilerinin olduğunu ancak milli şairin Türkçe metinde yansıttığı duygu ve ifadeleri tam karşılık bulmadığını belirtti. Marşın çevirisinin üzerinde çalışırken çok sayıda eser inceleyerek karşılık bulabileceği kelimeleri özenle seçtiğini anlatan Cebe, şöyle konuştu:"İstiklal Marşı üzerinde çalışmaya 2009 yılında başlamıştım. İngilizce akademiye hitap eden bir çalışma yapıyordum. İstiklal Marşı'nın iyi bir İngilizce çevirisinin olmadığını gördüm. Aslında kaynaklar, marşın kabulünün hemen ardından batı dillerine çevrildiğinden bahsediyor ama elimizde bu konuda bir metin yoktu. 1921 yılı ve hemen sonrası ile ilgili araştırmada ne ABD ne de İngiltere'de marşın çevrildiğine dair bir bilgi edindim. Günümüzde bazı çeviriler var ama resmi olarak kabul görmüş çeviriler değil. İnternet ortamında karşılaştığımız çevirilerde özellikle bazı anahtar kavramların karşılanmasında soru işaretleri oluşuyor. Zor bir metin tabii ki. Kısmi çeviriler yapılmış ama bestelenmiş ilk iki kıtayı görüyoruz. Ama ehil kişilerce çevrilmediği için sorunlar var. Manzum bir çeviri yaptım. Kendine özgü ritmi var. Hem kavramların doğru aktarılmasında hem de marşın kendi duygusunun aktarılmasında metne sadık kalmaya çalıştım."Cebe'nin İstiklal Marşı çevirisi şöyle:The Independence March
Fear not! The scarlet flag rippling at dawns shall not wither
While my country's last smoking hearth is yet aflicker.
She is the star of my nation: she is meant to blaze and shine;
She belongs to none but my nation alone, she is mine.
Do not frown, I beseech you, oh coy crescent!
But smile at my valiant race. Why this angry, why violent?
Lest our blood spilt for you be unblessed and worthless.
For my nation, who worships God, has the right to independence!
I have been free since eternity, and free shall I be.
What fool dares to shackle me? I defy the temerity!
I am like a roaring flood; I overflow trampling down my banks,
I tear apart mountains, surge into depths, and surpass.
Western horizons may be encircled by walls armoured in steel
But I have my chest brimful of faith as my homeland's frontier.
Let it howl, fear not! How can it smother such solid faith
That single-fanged monster, "Civilisation!" as you call it?
My friend! Never ever let the dastards into my land!
Render your body a shield; bring this heinous raid to an end.
For soon shall break the blissful days God promised, for sure;
Perhaps tomorrow, who knows, perhaps even sooner than that.
Do not assume what you tread on is mere "earth", recognise it!
Think of the thousands, without shrouds, lying beneath.
You're the son of a martyr, take shame, hurt not your ancestor;
Cede not this heavenly homeland, even if it's the worlds you're granted.
Who would not offer his life for this homeland of paradise?
Martyrs would pour forth, all martyrs, should one simply clutch the earth!
If God will, He may take my life, my beloved, and my wealth,
But may He not, for the world, just deprive me of my homeland.
The sole wish of my soul, oh glorious God, from You is that,
No heathen would ever, on the bosom of my temple, lay hand!
These calls to prayer, whose testimonies are the ground of religion,
Should resound far and wide over my eternal homeland.
Then, my tombstone, if any, prostrates in rapture a thousand-fold,
Of my every wound, oh glorious God, tears of blood gush forth,
And out spurts my corpse, in pure spirit, from the ground,
Perhaps then, shall ascend and to the heavens touch my crown!
So ripple and wave, like dawning skies, oh glorious crescent,
So that every drop of my blood finally be blessed and worthy!
Neither you nor my race shall ever be annihilated,
For my flag, who has lived ever freely, has the right to liberty;
For my nation, who worships God, has the right to independence!
Günil Özlem Ayaydın CebePublished in Die Welt des Islams
AA
Fear not! The scarlet flag rippling at dawns shall not wither
While my country's last smoking hearth is yet aflicker.
She is the star of my nation: she is meant to blaze and shine;
She belongs to none but my nation alone, she is mine.
Do not frown, I beseech you, oh coy crescent!
But smile at my valiant race. Why this angry, why violent?
Lest our blood spilt for you be unblessed and worthless.
For my nation, who worships God, has the right to independence!
I have been free since eternity, and free shall I be.
What fool dares to shackle me? I defy the temerity!
I am like a roaring flood; I overflow trampling down my banks,
I tear apart mountains, surge into depths, and surpass.
Western horizons may be encircled by walls armoured in steel
But I have my chest brimful of faith as my homeland's frontier.
Let it howl, fear not! How can it smother such solid faith
That single-fanged monster, "Civilisation!" as you call it?
My friend! Never ever let the dastards into my land!
Render your body a shield; bring this heinous raid to an end.
For soon shall break the blissful days God promised, for sure;
Perhaps tomorrow, who knows, perhaps even sooner than that.
Do not assume what you tread on is mere "earth", recognise it!
Think of the thousands, without shrouds, lying beneath.
You're the son of a martyr, take shame, hurt not your ancestor;
Cede not this heavenly homeland, even if it's the worlds you're granted.
Who would not offer his life for this homeland of paradise?
Martyrs would pour forth, all martyrs, should one simply clutch the earth!
If God will, He may take my life, my beloved, and my wealth,
But may He not, for the world, just deprive me of my homeland.
The sole wish of my soul, oh glorious God, from You is that,
No heathen would ever, on the bosom of my temple, lay hand!
These calls to prayer, whose testimonies are the ground of religion,
Should resound far and wide over my eternal homeland.
Then, my tombstone, if any, prostrates in rapture a thousand-fold,
Of my every wound, oh glorious God, tears of blood gush forth,
And out spurts my corpse, in pure spirit, from the ground,
Perhaps then, shall ascend and to the heavens touch my crown!
So ripple and wave, like dawning skies, oh glorious crescent,
So that every drop of my blood finally be blessed and worthy!
Neither you nor my race shall ever be annihilated,
For my flag, who has lived ever freely, has the right to liberty;
For my nation, who worships God, has the right to independence!
Günil Özlem Ayaydın CebePublished in Die Welt des Islams
AA
