Dervish Luzha, the Tropoja Mountain’s Ora, 2009, by Gianfranco Bria

Original Text

ORA E MALEVE DHE TRI SIMBOLET

Në psikologjinë mitike e postmitike të shqiptarëve të Veriut ORA është simboli më i rëndësishëm. Çdo njeri ka orën e vet që e mbron. Gjithashtu çdo shtëpi, çdo krahinë, madje gjithë kombi.

A s’thuhet në vepra të shumë poetëve si Fishta etj. Por kryesisht në psikologjinë e njerëzve. “Ora e shqiptarëve”?

Kur dikush dite faqebardhë apo kishte sukses, thoshin: “E ka zanë puna me orë çue”, në të kundërtën thuhej: “E ka zanë puna me orë fjetë” e krejt në ektrem për liganët e pandreqshëm thuhej: “Orëdekun”.

Për paralizëm, figurativisht, Dervish Luzhën mund ta quajmë ORA E MALEVE TË TROPOJËS

Po jo vetëm figurativisht: i tillë ai ka ekzistuar e ekstiton në krejt mandësine e besimtarëve në Tropojë e përtej. Për Dervish Luzhën njerëzit kane përdorur dy epitete: Njeri i mirë (Njeri i zotit, bamirës) dhe njeri i mbrrimë (Profet). Të dyja i shkojnë më së miri. Njerëzit e quajnë Ora e Tropojës, Partizanët e Brigadës 25 të Tropojës në Luftën e Dytë Botërore e patën quajtur Ora e Brigadës, pasi ai qe rreshtuar pa e thirrur kush në këtë formacion që luftoi jashtë kufijve politikë Shqipërisë, deri në Bosnje e në Serbinë Jugore.

Si i ardhur drejt nga eposet e Kombit, Devish Luxha ishte Luftëtari më i çudithshëm i hyjnore, me ballin e gjerë enigmatik, mbështjellë me pelerinën e tij të çuditshme, mbante me vete çantën ku kish tri gjëra që s’i ndau kurrë, kazmen, teberin (lloj shpate) dhe lahutën.

Po çfare përfaqësonin këto tri simbole?

Përfaqësonin tre elemente të jetës njerëzore; punëk, luftën ose më sakt qëndresën dhe artin.

Teberin (shpatën) e tij e përdori vetëm një itinerarin luftarak, Dervish Luzha nxorri shpatën dhe e nguli në dhè tek Guri i Shpuem. “Ketu do të kthehemi, tha ai, deri këtu i thonë e do t’è thonë Shqiptari”. Dhe profecia doli pas pak minutash: për habinë e të gjithëve, në horizont u shfaqën korrierët që sillnin urdhërin e Shtabit që Brigada te kthehej.

Deri Këtu i thonë Shqiptari!

Dhe Profecia po bëhet!

Me kazmën e tij profetike ka gërmuar në dhjetëra vende të Tropojës dhe në mënyrë të çuditshme më vonë aty janë bërë vepra ujitëse. Shpesh herë ai merrte punëtorë. I paguante ata dhe i detyronte të gërmonin ku u thoshtë: në bisedë me inxhinierë hidrologë kam mësuer saktësinë e çuditshme të parashikimeve të “hidrologut” Dervish Luxha. Shumë vjet para se të ndërtohej kanali ujitës i Begajve, Dervish Luzha kishte gërryer në grykderdhjen e këtij kanali të ardhshëm e kishte thënë: këtu të vijë lumi! E në të vertëtë më vonë u çanë shkëmbenjtë për të hapur kanalin ujitës dhe lumi Mollareka erdhi aty. Dikush njëherë i kishte thënë se lufta ka mbaruar, për kë e ke topuzin? Ai i kishte shqiputar vetëm një fjalë “Kosova”. Pra lufta s’ka mbaruar, ajo mbaroi shumë vite pas ndërrimit jetë të Dervish Luzhës. Ndërsa lahuta është një element kreht i shpjegushëm. Në Tropokë, një, nga trevat më artistike të kombit, keta skuptohet pa këngën, pa artin.

(Nuredin Sadik Lushaj, Dervish Luzha: Një yll drite, Tirana: Komuniteti Halveti Boterore, 2009, pp. 14-16.)

English Translation

THE MOUNTAIN ORA[1] AND THE THREE SYMBOLS

In the mythical and post-mythical psychology of Northern Albanians, the ‘ORA’ is the most important symbol. Everyone has their own fate that protects them. Also, every house, every province, even the whole nation.

Is not it said in the works of many poets like Fishta,[2] etc. (‘?). But mostly in human psychology. ‘The Albanians’ ora?’ When someone is busy or successfully accomplishing tasks, it is said: ‘He has been busy with their oras alive.’ On the contrary, one says: ‘He has been busy with oras asleep.’ And in extreme cases, for incorrigible people, one says: ‘Orëdekun.’[3]

Figuratively, we can call Dervish Luzha THE TROPOJA MOUNTAINS’ ORA.

But not only figuratively: he has existed and exists throughout the lifetime of believers in Tropoja and beyond. For Dervish Luzha people have used two epithets: the Good Man (God of man, the Benefactor) and the Accomplished Man (Prophet). Both work well [for Dervish Luzha]. People call him the Fate of Tropoja, the partisans of the 25^th Brigade of Tropoja in the Second World War, they had called him ‘Fate of the Brigade’: as he lined up without being called by anyone in this formation, he fought outside the political borders of Albania, as far as Bosnia and the south of Serbia.

Coming straight from national epics, Devish Luzha was the most unusual divine warrior, with a wide, enigmatic forehead, wrapped in his strange cloak, carrying the bag in which he had three things he never shared, a pickaxe, a teber (type of sword) and a mandolin.

But what did these three symbols represent?

They represented three elements of human life: work, war (or, more precisely, endurance) and art.

His teber (sword) was only used during war, the dervish Luzha drew his sword and drove it into the ground at Guri i Shpuem. ‘We will come back here’, he said. And the prophecy was realised after a few minutes: to everyone’s astonishment, couriers appeared on the horizon carrying orders from the Headquarters that the Brigade should return.

So far, they call him Albanian!

And the Prophecy is being fulfilled!

With his prophetic pickaxe, he dug in many places in Tropoja and, strangely, later did irrigation work there. He often hired labourers. He paid them and forced them to dig where he told them to. Talking to hydrological engineers, I learned of the strange accuracy of the predictions of the ‘hydrologist’ Dervish Luzha. Many years before the construction of the Begajve irrigation canal, Dervish Luzha had erupted into its future estuary and said: ‘Here will come the river!’ In fact, later the rocks were split to open the irrigation canal, and the Mollareka River came there. Once, someone told him that the war was over, for whom did he keep a bat? He said one word in Albanian: ‘Albanians.’ So, the war was not over, and ended many years after the death of the Dervish Luzha. In Tropoja, one of the most artistic areas of the country, these are understood without song, without art.

Commentary

This extract summarises the main features of Dervish Luzha’s hagiography. Its author is Nuredin Sadik Lushaj, a scholar of folk traditions from Tropoja (in the north of Albania). Dervish Luzha (1904–1985) was a Khalwati Sufi from the same region, who fought against the Nazis-Fascists in Kosovo and Albania during World War II.

The first aspect highlighted is ‘fate’ (Alb. ORA), which is perceived to determine the daily life of the villagers of Tropoja. Luzha, given a godlike status, is considered a protector, a bringer of fate. Secondly, Luzha’s patriotic dimension is highlighted, as a defender of the homeland and of the Albanians (i.e., not only of Albania). The national and international dimensions are intertwined here: Luzha is considered a defender of the Albanian homeland but also of the Albanians established beyond. The text also highlights Luzha’s divine and benevolent nature: he is considered a good man (njeri i mirë), but also an enlightened man (njeri i mbrrimë). The writer also deals with the hagiographic and iconographic symbols attributed to Luzha: the pickaxe, symbol of his help offered to the people of Tropoja during the hydrological works (Luzha as hydrologist); the sword, a symbol of Luzha’s involvement during WWII; the mandolin, a symbol of Luzha’s closeness to the people.

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[1] The ora is a figure of northern Albanian mythology, known primarily north of the Drin River. This popular female fairy, Alb. Orë, def. Ora, plur. Orët, is much like a fairy godmother and equivalent to Southern Albanian fatia. Every person has an ora to protect her. Even horses, chickens, doves, mountains goats, springs and treasures can have protective oras. On the birth of a child, the oras gather at the night beside a bonfire and decide what qualities to give him. See Elsie Robert, A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folk culture, New York: New York University Press, 2001, pp. 194–5.

[2] Gjergj Fishta (1871–1940) was an Albanian poet, politician and Franciscan monk. He is considered one of the most influential 20^th-century Albanian writers.

[3] Without an ora. According to Elsie, ‘should an ora howl at a person, the threads of his fate will be cut, Alb. Orëprerë. Brave people have white oras, called faqebardhës, ‘the white-faced ones’, who help them and teach them the art of healing, whereas cowards have black oras, called faqezezës, ‘the black-faced ones’. If a person sins or commits a wicked deed, his ora’s face will turn black. There are also yellow oras, alb. ora të verdha. As opposed to fairy godmothers however, oras are mortal and their death can bring about the death of their charges.’ Robert, A dictionary of Albanian religion, p. 194.

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