Stecak Engravings (Earth, follower, translation, church, faith)

[Djamila]

Stecci are found throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, and nowhere else on earth. A stecak is a tombstone, the grave of a Dobri Bosnjani (Good Bosnian), a follower of the Bosnian Church.

I've discussed the Bosnian Church in detail elsewhere, so I won't do so hear - but for those who know nothing, the Bosnian Church was a form of Christianity indigenous to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and considered heretical by both Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians. This is the faith we followed when the Ottoman Empire, and Islam, arrived in this part of the world.

Because those who did not convert to Islam are now Roman Catholic, the Bosnian Church remains a faith of affection and a historical source of pride mainly, and oddly, for Muslims.

Here are a few translations of engravings on Stecci throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. I'll post the original old Bosnian versions of the engravings, so you can see them.

This is a monument for Duke Nenc, the Great Duke of Bosnia,
erected by his son, Duke Muven, with the help of God and those loyal,
Without any foreign help.

You, the one who will read my stone, you may have walked to the stars,
And you came back because there is nothing there other than yourself.

Man can see what he has never seen,
Hear what he has never heard,
Taste what he has never tasted,
Be where he has never been before,
But always and everywhere,
He can either find himself or not

Much has happened in this world from my hand,
But nobody ever died or was killed because of me.

Would I have left my bones in a foreign land?
Even then I would be dreaming about Bosnia.

Man, so that you not be damned, don't touch me!

I came to rest here in the summer of 1094, during the drought,
So there was not a single tear for me in the sky.



Here lies kind guest Misljen of the true Bosnian faith,
Butchers of Rome left my beloved lover, Badaca, and me
To this gruesome end

Those who pass by, go with peace and don't judge their sins
Only a mad man might do such a thing
Our days are numbered, our words are over, our sins turned to fog

No matter where you go, your steps will lead you on the way

But remember, a small worm has done more harm than the deeds
Of my Badaca and I done, have done throughout our lives
Our tombstone was placed here in our homeland - Kocerini, in the year of 1273
Under God, and engraved by Dabisa