Among his most popular folk songs are Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım (Turkish: I'm on a Long and Narrow Road); "Black Earth" (Kara Toprak); "Let My Friends Remember Me" (Dostlar Beni Hatırlasın) and "Your Beauty is Worth Nothing" (Güzelliğin On Para Etmez).

In 2023, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Veysel was recommended to UNESCO for a year of commemoration, backed by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

[4] He spent his entire childhood in his home village of Sivrialan, where his father's family, known as the Şatıroğulları, resided in four small houses overlooking the surrounding mountains.

[4] As all but one of Gülizar and Ahmet's previous children had died of smallpox, their newborn son was taken to Mount Beserek, a sacred mountain located approximately 10 km (6.21 miles) from Sivrialan.

[4] The mountain is thought to have healing properties;[11] according to local folklore, Mount Beserek was the site where the 6th century Islamic martyr Owais al-Qarani (Turkish: Veysel Karanî), found some camels he had previously lost in Syria.

[4] Of this period in his life, Veysel said:[4] Genç yaşımda felek vurdu başıma Aldırdım elimden iki gözümü Yeni değmiş idim yedi yaşıma Kayıb ettim baharımı yazımı.

[16] Ahmet, in contrast, was adamant that his son learn; Veysel, who could not plow, sow, or harvest, but who had a fine voice, could use the saz as a way to earn a living.

[4] In one account,[19] though very poorly attested, the reason for Veysel's expulsion was that he had, in his intrigue and his blindness, gotten too close to the speaker at the gathering, and his unkempt and smallpox-ravaged appearance had offended one of the villagers, who allegedly slapped him.

[4] Though he initially struggled with the saz, and though he felt that both Molla Hüseyin and Ali Ağa had to put considerable effort into teaching him, Veysel eventually came to enjoy it once he had learned how to tune his instrument on his own.

In a later conversation where her husband was present, Gülizar would note:[4] —Gülizar Şatıroğlu, Veysel's wifeVeysel's name first became known outside his local circle when he met Ahmet Kutsi Tecer in 1931.

In this capacity, Tecer began to encourage the ashiks of Sivas, including Veysel, to compose a poem reflecting on the nascent Republic and its President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Although personal composition formed a core part of the ashik tradition, and despite having allegedly composed poetry before, Veysel never performed it, as he was worried that people would think he was in love with one of the local girls.

[8] In İzmir, Veysel—once again with İbrahim as a travelling companion—was advised by a listener to meet with Mesut Cemil, the manager of a radio station located near the Tokatlıyan Hotel in Istanbul, where Veysel would be able to go on air.

[27][8] Though Veysel sung at the top of his lungs—having never interacted with a radio before, he had mistakenly assumed that he would need to shout to be heard—the performance was extremely well received, and Cemil's office was inundated with cards and flowers.

They were invited to appear on air again in 1936 by Columbia Plak Finna, where they made a joint recording of the folk song "Mecnun'um Leyla'mı Gördüm" (I'm Mecnun, I saw my Leyla).

[4] Veysel also taught saz at the village institutes of Hasanoğlan (1942), Eskişehir Çifteler (1943), Kastamonu Gülköy (1944), Yıldızeli Pamukpınar (1945), and Samsun Ladik Akpınar (1946).

Veysel's first book, a poetry anthology entitled Sayings (Turkish: Deyişler), was prepared by Tecer and published by the Community Center Headquarters in 1944,[4] and many of his most well-known poems were also released in the magazine Ülkü, including Black Earth (Kara Toprak); If You Are a Gazelle, I am a Hunter (Sen Bir Ceylan Olsan Ben de Bir Avcı); If I Pour My Troubles into the Deep Stream (Derdimi Dökersem Derin Dereye); Letter (Mektup), and others.

[4] He appeared in a 1953 dramatization of his own life, The Dark World (Karanlık Dünya), directed by Metin Erksan, shot in and around Sivrialan and rural Sivas.

The film's screening permit was withheld for unfavourably depicting the conditions of Turkish peasant life, especially after the reforms of the Democrat Party, and Erksan was forced to reshoot these scenes in another town.

[7][16] The film's ending was rewritten to show Veysel returning to Sivrialan with his guide, Erkılıç, after a long time away, only to discover with astonishment that the village had been modernized, and now made use of combine harvesters and tractors.

In 1952, a jubilee was held for Veysel in Istanbul under the leadership of İhsan Hınçer, of the Turkish folklore Research Journal, and with the support of a range of institutions and organizations.

In the same year, a remixed version of Âşık Veysel's song Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım was featured as the main theme in a Turkish film series, Gece Gündüz.

[35] His melodies featured a restricted range composed in a variety of Turkish makams, including Hüseyni, Uşşak, Hijaz, Rast, Muhayyer, and Karçığar, and used 2/4, 4/4, 5/8, and 7/8 time signatures.

Mindful of his own illiteracy, of which he expressed some bitterness, Veysel was particularly approving of the increased education opportunities which Atatürk brought to Turkey's most impoverished regions.

A non-confrontational man by nature, he was hesitant to name anyone whose work he actively disliked, stating, "I cannot say Ibrahim is good whilst Mehmet is bad."

Through his second wife, Gülizar, Veysel had seven children, three sons and four daughters;[17][4] Zöhre Beşer, Ahmet, Hüseyin, Menekşe Süzer, Bahri, Zekine, and Hayriye Özer.

At home, Veysel was able to tell the time with a margin of error of about 30 minutes or less, presumably by listening to the ticking of the clock he kept on the wall (he also kept a pocket watch, though it is uncertain how he used it).

Despite being two years older, İbrahim was typically perceived as being his cousin's junior, both in age and profession, and tended to default to Veysel in interviews and public appearances.

He spent much of his life experiencing prejudice both in Sivrialan and throughout Anatolia, for various reasons; his status as an Alevi Muslim, his profession, poverty, and blindness, were only a few of the criticisms directed at Veysel throughout his lifetime.

Şaşar Veysel iş bu haleGah ağlaya gahi güle,Yetişmek için menzileGidiyorum gündüz gece Dünyaya geldiğim andaYörüdüm aynı zemandaİki gapılı bir handaGediyorum gundüz gece Uyhuda dahi yörüyomKalmaya sebep arıyomGedenleri ben görüyomGediyorum gundüz gece Kırk dokuz yıl bu yollardaOvada dağda çöllerde,Düşmüşüm gurbet ellerdeGediyorum gundüz gece Düşünülürse derinceUzak görünür görünceYol bir dakka mihdarıncaGediyorum gundüz gece Şaşar Veysel iş bu hâleGâh ağlaya gâhi guleYetişmek için menzileGediyorum gundüz gece When first I came into this worldI started on that narrow roadAnd at the two-doored inn I strodeI'm going day and night Even sleeping, I walk onEven waking, I search onMany seeing, all are goneI'm going day and night Forty-nine years on this roadOn plain, on peak, in desert roam,Through stranger lands I do not knowI'm going day and night If I stand and deeply thinkAs if to nothingness it shrinksThough the road goes in a blinkI'm going day and night Veysel wonders at this plightThrough times of sorrow, or delightThe distant end of this to sightI'm going day and night Media related to Aşık Veysel at Wikimedia Commons