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While performing his mandatory military service, the young man contracts tuberculosis (verem), a devastating disease at the time.

Brokenhearted and physically failing, he is sent to a hospital in Istanbul for treatment. According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture , while lying in his hospital bed, he looks out the window and sees a fig tree. Inspired by the sight and his impending death, he composes the lyrics to this song to express his longing and sorrow. The Song's Legacy zara_hastane_onunde_incir_agaci

He is granted leave to return to Yozgat for "change of air" (convalescence). However, when he returns, his fiancée's family—fearing the contagious nature of the disease—prevents him from seeing the girl he loves. While performing his mandatory military service, the young

The young man eventually passes away in the hospital, and his words were later compiled and turned into the folk song known today. In some versions of the story, it is said that the lyrics were written by a classmate of a young man named Nedret, who was studying at the Pazarören Village Institute and died of the same illness. Inspired by the sight and his impending death,

The song "" (An Fig Tree in Front of the Hospital), famously performed by artists like Zara , is a poignant Turkish folk song (türkü) from the Yozgat region. It is essentially a funeral lament (ağıt) that tells a tragic story of unrequited love and terminal illness.

The legend behind the song follows a young man from a village in who is betrothed to his neighbor’s daughter since childhood (a tradition known as beşik kertmesi ).

Today, the song is considered a classic of the makam and is a staple in the repertoire of Turkish folk music, often cited as one of the most emotional "ağıt" examples.