Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Ḫoş bilür mihr ü vefā ḳā‘idesin yār velī
‘İtibār olmaya ol ‘ilme ki gelmez ‘amele

In English

1. The beloved knows well the rules of love and faithfulness, but no regard is due to knowledge that does not come to practice. (The first line is Adlî's, the second is Câfer Çelebi's reply. Adlî's line is left open with "but"; Câfer Çelebi completes it with a judgement implying that the beloved does not do what the beloved knows. ‘Amel literally means work, practice.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This couplet is müşterek, that is, the joint work of two poets. According to the edition's footnote, in the manuscripts the first line is headed "Mısra‘-ı Sultân-ı Müşârü'n-ileyh Rahmetu'llâhi ‘aleyh" (the line of the aforementioned Sultan) and the second "Cevâb-ı Kâzı‘asker Ca‘fer Çelebi Rahmetu'llâhi" (the reply of Kazasker Câfer Çelebi). Accordingly, the first line belongs to Adlî and the second to Tâcîzâde Câfer Çelebi. The couplet is written in the remel metre "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün" and its lines do not rhyme with each other; it stands under the heading müfred (single couplet), the name given to a one-couplet poem. In Bayram's edition it is number 153, the last poem of the divan. According to the edition's footnote it is found in manuscripts T (43b), M1 (44b) and M2 (36a), and is absent from OR and İBB. According to Bayram's description of the manuscripts, M1 and M2 end with this couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Adlî's line opens with a familiar lover's complaint: the beloved knows well the rules of love and faithfulness. The conjunction "velî" (but) at the end of the line leaves the sentence unfinished and leads the reader to expect a continuation. Câfer Çelebi's reply fills this gap with a judgement that comes from outside the language of love: no regard is due to knowledge that does not come to practice. The beloved's faithlessness is thus likened to the fault of a learned man who does not do what he knows. The idea that knowledge gains worth only together with practice (‘amel) is often repeated in the Islamic ethical tradition; Câfer Çelebi applies this general idea to the beloved.

In the couplet the words "kâ‘ide" (rule), "‘ilm" (knowledge) and "‘amel" (practice) form a congruence of images (tenasüp); these are words of the madrasa and the world of learning. Between "‘ilm" and "‘amel", the contrast between knowing and doing is set up. Given that Câfer Çelebi was trained in the madrasa and served as judge and chancellor (nişancı), it is striking that the reply chooses this language. The form "olmaya" in the second line literally means "let there not be", and brings the judgement close to the tone of a wish or a curse. That a statesman completes a line begun by the padishah lets the couplet be read as an example of the poetic conversations of court circles.

Historical Context

According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Câfer Çelebi was born in Amasya in 1452. His father Tâcî Bey, according to Latîfî and Âşık Çelebi a poet, stylist (münşî) and calligrapher, had served as Prince Bayezid's treasurer (defterdar) in Amasya. Câfer Çelebi received his first lessons in Amasya, then studied in Bursa and became a madrasa teacher and judge; in 1497 he became chancellor (nişancı) of the Imperial Council, and after the Janissary uprising of 1511 he was dismissed by Bayezid. The Adlî entry in TEİS, drawing on İpekten, also counts Tâcîzâde Câfer within Bayezid's literary circle in Amasya. Âşık Çelebi and Kınalızâde name Câfer Çelebi among the poets who wrote nazires (response poems) to a Persian matla by Adlî; according to Bayram, his is also among the nazires to this matla in manuscript M2.

In the manuscript heading Câfer Çelebi is called "Kâzı‘asker" (military judge, kazasker). According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Câfer Çelebi was appointed military judge of Anatolia in 1514, in the reign of Selim I, and was executed on 18 August 1515. The title in the heading therefore reflects the office he reached later; the prayer "rahmetu'llâh" (God's mercy upon him) beside both names suggests that the heading was written after the deaths of both. In which year the couplet was composed, and whether in Amasya or in Istanbul, is not known.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 187, poem no. 153 (manuscript information and the headings in the footnote on the same page; descriptions of the manuscripts pp. 31-32). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Âşık Çelebi, Meşâirü'ş-şuarâ, ed. Filiz Kılıç, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018 (e-book), p. 72 (entry on Sultan Bâyezîd). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi, Tezkiretü'ş-Şu'arâ, ed. Aysun Sungurhan, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2017 (e-book), p. 132, entry on Sultan Bâyezîd. ekitap.ktb.gov.tr

Academic studies

Books

Online sources