Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Ey ki âfâk senün hamdün iderler yekser
V’ey ki kuldur sana ber-beste-kemer Rûm u Hazer
Cümle eşrâf-ı zaman senden alur izzet ü câh
Kamu etrâf-ı zemîn kadr ü alâ senden umar

In English

1. O you whom all the horizons (every corner of the world) praise from end to end; and O you before whom the lands of Rum and of the Khazars stand in service like slaves with their belts girded.

2. All the notables of the age receive honour and rank from you; every quarter of the earth hopes from you for worth and eminence.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

These two couplets come from one of Ahmedî's kasides (qasidas) and are quoted in Günay Kut's entry in the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam. In the section on "tevşîh" of his Persian treatise on the figures of speech, Bedâyi'u's-sihr fî sanâyi'i'ş-şi'r, Ahmedî, after defining this figure, gives these couplets from his own kaside as the only Turkish example in the book. The single copy of the treatise is in a miscellany in the Mevlânâ Museum in Konya, written in 835 (1432) by the calligrapher Ahmed b. Hacı Mahmûd el-Aksarâyî; the same calligrapher also copied Ahmedî's divan now in the Süleymaniye Library in 840 (1436). According to the TDV entry the kaside also appears in this divan, and the poet says that it contains six quatrains, nine rubais and two couplets. Since in the online text of the encyclopedia the underlined parts marking the red letters leave gaps inside the words, the couplets are given here with these gaps closed. The source does not state the metre.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Tevşîh comes from the Arabic word "vişâh" (an ornamented sash) and is the art of hiding within the lines of a poem a structure that yields another meaning when certain letters or words are picked out; a poem written in this way is called müveşşah. According to the TDV entry, when the letters and words written in red ink in the manuscript are put together, the following couplet emerges: "Ahmedî kuldur sana beste kemer / İzzet ü câh ü alâ senden umar", that is, "Ahmedî is a slave to you with his belt girded; he hopes from you for honour, rank and eminence." When the words at the beginning of the four lines are not read, a rubai (quatrain) emerges. A passage of two couplets thus contains both a hidden couplet bearing the poet's name and a separate quatrain.

The couplets as read openly are written in the language of a panegyric kaside. The memduh (the one praised) is a ruler praised by every corner of the world, before whom the lands of Rum and of the Khazars stand in service like slaves; "ber-beste-kemer", having one's belt girded, is an old idiom for standing ready to serve. In the second couplet the words "eşrâf" (notables) and "etrâf" (sides, quarters) are close in sound and create a balance between the lines. The use of the same words "slave" and "belt" for the poet himself in the hidden couplet is the poet's offering of himself to the memduh at the close of the praise. The TDV entry does not say to whom the kaside was addressed. Since Ahmedî's patrons included Süleyman Bey of Germiyan, Bayezid I, Emîr Süleyman and Çelebi Mehmed, the identity of the memduh cannot be deduced from this passage.

Bibliography

Online sources