Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlü Mefâ‘îlü Fe‘ûlün

Etdikçe tecellî dile envâr-ı Amasya
Şevkile yakar kalbimi bir nâr-ı Amasya
Çeşmimde döner eşk-i şerer-bâr-ı Amasya
Kalbimde durur hasret-i dîdâr-ı Amasya
Bu şehri yapan devr-i evâ'ilde Amîsdir
Derler ki Amâsîs'e dahi nâmı enîsdir
Şâ'ir dedi Elmâsiye'den hazfi selîsdir
Elmâsı çıkarmış gibi ahcâr-ı Amasya
Cennet gibidir sûy-ı cenûbunda Çakallar
Gûyâ ki beşikdir yed-i Kudret onu sallar
Meşşâta-i eyyâm-ı bahâr vechini allar
Bir la'le döner nâzıra ruhsâr-ı Amasya
Sağında bunun Karakaya cennet-i diğer
Bir hûb ferîdin iki ruhsârına benzer
Yıldız gibi ezhâr ile mestûr serâser
Bunlardan alır hep suyu gülzâr-ı Amasya
Eyler iki menba' buranın zevkini ikmâl
Gûyâ ki biri âb-ı zülâl ü biri selsâl
Bir menba'ı yapmış Kaya Paşa gibi mifzâl
Diğer Acem Ağa gibi mi'mâr-ı Amasya
Evvel buranın nâmına derler idi Fârnak
Vermekde harâbât-ı kadîme ona revnak
Yapmışdı selâtîn orada kasr-ı Havernak
Söyler bunu bir şâhid-i sâlâr-ı Amasya
Cennât-ı cihânın burası sanki ecelli
Şehzâdelere olmuş idi sayd mahalli
Enzâra olur Köşklü Kayadan bu da belli
Bir merkez-i sultân iken aktâr-ı Amasya
En sonra Çakalzâdelere kısmet-i evfer
Oldu buradan hîn-i teferrukda müyesser
Şimdi orası bunların adı ile eşher
Etdi bunu tahkîk perestâr-ı Amasya
Garbında bunun kûh-ı celî şöhre-i Ferhâd
Gûyâ eser-i aşk ile vermiş ana bünyâd
Rûmîler onun dâmenine Veng demiş ad
Lâkin budur u'cûbe-i ahbâr-ı Amasya
Maşrık tarafı bir cebel-i şâhık-ı mesmûr
Zencîrli Kaya nâmı ile âleme meşhûr
Zencîri onun on sene evvel idi manzûr
Hayretle bakardı ana ebsâr-ı Amasya
Bâlus Kayası şarka uzanmış bu kayadan
Bulmuş eteği feyz ü şeref sun'-ı Hudâ'dan
Âlîdir onun menkabesi medh u senâdan
Zîrâ burada müstetir ebrâr-ı Amasya
Üstünde sarây-ı şeref-âbâd kadîmdir
İşte burası mevlid-i Sultân Selîm’dir
Bir kışla vü mekteb ile umrânı azîmdir
Bunlarla teceddüd eder edvâr-ı Amasya
Yanında Soğuk Çeşme ki bir bâğ-ı İrem'dir
Hoş manzaradır lutf-ı hevâ dâfi'-i gamdır
Tesnîm gibi âbı dahi bir fazl-ı ni'amdır
Vermiş buraya behceti dâdâr-ı Amasya
Bir kal'a-i müstahkemedir semt-i şimâli
Âsâr-ı girân-mâye-i eslâf ile mâlî
Şimdi ise ümrân u sükûndan içi hâlî
Gûyâ siper-i dâfi'-i peygâr-ı Amasya
Envâ'-ı sanâyi' ile enzârda mümtâz
Ankâ gibi germiş kanadın etmede pervâz
Şâhîn gibi semt-i feleğe doğru ser-efrâz
Olmuş bu vakâr ile nigeh-dâr-ı Amasya
Derler ki bunu Harşenedir eyleyen inşâ
Etmiş ona kendi adını sonradan i'tâ
Yapmış burayı kendisine mesken-i zîbâ
Bu kal'a yüzünde görülür gâr-ı Amasya
Vustâda Cilanbolu dahi hayreti câlib
Her bir tarafında görülür türlü garâ'ib
Mecrâ vü mesâbî de ne ma'lûm u ne gâ'ib
Âbı sayılır efdal-i âbâr-ı Amasya
Bir merkez-i mahfûz kralı idi evvel
Pon şâhları kâ'id-i taht oldu müselsel
Romalılara etdi yedi harb-i mükemmel
Bunlar ile ma'lûm olur etvâr-ı Amasya
Bu şâhların dahmesi olmuşdu mağârât
Ecsâdını hep sonra duhûr eyledi târât
Bir vakt rehâbîne olup cây-ı riyâzât
Şimdi ise boş mahzen-i ekdâr-ı Amasya
Etdi ümerâ kal'ayı kerrât ile tecdîd
Selçûk-neseb Şâh Kubâd eyledi teşyîd
Lâkin bunu da kerr-i zamân eyledi tebdîd
Etmişdi vatan burcunu dizdâr-ı Amasya
Sağında bunun türbe-i Şirvânî-i Kâmil
Kandîl-i hüdâ feyz-i Hudâ nûr-ı fezâ'il
Yanında yatar Hazret-i Îsâ gibi fâzıl
Etrâfı bütün kümmel ü ahyâr-ı Amasya
Solunda dahi makbere-i Hazret-i Cû'î
Feyzin buradır mebde'-i pür-zevk-i tulû'ı
Bulmuş buralar nâm-ı kerîmiyle şuyu'ı
Hakkâ buradır mecma'-ı esmâr-ı Amasya
Kelkis idi evvel buranın nâm-ı kadîmi
Tezyîn ediyor bahçesini bâd-ı nesîmi
Erbâb-ı tenezzüh alıyor feyz-i amîmi
Ezvâkı burada bulur efkâr-ı Amasya
Mağrib tarafı kûh-ı refî'-i Karamânî
Olmuş eteği Akbilek'e cây-ı emânî
Tefsîr ile takvâda alem pîr-i zamânî
Kudsî-şiyem ü mefhar-i ethâr-ı Amasya
Boydan boya bir manzara-i hûr-likâdır
Müstağrak-ı envâr-ı füyûzât-ı Hudâ'dır
Her bir tarafı bâğ-ı İrem zevk-fezâdır
Hep bunları sîrâb eder enhâr-ı Amasya
Her vakte göre meyveleri kâmil ü mebzûl
Her meyvesinin ta'mı bütün dehrde makbûl
Elması hedâyâ olarak her yere mersûl
Her beldede meşhûrdur esmâr-ı Amasya
Her mevsiminin bir şeref ü izzeti vardır
Her bahçesinin bir tarab u behceti vardır
Her goncasının hande-i ulviyyeti vardır
Bülbülleri giryân eder ezhâr-ı Amasya
Yüzlerce mülûk u ümerâ himmeti görmüş
Pek çok eser-i lutf u refâhiyyeti görmüş
Şâyân olacak kadrine bir hürmeti görmüş
Takdîr kılınmış yine mikdâr-ı Amasya
Her zerresi âlûde-i eltâf-ı ekâbir
İzhâr ediyor âleme bin türlü mefâhir
Olmuşdu mahallâtı bütün hayra mezâhir
Hep şâhid-i âdil buna âsâr-ı Amasya
Her devresi bir silsile-i aşk u cünûndur
Her bir deresi dolmuş onun eşk ile hûndur
Her gûşesi bin medfen-i erbâb-ı fünûndur
Aktâra bütün münteşir ezkâr-ı Amasya
Her gûşe-i feyzinde birer âşık-ı şeydâ
Her kûy-ı kemâlinde birer şâir-i dânâ
Her zerre-i hâkinde biner feyz hüveydâ
Mestûr-ı kütübdür nice eş'âr-ı Amasya
Toprağı edilmiş ezelî aşk ile tahmîr
Hem cevher-i hüsn etmiş onun zâtını tenvîr
Her san'at u dânişde yetişdirdi meşâhîr
İbrâz-ı fezâ'il eder ahrâr-ı Amasya
Gelmiş nice meczûb-ı İlâhî nice müştâk
Çıkmış oradan dehre nice kâmil ü uşşâk
Gûyâ burada olmuş idi âlem-i mîsâk
Pür-feyz ü himem zâviyedir dâr-ı Amasya
Her bir ciheti medrese-i ilm ü edebdir
Erbâb-ı zekâ feyzine i'lâ-yı sebebdir
Makbûl-i ümem melce'-i ashâb-ı talebdir
Medhûl olur elbette dilâzâr-ı Amasya
Âlemde mülûk u ümerâya vatan olmuş
Yüzlerce sudûr u vüzerâya vatan olmuş
Binlerce şüyûh u ulemâya vatan olmuş
Fikr et ki geçirmiş neler a'sâr-ı Amasya
Lâyık mı ki bu menba'-ı ahyâr ola mechûl
Her fâzılı bir gûşe-i nisyânda mahmûl
Lâyık mı ki şu menbet-i ebrâr ola mezhûl
Mübhem kala dehr içre şu esrâr-ı Amasya
Bu fikr ile sarf eyledi çok sa'y-i mükemmel
Cem' eyledi akvâl u rivâyâtı müseccel
Tahkîk ile yazdı ona târîh-i mufassal
Asrî gibi bir hâdim-i fahhâr-ı Amasya

In English

1. Whenever the lights of Amasya appear to the heart, a fire of Amasya burns my heart with longing. In my eyes the spark-shedding (burning) tears shed for Amasya keep welling; in my heart dwells the yearning to see Amasya.

2. The one who built this city in the earliest ages was Amîs; they say his name is also close kin to the name Amâsîs. A poet said the name is an easy, shortened form of "Elmâsiye"; it is as if the stones of Amasya had brought forth diamonds (elmas).

3. On its southern side Çakallar is like paradise; it is as though it were a cradle rocked by the Hand of Power (the hand of God). The days of spring, like a woman adorning a bride, rouge its face; to the beholder, the cheek of Amasya turns into a red ruby.

4. To its right Karakaya is a second paradise; the two (Çakallar and Karakaya) resemble the two cheeks of a peerless beauty. From end to end it is covered with flowers like stars; the rose gardens of Amasya all draw their water from these.

5. Two springs complete the delight of this place; it is as if one were clear sweet water and the other a delicious water that slips easily down the throat. One spring was made by a most generous benefactor like Kaya Paşa, the other by one like Acem Ağa, who made Amasya prosper.

6. In former times they called this place Fârnak; its ancient ruins still lend it a lustre. Rulers had built a pavilion there like Havernak (the famed palace of Nu'mân, king of Hira); a witness from among the notables of Amasya tells of it (old records confirm it).

7. This place seems the loftiest of the paradises of the world; it was once the hunting ground of the princes. When the whole land of Amasya was a seat of sultans (while the princes resided here), the trace of this too is plain to the beholder from Köşklü Kaya.

8. In the end, when (the princely estate) was divided up, the largest share of it fell to the Çakalzâde family. Now the place is known by their name (Çakallar); a servant devoted to Amasya (the author himself) established this by research.

9. To its west stands Mount Ferhad, renowned with a shining fame; it is as though it had been founded as a work of love. The Greeks gave its skirt the name "Veng"; but this is the strangest of the tales told of Amasya. The line can be read in two ways: "strangest" may refer to the Christian legend attached to the name Veng, or to the fable that the mountain was pierced for love.

10. Its eastern side is a high mountain standing as firm as if it were nailed down; it is known to the world as Zincirli Kaya (the Chained Rock). Its chain could be seen until ten years ago; the eyes of Amasya used to gaze at it in wonder.

11. From this rock the Bâlus Rock stretches eastward; its skirt has found blessing and honour from God's creation. Its virtues are too lofty to be told in praise; for the saints of Amasya lie hidden (buried) here.

12. (On the flat ground at its foot) stands an ancient palace, an abode of honour; this is the very birthplace of Sultan Selim. With a barracks and a school its prosperity is great; through these the ages of Amasya are renewed.

13. Beside it is Soğuk Çeşme (the Cold Fountain), a garden of Iram (the paradise garden of legend); its view is pleasant, the sweetness of its air dispels sorrow. Its water, like Tasnîm, the spring of paradise, is a gift among blessings; the just Lord of Amasya has granted this place its joy.

14. Its northern side is a strong fortress, filled with the precious works of the ancients. Now, however, its interior is empty of habitation and dwellers; it is like a shield that protects Amasya from war.

15. (The fortress) stands out to the eye through crafts of every kind; like the Anka (the mythical phoenix) it has spread its wings and is in flight. Like a falcon it raises its head toward the sky; with this dignity it has become the guardian of Amasya.

16. They say that Harşene built it and later gave it his own name; he made the place a fine dwelling for himself. On the face of this fortress the caves (rock tombs) of Amasya can be seen.

17. In (the fortress's) midst Cilanbolu also arouses wonder; on every side of it all manner of marvels are seen. Neither the course by which its water comes nor the place where it pours out is fully known, nor are they wholly lost; its water is counted the best of the wells of Amasya.

18. (This place) was formerly the guarded seat of the king; the shahs of Pon (Pontus) sat on the throne one after another. They fought seven great wars with the Romans; through these the fortunes of Amasya are known.

19. The caves had become the tombs of these shahs; later the ages scattered and destroyed all their bodies. For a time the caves became a place of ascetic retreat for monks; now they are the empty storehouses of Amasya's sorrows.

20. The emirs restored the fortress again and again; Shah Kubâd (Alâeddin Keykubad) of Seljuk lineage raised it high and strengthened it. But the turning of time scattered his work too; the dizdars (fortress wardens) of Amasya had made the tower overlooking the city their home.

21. To its (the fortress's) right is the tomb of the perfect saint Şirvânî; he was a lamp of guidance, the grace of God, the light of virtues. Beside him lies one as virtuous as the holy Jesus (Îsâ), that is, his son-in-law Hacı Îsâ Efendi; all around are the perfected and righteous people of Amasya.

22. To its left is the grave of the holy Cû'î; this is where his rapturous grace first dawned. These places became widely known by his noble name; truly this is where the fruits of Amasya are gathered.

23. The old name of this place was Kelkis; the morning breeze adorns its garden. Those who go out for pleasure and recreation take abundant grace from it; the hearts of the people of Amasya find their delight here.

24. Its western side is the lofty Karaman Mountain; its skirt has become for Akbilek a dwelling after the heart's desire. (Akbilek) was the renowned elder of his age in Qur'anic exegesis and piety, of saintly character, the pride of the pure people of Amasya.

25. (Amasya) is from end to end a view with the face of a houri; it is drowned in the lights of God's graces. Every side of it is a garden of Iram that delights the heart; the rivers of Amasya water them all.

26. In every season its fruits are ripe and plentiful; the taste of each of its fruits is prized all over the world. Its apples are sent everywhere as gifts; the fruits of Amasya are famous in every land.

27. Each of its seasons has its honour and esteem; each of its gardens has its gaiety and beauty. Each of its rosebuds has a sublime smile; the flowers of Amasya make the nightingales weep.

28. (Amasya) has known the patronage of hundreds of kings and emirs, and has seen many works of favour and prosperity. It has been shown a respect worthy of its rank; the worth of Amasya has, after all, been duly appreciated.

29. Every particle of it is steeped in the favours of the great; it displays to the world a thousand kinds of glory. All of its quarters had become places where good works were made manifest; the monuments of Amasya are just witnesses to this.

30. Every circuit of it is a chain of love and madness (a chain of mountains); every one of its streams is filled with tears and blood. Every corner of it holds a thousand graves of men of learning and science; the remembrance of Amasya has spread to every land.

31. In every grace-filled corner of it there is a lover mad with love; in every quarter of its perfection a wise poet. In every particle of its soil a thousand graces are manifest; many a poem of Amasya is written down in books.

32. Its soil was kneaded with love from all eternity; the jewel of beauty has illumined its very being. It has raised famous men in every art and branch of knowledge; the noble people of Amasya display their virtues.

33. Many an ecstatic lost in God (meczup), many a yearning soul came (there); from there many perfected men and lovers went out into the world. It is as though the world of the covenant, where souls pledged themselves to God before creation (the assembly of Elest), had taken place here; the abode of Amasya is a zaviye (dervish lodge) full of grace and spiritual aid.

34. Every side of it is a madrasa of learning and good manners; it is a means of raising the gifts of the intelligent. It is esteemed by nations, the refuge of those who seek knowledge. The last line can be read in two ways: "whoever wounds (belittles) Amasya is surely at fault," or (in Hakverdioğlu's reading) "the broken-hearted surely find their way to Amasya."

35. In this world it has been home to kings and emirs; home to hundreds of grand viziers and viziers; home to thousands of sheikhs and scholars. Think what the centuries of Amasya have lived through.

36. Is it fitting that this fount of the righteous should remain unknown, that each of its virtuous men should lie nameless in a corner of oblivion? Is it fitting that this soil where good men grew should be forgotten and cast aside, that these secrets of Amasya should remain closed to the world?

37. With this thought a servant proud of Amasya, such as Asrî, spent great and thorough labour; he gathered sayings and traditions with their records; through research he wrote for it a detailed history.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Poet

Asrî is the pen name (mahlas) of Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, the author of Amasya Tarihi (The History of Amasya). He was born on 5 November 1869 in the Çeribaşı quarter of Amasya, the son of Abdîzâde el-Hâc Mehmed Ağa and Zâhide Hatun. He memorised the Qur'an at the Balcı school, completed the rüşdiye (middle school) in 1887, went to Istanbul in 1889 to study at the Kalenderhâne madrasa, and in 1899 received his teaching licence (icazet) from his master Tokadîzâde Ahmed Nûreddin Efendi. He served as deputy judge (naib) in Vezirköprü, Osmancık, Niksar and Refahiye; his last post was translator of old records at the Ministry of Pious Foundations (Evkaf Nezâreti). He died on 10 February 1939 at his home in Şişli, Istanbul, and was buried in Feriköy Cemetery.

He describes his relation to poetry in his own words: "zaman-ı sabâvetimde bir müddet edebiyât ile iştigâl etdiğim cihetle akrân arasında 'Asrî' mahlasını ihtiyâr ve ba'dehû tetebbu'ât-ı târîhiyyeye hasr-ı iştigâl etmiş idim" (since in my boyhood I occupied myself with literature for a while, I adopted the pen name "Asrî" among my peers, and afterwards devoted myself entirely to historical research). The pen name thus dates from his childhood and early youth; afterwards he gave all his labour to historical research. No divan or poetry anthology of his is known. Mücahit Kaçar was the first to study his poetry as a whole, gathering from the various volumes of the book this murabba, two tahmis (expansions of another poet's ghazal into five-line stanzas) written on the ghazals of two poets whose biographies he gives, and one ghazal of his own.

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba of 37 stanzas; the author calls it a "kasîde-i murabba'", that is, a poem of praise built in quatrains. The murabba is a verse form in which every stanza has four lines. Here the four lines of the first stanza rhyme with one another; in the following stanzas the first three lines rhyme among themselves, while the fourth line is tied back to the first stanza (aaaa, bbba, ccca...). The last line of every stanza ends in "-âr-ı Amasya": "-ı Amasya" is the redif (refrain word), and the sound "-âr" before it forms the rhyme (envâr, ahcâr, ruhsâr, gülzâr). Because it occurs four times in the first stanza and once in each of the other 36, the name "Amasya" is spoken exactly 40 times in the poem. The metre is the aruz (quantitative metre) pattern "Mef'ûlü Mefâ'îlü Mefâ'îlü Fe'ûlün". Kaçar and Hakverdioğlu both find the poem free of faults of metre and rhyme.

In divan poetry, poems praising a city were written as kaside (qasida), ghazal (gazel), musammat and short mesnevi. Mehmet Arslan, having surveyed some 1,500 divans, found that around 200 poets wrote poems about 116 cities; he counts this murabba among the Amasya poems and describes it as "bir nevi Amasya belgesi veya belgeseli" (a kind of Amasya document, or documentary). Şehrengiz poems describe the beauties of a city, and in them the praise of the city itself appears only at the beginning; Asrî's poem, by contrast, describes the city itself from beginning to end. For this reason Hakverdioğlu names the poem "Amasya Güzellemesi" (In Praise of Amasya) and regards it as an attempt at an Amasya şehrengiz.

The scattered way in which the text was published has produced a few variant readings. The transcription in the 2022 edition (by Mehmet Arslan) is followed here. In the original edition the poem was printed in couplet layout; Kaçar and Arslan divide it into quatrains. In stanza 20 Arslan reads "teşdîd" (strengthening) for "teşyîd" (raising high and strengthening); in stanza 21 Hakverdioğlu reads "hedâ" for "hüdâ", both meaning "guidance". "Mesâbî de" (and the places where it pours out) in stanza 17 appears as "mesâbâda" in Arslan and "mesbâda" in Kaçar. "Menbit" appears for "menbet" in stanza 36, and in stanza 37 Kaçar has "fehhâr" for "fahhâr". Kaçar's text also gives the readings "meczûbü'l-hayy" in stanza 33 and "Bir feyz ü himem-i zâviyedür" in its last line. These differences do not change the meaning.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem opens with longing and closes with a declaration of service. In the first stanza the poet voices the yearning of one far from his city; in his commentary he names the source of this yearning "hubb-ı vatan" (love of the homeland) and says that love of the homeland is proven by serving it, and that this is why he gave years to the present work. The last two stanzas complete the thought: is it "fitting", they ask, that the secrets of a city that raised so many righteous people should remain unknown, and the answer is the Asrî of stanza 37. Hakverdioğlu reads this stanza as the statement of the work's reason for being written (sebeb-i telif).

The stanzas in between walk round the city direction by direction. In his commentary on stanza 3 Hüsameddin says that it shows "Amasya'nın etrâf-ı erba'asından bir tarafını, ya'nî kıble tarafını" (one of the four sides of Amasya, namely the southern side). The poem begins with the vineyards in the south, passes to Mount Ferhad in the west, to Zincirli Kaya and Saraydüzü in the east, to the fortress and the royal tombs in the north, and completes the round with the tombs on either side of the fortress and the vineyards in the west. After stanza 25 place names withdraw, giving way to fruit, seasons, rulers, scholars, poets, dervish lodges and madrasas. The poem can thus be read as a table of contents that follows the book's own order.

Among the figures of speech, hyperbole and simile (teşbih) are used most. Çakallar and Karakaya are likened to the two cheeks of a beauty (4), the fortress to the Anka spreading its wings and to a falcon raising its head to the sky (15). Hüsameddin builds the same simile in prose: because the sides of the fortress are "açılmış kanad gibi kabarık" (swelling like opened wings), it "garba doğru havaya uçan şâhîne benzer" (resembles a falcon flying up toward the west). According to Hakverdioğlu, the red ruby cheek of stanza 3 also points, by ihâm-ı tenasüp (an allusive congruence of images), to the red apple of Amasya. In stanza 27 the rosebuds smile and the nightingales weep; this is a personification resting on the rose-and-nightingale motif. The phrase "Hazret-i Îsâ gibi fâzıl" (as virtuous as the holy Jesus) in stanza 21 is a double entendre (tevriye): it refers both to Jesus and to the son-in-law, Hacı Îsâ Efendi, who lies in the tomb. "Silsile" in stanza 30 likewise has two meanings: the chain in which madmen were bound, and the mountain chain that surrounds the city. Hüsameddin's commentary gives the second meaning explicitly: every side of Amasya is enclosed by a chain of mountains, and on every side there is the shrine of an ecstatic (meczup); among the streams running through the city he mentions the Çakallar stream, which in 1271 swept away bridges and houses in a great flood. "Âlem-i mîsâk" in stanza 33 alludes to the assembly of Elest, where souls pledged themselves to God before creation. After this stanza Hüsameddin describes the Sufi sheikhs raised in Amasya; Hakverdioğlu also sees in the line an allusion to the city's role as the stage of the founding covenants of different states.

Places in the Poem

Çakallar and Karakaya (3-8). According to Hüsameddin, the part of the single mountain to the south lying east of the road that passes in front of Hoca Sultan above the Dârüsselâm quarter is called Çakallar, and the part lying west of it Karakaya. Because the middle of Çakallar is flat and both its sides are high, it "resembles a long cradle"; the flat ground is called Hamza Düzü. The İplik Çözen picnic ground below Köşk Kayası counts as part of Çakallar, and the Çanaklar and Kaşık Pınarı picnic grounds as part of Karakaya. Çakallar is still a neighbourhood and viewpoint south of the city, some three kilometres from the centre; the present state of the old vineyards, however, could not be established from a reliable source.

The Kaya Paşa and Acem Ali waters (5). One of the three famous waters rising at Çakallar is the Kaya Paşa water. It comes from the summer pasture of Ermiş village; Kaya Paşa, of the Torumtay line, repaired its channel in 805 (1402-03) and endowed the water to fifteen fountains. The other is the Acem Ali water, which rises beneath Söngütlü Kaya near Zincirli Kaya; the Nishapuri merchant Hoca Acem Ali Ağa built its channel in 873 (1468-69) and endowed it to thirteen fountains. The word "mi'mâr" in the line here means a benefactor who made the city prosper. The present state of these waters could not be established.

Fârnak (6). Hüsameddin bases this name on a vineyard sale deed dated 691 and on Tâcîbeyzâde Sa'dî Çelebi's phrase "riyâzi'l-Fernakiyye"; he writes that until around the year 1000 the place was called the Fernak Vineyards, and that the name comes from Farnak, the Pontic ruler who, he says, built a town at Çakallar.

Köşklü Kaya (7). According to Hüsameddin, Sultan Mehmed I (Çelebi Mehmed) built a pavilion here, and in the time of Prince Ahmed the "Köşklü Kaya entertainments" were on everyone's lips; the remains of the pavilion were visible in the author's day. The present state of the remains could not be established.

Mount Ferhad and Veng (9). Ferhad Kayası is the sheer rock south-west of Karakaya; the range stretching east from it is called Mount Ferhad. The cutting in the rock was believed to have been pierced by Ferhad for Şirin. Hüsameddin calls this a "fable"; following the cutting, he shows it to be a water channel running eighteen kilometres from in front of Şâhin Kayası to Kibrithâne, and attributes its construction to the Pontic rulers. This structure is today a registered monument under the name Ferhat Water Canal; an open section can be seen at Ferhat Arası in the Helvacı neighbourhood, and researchers date it to the Hellenistic period. The name Veng, for its part, the Greeks connect with Yovannis and the Armenians with Ohannis; in both versions an apostle made water flow from the rock. The present location of Veng could not be established.

Zincirli Kaya (10). This is the great sharp-peaked rock east of Yukarı Pazar. It took its name from a chain fastened to the rock at the level of Meşkgâh, some sixty metres above the ground. Hüsameddin writes that the chain remained in place until 1311 (1893-94), then fell one night and was lost. No source other than him could be found for the chain.

The Bâlus Rock and Saraydüzü (11-12). Bâlus is the rock that stretches east from behind Zincirli Kaya and joins Lokman Mountain; Hüsameddin says he does not know where its name comes from. The flat ground at its northern foot is called Beyler Sarayı, Saraydüzü or Pîr İlyas; the word "ebrâr" (the righteous) points to the tombs of Pîr İlyas and the Gümüşlüzâde family here. The tomb of Pîr İlyas still stands today within Pirler Park. In the Ottoman palace founded on the land that Mehmed I bought from the Gümüşlüzâdes, Murad II and Selim I (Selim the Grim) were born. The barracks of the line was built in 1898-1900 on the site of the palace remains; Mustafa Kemal was received here in June 1919, and the Amasya Circular was prepared here. The barracks was partly demolished in 1935 and entirely in 1944; a replica faithful to its exterior was built in 2007 at the entrance to the Şamlar neighbourhood and today houses the National Struggle Museum.

Soğuk Çeşme (13). Hüsameddin calls it Soğuk Pınar: the vineyards on both banks of the stream south-east of the palace, and the water flowing down that stream. The water rises on Lokman Mountain near the grave of the physician Lokman and turns the mills; Gümüşlüzâde Tâceddîn Mahmûd Çelebi conveyed water from it to the fountains in his own quarter. Its present location could not be established.

The fortress, the royal tombs and Cilanbolu (14-20). The fortress stands on Harşena Mountain and survives today. The restorations listed by Hüsameddin (Dânişmend Ahmed Gazi, Sultan Mes'ûd, Alâeddin Keykubad, Şâdgeldi Paşa, Murad II and later ones) are repeated almost word for word in today's official descriptions. Hüsameddin counts twelve rock tombs in the valley; today twenty-one rock tombs have been identified around the city, five of them in the Kızlar Sarayı area. The monks of stanza 19 rest on the tradition reported by Hüsameddin that before the conquest the caves were places of ascetic retreat for priests; it is known that the Aynalı Mağara (Mirror Cave) was used as a hermitage in the eleventh century. Harşena Mountain and the royal rock tombs were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2015. Cilanbolu is a well (a tunnel) cut into the rock in the middle of the fortress, reached by some one hundred and fifty steps; in cleaning work carried out to open it to visitors, a depth of 170 metres was reached in 2009.

The Şirvânlı Tomb (21). The tomb east of the fortress is that of the Naqshbandi-Khalidi sheikh İsmâil Sirâceddin Şirvânî (d. 1848); his son Mehmed Rüşdi Paşa built it in 1283-84 (1867-68). The sheikh's son Ahmed Hulûsî Efendi and his son-in-law Hacı Îsâ Rûhi Efendi also lie within. Known locally as the "Upper Tomb" (Yukarı Türbe), the building still stands on the hill above the Şamlar neighbourhood.

Şeyh Cû'î and Kelkis (22-23). The vineyards west of the fortress bear the name of the Mevlevi sheikh Cemâleddin Mehmed Cû'î; in popular speech they are called "Cığcığı". The sheikh built a Mevlevi lodge here in 817 (1414). According to Hüsameddin, the endowment deed of Şeyh Cû'î records the old name of these vineyards as Kelkis; from the twentieth of April the notables of Amasya used to move out here. The name lives on today in the Şeyhcui neighbourhood; a local record places the sheikh's tomb in the village of Yuvacık in the central district. Where the name Kelkis survives today could not be established.

Karaman Mountain and Akbilek (24). Hüsameddin connects the name of the mountain west of the city with Karamanzâde Yahşî Bey, who crossed it into the city in 727, but he says so only with the qualification "it is supposed". The place at the mountain's eastern foot where the Qur'anic commentator Molla Bahşî Halîfe was buried in 931 (1524-25) is known as Akbilek. Akbilek is today one of the populous neighbourhoods of central Amasya. Whether the mountain is still known by this name could not be verified.

The apple (26). Before this stanza Hüsameddin lists the apples, okra, quinces, cherries and silk cocoons of Amasya. The Amasya Misket apple is today registered with a geographical indication.

Historical Context

Before the stanzas, Hüsameddin says that quoting all who had praised Amasya in verse and prose would lengthen the book, and that instead he wrote a murabba "fihrist-i icmâli olmak üzere" (to serve as a summary table of contents) of the work, explaining the historical meaning of each stanza after it. The stanzas are therefore spread from page 14 to page 334 of the first volume. The Fârnak stanza has its own story. In the second volume the author writes that during the printing of the first volume one leaf of the manuscript, that is two pages, had been left out, and that he inserted the stanza on those pages there as the "sixth" stanza. This note gives the stanza the same place in the poem as Mehmet Arslan's ordering.

There is no definite record of when the poem was written, but the book itself offers a clue. Stanza 10 says the chain was visible "ten years ago"; the prose states that the chain fell in 1311 (1893-94). Read together, they indicate that this stanza must have been written around 1321 (1903-04). The first volume was printed in 1912; the printing of the four volumes continued until 1928. The year and press of the original edition are given differently in the sources: Hakverdioğlu cites 1332 and the Necm-i İstikbal Press, while Avni Erdemir cites 1327 and the Hikmet Press.

The poem was known in its author's lifetime. Ahmed Remzi Akyürek's Amasya ghazal alludes to Asrî and his book in the couplet "Kalsa Remzî anda bir müddet yazıp evsâfını / Bir eser te'lîf ederdi Asrî-i dünyâ gibi" (were Remzî to stay there a while and write of its virtues, he would compose a work like the Asrî of the world). Mehmet Sarı, Mayor of Amasya, who wrote the foreword to the 2022 edition, also closed his remarks with stanza 27 of this murabba.

Bibliography

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