Âşıkî, Manzume 117: Yine bir dürlü sûret tutdı 'âlem

Manzume 117 — Yine bir dürlü sûret tutdı 'âlem

Amasya05 Editorial Board • Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk • 01 October 2026 • Updated: 14 October 2026 • 3 min reading

A ruler biding his time: the despot's daughter is brought to Edirne, but Murad holds no wedding, saying an infidel's daughter needs none, and returns her dowry.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Yine bir dürlü sûret tutdı 'âlem
Ki bâtın nakşını göstere âdem

Hezârân tedbîri bagladı fikri
Kimin gündüz ide kimini ahşam

Vezîrler tedbîri hana ider 'arz
Velî han dir ki tınma şimdi epsem

Ki fursat el vire düşmânı bulam
Kesem başını dilin idem ebkem

İdem aña elüme gire fursat
N'ola itsün baña ol dürlü ibrâm

In English

1. Once more the world has taken on a form, so that man may show the pattern within.

2. His thought has woven thousands of plans, to make some day and some evening.

3. The viziers lay their plans before the khan; but the khan says, "Make no sound now, be silent.

4. Let the chance be given, let me find the enemy; let me cut off his head, let me make his tongue mute.

5. When the chance falls into my hand let me do it to him; what matter if he presses me in that way."

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Bride Without a Wedding

No sooner has Murad returned from the Karaman campaign than İshak Beg, in the hundred and seventh chapter, reports the despot's treachery; the despot in turn agrees to send his daughter. İshak Beg's wife from Skopje and, from the Porte, the eunuch Reyhan Ağa and Özbek Ağa go to fetch the bride. With a few days' journey left to Smederevo the despot sends the wives of the infidel lords to meet them; the guests are entertained with great respect. The register of the girl's dowry is given to Özbek Ağa, and the despot sends a message: he has given this dowry not to his daughter but to the khan; let him give it to this slave girl or to another as he pleases. The girl is brought to Edirne. Murad holds no wedding: "What wedding does a cavalryman infidel's daughter need?" Hearing of the dowry, he says, "Have I nothing to give my slave girls, that I should give his daughter's dowry to my other slave girls?" and accepts nothing, returning the dowry to the girl. She stays with him a while, then is sent to Bursa; İsfendiyar's daughter is brought from Bursa to Edirne.

The Silent Ruler

Behind this contemptuous reception lies a policy, and five couplets lay it open. The world has taken a new form and man will show the pattern within. The viziers lay plans before the khan, but Murad tells them to be silent. The last two couplets are Murad's inner voice: when the chance comes he will find the enemy, cut off his head and silence his tongue; the despot's pressing matters nothing. These couplets announce the conflict that will end with the taking of Smederevo. The rhyme falls on "-em/-am": 'âlem, âdem, ahşam, epsem, ebkem, ibrâm. "Epsem", silent, and "ebkem", mute, recur in other verses of the work as well.