Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Hemîşe söylenür erüñ nişânı
Nişân olur erüñ hem tercümânı
Nişânından anuñ hâli 'ayândur
Ne olsa 'ayna oldur hem beyânı
Cihâna cüz' yâ kül her kim gelüpdür
İşid söylendi mahfî vü 'ayânı
Bilüñ kim her kişi mikdârın itdi
Yitişdi sürdi bu devr-i zamânı
Kime degdi o nevbet çalmadı ol
Geçürmedi zamânından gümânı
In English
1. A man's sign is always spoken of; the sign becomes a man's interpreter too.
2. His state is plain from his sign; whatever it be, it is his mirror and his account.
3. Whoever came into the world, as part or as whole, listen: both his hidden and his open were told.
4. Know that each man acted by his own measure; he arrived and ran his course in this turn of time.
5. He whom the turn of the drum reached did not pass without beating it; he did not let doubt pass from his time.
Literary and Historical Commentary
The Roads of Hungary
To scout the roads of the land of Hungary, Murad sends Evrenezoğlu Ali Beg; the hundred and eighth chapter tells of this reconnaissance raid. The khan suggests that the troops of Rumelia and Anatolia cross with him, but Ali Beg says, "Your raider slaves are enough for me." The raid is proclaimed, many raiders gather; they cross by way of Dımışkar into Hungarian land. For a month they roam, eat and drink and meet no trace of an enemy. The booty is so great that it is said "the captives outnumber the raiders"; there are men who win a thousand or two thousand florins. Ali Beg returns to Edirne and tells the khan, "Hungary is a land worthy of my sultan. Is it not a pity that the lord of such a land should be an infidel?"; he praises it so much that the khan grows eager to cross into Hungary.
A Man's Sign
Opening on the rhyme "nişânı", sign, the couplets tie Ali Beg's success to a general idea. A champion's sign, the mark he leaves, is his interpreter; his state is plain from it. The third couplet says that the hidden and open of everyone who comes into the world are told, the fourth that each acts by his own measure. The fifth returns to the image of the "nevbet": he whose turn comes does not pass without beating his drum. "Nevbet" means both a turn and the royal music; this double sense says that every champion must leave a name in his own time. In the edition the word "her", every, in the third couplet is in italics, that is, supplied from the S manuscript. The couplets rhyme on "-ânı": nişânı, tercümânı, beyânı, 'ayânı, zamânı, gümânı.
Bibliography
- Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, p. 464 (transliterated text, bâb 108).
