Âşıkî, Manzume 126: Ogullar ataya yürek yagıdur

Manzume 126 — Ogullar ataya yürek yagıdur

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

Good sons and bad: Murad seats his son Mehmed on the throne in his own lifetime, and the despot's sons imprisoned in Tokat are blinded and sent back to their father.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Ogullar ataya yürek yagıdur
Oguluñ eyüsi gussa tagıdur

Ogul kim atanuñ hemsâzı ola
Safâlu bâgı bostân u bâgıdur

Ogul kim mukbil olup du'â alsa
Atanuñ devleti yüzi agıdur

Her ogul kim ol uymaz atasına
Resûl'e müdde'î Hakk'a yagıdur

In English

1. Sons are the heart's fat to a father; (yet) the best of sons is a mountain of care.

2. A son in harmony with his father is his happy vineyard, his orchard and garden.

3. A son who is fortunate and receives prayer is the honour of his father's fortune.

4. Every son who does not follow his father is an adversary to the Prophet and an enemy to God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Prison in Tokat, Throne in Edirne

Once Smederevo has passed out of the despot's hands, Yanko, in the hundred and sixteenth chapter, takes the lead and a Hungarian army comes to the pass of İzladi; Kasım Paşa and Halil Paşa's brother are captured. Peace is made and the despot is given back his land. Meanwhile the despot's two sons, imprisoned in Tokat, are blinded and sent to their father; Halil Paşa's brother is also bought back from Hungary. Then Murad comes to Edirne and says to Halil Paşa: "I will set my son on the throne before my eyes... Now let me see in my lifetime how my son becomes sovereign." He has his son, that is Sultan Mehmed, brought from Manisa and seats him on the throne. Turahan Beg is seized and sent to the Bidevî Çardağı in Tokat; it is said that he was the cause of the fighting with the infidels and was a friend of the despot. Murad of his own will leaves the throne to his son and goes to Manisa himself; Halil Paşa becomes grand vizier and Mevlânâ Hüsrev military judge.

Heart's Fat and Mountain of Care

As a father leaves his throne to his son, the couplets reflect on sons. The first couplet sets up a contradiction: a son is the heart's fat to his father, the most precious thing; yet even a good son is a mountain of care. The second and third describe the good son: a son in harmony with his father, who receives prayer, is his father's garden and his honour. The fourth counts the son who does not follow his father an enemy to the Prophet and to God. These couplets also set up a silent contrast with the Serbian princes blinded in Tokat in the same chapter: on one side Mehmed, set on the throne in his father's lifetime, on the other two sons returning blind to their father. The author does not state this contrast openly. The refrain is "-agıdur": yagıdur, tagıdur, bâgıdur, agıdur, yagıdur.