Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Pâdişâhdan gerek 'atâ vü kerem
Meskeni dahı ola bâg-ı İrem
Harc ola milk ü mâl hazîneler
Sormaya kimseneye n'oldı direm
Bu hisâl cümle Âl-i 'Osmân'da
Mahsûsdur bu âle saña direm

In English

1. Giving and generosity are expected of a sovereign; let his dwelling be the garden of Irem.

2. Let realm, wealth and treasuries be spent; let him ask no one, "what became of the dirhem."

3. I tell you, all these virtues are in the House of Osman, peculiar to this house.

Literary and Historical Commentary

From Amasya to Elbistan

Back from Kosovo, Murad takes his seat at Edirne in the hundred and twentieth chapter and says to Halil Paşa: he has given his daughter her dowry and married her off; now he wishes to marry his son Mehmed, and wants the daughter of Süleyman Beg of Dulkadır, for "that Turkmen deals very honestly with us." Halil Paşa agrees. The author records: "At once they sent the wife of Hızır Ağa from Amasya." Hızır Ağa's wife goes to Elbistan, to Süleyman Beg. Süleyman Beg has five daughters and has all five brought before her. On seeing the girls the lady takes the one she likes by the hand and kisses her on both eyes; then she returns to the khan and tells him of Süleyman Beg's obedience and of the girl's beauty and character. Murad accepts; Hızır Beg's wife is sent again together with the wives of the notables of Rum, and the bride is brought to Edirne. When the khan sees the bride's dowry he says, "This is not according to my custom, and it is too little," and himself prepares a dowry fit for sovereigns; the wedding is held, the neighbouring rulers are invited, and countless gifts are given to the scholars and the poor.

The Task of a Lady from Amasya

In this chapter Amasya appears in one of the court's most delicate affairs: choosing a bride for a prince. Hızır Ağa's household lives in Amasya; the record in a later chapter of the work, "Works of Hızır Agaoğlu Mehmed Paşa: he built an imaret in Amasya", also shows this family's place in Amasya. Sending a lady from Amasya to choose the bride also reflects the town's position as an intermediary in relations between the Ottoman house and the region of Rum and Dulkadır. In the couplets the true virtue of this wedding is generosity: giving and generosity are expected of a sovereign; he must spend wealth and treasury and never ask "what became of the dirhem". The third couplet says this virtue is peculiar to the House of Osman. "-em" is the rhyming sound: kerem, İrem, direm, direm.

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, p. 482 (transliterated text, bâb 120).