Âşıkî, Manzume 138: Bu han kim fazl-ı Hak yoldaş idindi

Manzume 138 — Bu han kim fazl-ı Hak yoldaş idindi

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

Five couplets saying that whoever will not pray for the dynasty wears a stone for a cap, after Novo Brdo falls and the Conqueror feasts at Kosovo where Murad I fell.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Bu han kim fazl-ı Hak yoldaş idindi
Kamu halk bil anı kim baş idindi

Bu hana düşmân olan 'âlem içre
Belâ vü zehr-ü mârı aş idindi

Bu hanuñ nesline kim du'â itmez
Başına bil külâhın taş idindi

Se'âdet tâcın urdı Hak bu hana
Zuhûr-ı hikmete nakkâş idindi

Âşıkî yaz menâkıbını bu hanun
Ki berr ü bahri cümle bahş idindi

In English

1. This khan who took God's grace as his companion: know that all the people took him as their head.

2. Whoever in the world is an enemy to this khan has taken calamity, poison and snake as his food.

3. Whoever does not pray for this khan's line, know that he has taken a stone as a cap on his head.

4. God set the crown of felicity on this khan; He took him as the painter of wisdom made manifest.

5. Âşıkî, write the legends of this khan; for he has taken land and sea alike as a gift to bestow.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Novo Brdo and Kosovo

In the hundred and twenty-fifth chapter the despot's death sets Novo Brdo changing hands: İsa Beg, son of İshak Beg, reports the situation to the khan. The warden of the fortress resists, saying that the wife of the king of Bosnia is the despot's daughter and is their sovereign; but on the fifth day the fortress is taken and the despot's silver falls into Ottoman hands. Then they go to the fortress of Trepča; the stone fortress is taken at once, its tower holds out for a few days and then falls too, and so much wealth is found there that "God alone knows its measure and count". Evrenezoğlu İsa Beg is sent to another small fortress, but the infidels have burned it and fled. The khan comes from İzbeçen to Kosovo, to the place where Gazi Hünkâr, that is Murad I, fell as a martyr; there he bestows many gifts, has food cooked, it is eaten for the souls of Gazi Hünkâr and the gazis, and prayers are said. The date is 858 (1454).

A Cap of Stone

In these couplets prayer for the dynasty becomes a test of loyalty. This khan has taken God's grace as his companion and all the people hold him as their head. The second couplet says that whoever is his enemy has taken calamity, poison and snake as his food. The third uses a harsh image: whoever does not pray for this khan's line has put a stone on his head in place of a cap. The fourth says God set the crown of felicity on this khan and made him the painter of wisdom. The last returns once more to the author's task: he must write the legends of this khan, who bestows land and sea. The Conqueror's feast at the place where his great-grandfather Murad I fell at Kosovo is a scene that shows the weight the work gives to dynastic continuity; the verse telling of the battle of Kosovo also has a separate page in this category. All five couplets end on the refrain "idindi".