Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 158 — Bir 'aceb Rûm vezîr oldı gine

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

Four couplets of satire on a convert vizier, in the chapter where the Conqueror enters Albania in 870, builds Elbasan in its midst, and Rûm Mehmed becomes vizier.

Contents 4

1Original Ottoman Turkish Text
2In English
3Literary and Historical Commentary
4Bibliography

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Bir 'aceb Rûm vezîr oldı gine
Şöyle bil kim ogrı girdi bu dîne

Adını mü'min komışdı han anuñ
Fursatın gözlerdi göñülde gine

Kîni budur aldı han İstanbol'ı
Yimez oldı bu Urum pinepişne

Bu vezîr oldı kâfirler gör n'ider
Agu virür dir Müsülmânı kına

In English

1. Once again a strange Greek has become vizier; know it thus, that a thief has entered this faith.

2. The khan had given him the name of believer; (but) in his heart he still watched for his chance.

3. His grudge is this: the khan took Constantinople; this Greek can no longer eat his "pinepişne".

4. This (man) has become vizier; see what the infidels do; he gives poison and says to the Muslim, "kına".

Literary and Historical Commentary

Elbasan

The Albanian campaign is told briefly in the hundred and forty-first chapter: the sovereign gathers the army of Islam, enters the province of Albania and sends raiders out on every side. When the gazis enter the province some of the Albanian lords come and submit, others flee and vanish. The sovereign has a fortress built in the middle of the province, names it İlbasan (Elbasan) and settles gazis in it, to wage holy war on its infidels. The date is 870 (1465-66). The chapter ends with this short sentence: "And when Sultan Muhammed Han returned from this holy war, Rûm Muhammed became vizier."

A Thief Who Entered the Faith

The satire is built on this single sentence. In earlier chapters of the work Rûm Mehmed was named as the vizier who brought the rent upon Constantinople and reckoned that the town would fall again into Greek hands. Here the author speaks of him as "a strange Greek" and likens him to a thief who has entered the faith. The second couplet says the khan gave him the name of believer, but in his heart he watched for his chance. The third couplet shows the cause of this enmity: the khan has taken Constantinople and this Greek can no longer eat his "pinepişne". The word is not explained in the edition; it seems to be an expression pointing to some old food or way of life. In the last couplet it is asked what the infidels will do now that this man is vizier: he gives the Muslim poison and torments him besides. The chapter that follows will tell what Rûm Mehmed did in Karaman and how he brought about Mahmud Paşa's dismissal. Gine, dîne, gine, pinepişne and kına gather round the "-ine" sound.