Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Neyi kim takdîr-i Hak yazdı anı
Anuñ kısmetidür yazılan divânı
Çü hattı muhkem kâtîbi üstâd
İrer menziline anuñ servânı
Sa'du nahs-i tâli' kim yazıla ol
Zâhir olan âhir anuñ beyânı
Çü dâl devletde gālibdür Cem üzre
Ko kaçsun Cem'i kim tutmañ siz anı
In English
1. Whatever God's decree has written, the register that is written is its lot.
2. When the hand is firm and the scribe a master, its caravan reaches its halting place.
3. Fortune's lucky and unlucky are written; in the end its explanation comes to light.
4. Since the "dâl" prevails in fortune over Cem, let Cem flee; do not hold him.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Cem at Bursa
Before turning to Cem Sultan's attempt at sovereignty, the author puts a question to himself in the hundred and fifty-seventh chapter: he has written of Bayezid's accession, but what did Cem do? The answer is this: the fools of Karaman gave Cem evil counsel, took him and brought him to Bursa. When Bayezid hears of this he sends some two thousand janissaries by sea; they reach Bursa from Mudanya, and Cem arrives at the same time. The people of Bursa had hoped Bayezid would come himself; seeing only the janissaries come, they hold back, for some of the janissaries had done things in Constantinople unworthy of their name. And Cem too is the son of their own sovereign. Therefore the people submit to Cem. Before this the lying astrologers held a notion: "After his father the sovereignty is Sultan Cem's." The author says the saying came partly true: Cem came to Bursa, became sovereign and exercised the law of sovereignty. But fortune lies with Bayezid; Cem's reign "was just that much." Thus the astrologers' notion was fulfilled, and the fools of Karaman were left downcast and grieving.
The Written Register
The events are tied to the thought of fate. Whatever God's decree has written, the register that is written is its lot. The second couplet uses an image of writing: when the hand is firm and the scribe a master, the caravan reaches its halting place. The third says that lucky and unlucky fortune are written and in the end their explanation comes to light; this alludes to the astrologers' half-fulfilled prophecy. The last couplet is obscure. "Dâl" is a letter of the Arabic alphabet; the edition's translation takes the line as "fortune like a dâl". Since the word "devlet", fortune, begins with this letter in Arabic script, it may be a play on letters pointing to Bayezid's fortune prevailing over Cem; but the exact sense is uncertain. The end of the line is plain: let Cem flee, do not hold him. The rhyme opens and closes on anı, with dîvânı, servânı and beyânı between.
Bibliography
- Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 547-548 (transliterated text, bâb 157).
