Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Zâlimden halâs itdi mazlûmı han
Du'âlar itdi cümle ehl-i îmân
Bu hanuñ hükm-i 'Îsâ-nefesin bil
Bu iklîm ölmiş-idi buldılar cân
Mısırlu rüşvet-ilen yıkdı iller
Bu han bedl-ile komaz zerre vîrân
Mısır Çerkesi hükmi mensûh oldı
Bu gāzi hanuñ oldı hükmi devrân
Bâyezîd Han devri neye beñzer
Nebîler içre san geldi Süleymân
Zamânuñ dîvleri hep mahbûs oldı
Selâtînler bu handan ister amân
Okunsun hutbesi Ka'be'de yâ Rab
Bu kānûna düzülsün tertîb erkân
'Âşıkînüñ du'âsı hana her dem
Ola 'ömri uzun çok süre devrân

In English

1. The khan freed the oppressed from the oppressor; all the people of faith offered prayers.

2. Know that this khan's rule has the breath of Jesus; this land had died, and they found life.

3. The Egyptian ruined the lands with bribes; this khan, with his giving, leaves not a speck in ruin.

4. The rule of the Circassian of Egypt has been abolished; the age has become the rule of this gazi khan.

5. What does the reign of Bayezid Khan resemble; as if Solomon had come among the prophets.

6. The demons of the age have all been imprisoned; sultans beg this khan for mercy.

7. O Lord, let his sermon be read in the Kaaba; let order and rank be set by this law.

8. Âşıkî's prayer for the khan at every moment (is this): may his life be long, may his age long endure.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Adana and Tarsus

The account goes on with a short order from the sovereign to one of his slaves: "Go, free those oppressed from those oppressors." Obeying the order, the slave strikes out from Niğde and comes down on Adana. The oppressors all scatter and flee, and the oppressed come out to meet the khan's slave. From Adana as far as the castle of Külek, the people of the castle of Alnakşan, the people of the castle of Millen and the notables of Tarsus come out to meet the sovereign's slave and surrender their castles; they lay their heads in the shade of the sovereign's banner. The Kuş Temürlü, Kusunlu and Kara İsalu clans also submit to the sovereign's slave. The date is the beginning of Cemaziyelevvel 890 (1485).

The Breath of Jesus

Here the conquest is a deliverance: the khan has freed the oppressed from the oppressor, and the people of faith have prayed. The second couplet likens the khan's rule to the breath of Jesus: this land, which had died, has found life. The third and fourth accuse Egypt: the Egyptian ruined the lands with bribes, and the rule of the Circassian of Egypt has been abolished. Here "Circassian" stands for the Mamluk government. The fifth couplet likens Bayezid to the prophet Solomon, and the sixth, with the demons of the age imprisoned, to his rule over the demons. The seventh is a great wish: may his sermon be read in the Kaaba. This voices a hope directed at the Hijaz, then in Mamluk hands. The last couplet is a prayer with the pen name. Like every piece after chapter 162, it cannot be said for certain to come from Âşıkpaşazâde's pen; the edition's introduction sees other hands at work in this section. Nine rhyme words (han, îmân, cân, vîrân, devrân, Süleymân, amân, erkân, devrân) gather on the long "-ân".

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 555-556 (transliterated text, bâb 163).