Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 178 — Hîlesi kâfire gör ne idiser

Amasya05 Editorial Board • Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk • 01 October 2026 • Updated: 14 October 2026 • 2 min reading

Two couplets on where trickery ends: after Kilia and Akkerman fall, the lord of Moldavia scales the walls by night and the gazis cut his men down till morning.

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Hîlesi kâfire gör ne idiser
Yıkılup evleri ilden gidiser

Ogul ve kız u mâldan ayrılısar
Ne getürdi başına ekseri ser

In English

1. See what his trickery will do to the infidel; his houses will be torn down and he will leave the land.

2. He will be parted from son and daughter and goods; what he brought on his head is mostly evil.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Ladders by Night

The cause of the Moldavian holy war of Ali Beg, governor-general of Rumelia, is, in the hundred and sixty-fourth chapter, a night raid. After Sultan Bayezid took Kilia and Akkerman, some hypocrite infidels of that province had not submitted with their hearts. They send word to the lord of Moldavia: "Make ready, so that we may steal the fortress." The lord of Moldavia has ladders made, gathers troops, fills his ships and comes by night from the water side to the foot of the fortress. The infidels inside are waiting ready; they do away with the gazis guarding the fortress. By night ladders are set against the fortress. Some gazis notice and wait in silence, and when the infidels have climbed onto the fortress they strike with the sword crying "God is greatest"; they cut them down until morning. The lord of Moldavia barely saves his head; many of the infidels who came are taken alive and sent to the sovereign. The sovereign "did with them what befitted his sovereignty."

Where Trickery Ends

The first question is what his trickery will do to the infidel. His houses will be torn down and he will leave the land; he will be parted from son, daughter and goods. The last line says that what the trickster brings on his own head is mostly evil. The couplets also announce events to be told later in the chapter: the sovereign will order Ali Beg to enter the province of Moldavia and, if he cannot meet the infidel, to ravage and burn his land. The chapters holding these couplets entered the edition from manuscript A1, which makes their link to Âşıkpaşazâde doubtful. After idiser, gidiser and ayrılısar the rhyme closes on a short "ser".