Photo: Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 179 — Hemân-dem kim 'Ali kuşandı yarak

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

Five couplets naming Ali Beg with images of the caliph Ali, Zülfikar and Burak, where the sovereign orders him to enter Moldavia openly by day and Ali Beg sets out.

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Hemân-dem kim 'Ali kuşandı yarak
Bilinde zülfekār bindügi burak

'İnâyet-i Hak anuñlan mu'îndür
Resûl mu'cizi hem anuñ-çün çırak

Velîler hâzır oldılar du'âya
İdindi 'Ali göñüllere turak

Yörütdi himmetilen gāzi sultân
Dimez menziline yakın ya ırak

Gazāya gitdi bu himmet eri gör
Tîmârı Şâm gerekdür yâhûd 'Irak

In English

1. At the moment when Ali girded on his arms, Zülfikar at his waist, Burak his mount.

2. God's favour is his helper; the Prophet's miracle too is a lamp for him.

3. The saints stood ready for prayer; Ali made his home in hearts.

4. The gazi sultan set (him) marching with his zeal; he does not say whether his goal is near or far.

5. See this man of zeal gone to holy war; his fief ought to be Damascus or Iraq.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Openly by Day

After the previous verse the prose continues with the sovereign's order: "Go, enter that infidel's land and conquer it, he who came by night to steal my fortresses. Go to him openly by day." The sovereign asks Ali Beg to strive to meet the infidel, to settle accounts with him if God grants it, and, if he cannot meet him, to ravage and burn his land and take his men captive. The order rests on a contrast: the infidel came by night like a thief, while Ali Beg is to go openly by day. The slave obeys the sovereign's order and resolves to set out.

Zülfikar and Burak

Ali Beg is praised with the images of his namesake, the caliph Ali. In the first couplet Ali has girded on his arms; Zülfikar is at his waist and Burak beneath him. Zülfikar is the sword of Ali, Burak the Prophet's mount on the night of the ascension. The second couplet says God's favour is his helper and the Prophet's miracle is a lamp lighting his way. In the third the saints are ready for prayer and Ali has made his home in hearts. The last two couplets bring forward the sovereign's zeal: the gazi sultan has set him marching with his zeal, and he does not ask whether the goal is near or far. The last line ends with a wish of praise: such a man of zeal ought to have Damascus or Iraq for his fief. Nothing firm shows that Âşıkpaşazâde wrote this chapter either. The rhyme ends on a pun setting ırak, far, beside 'Irak; before them come yarak, burak, çırak and turak.