Photo: Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 190 — Buluşdı bir birine iki sultân

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

Three couplets in the appendix, where envoys between the Ottomans and Sultan Hoşkadem cease and Egypt declares over Dulkadır, "the sovereign of Rum is my enemy."

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Buluşdı bir birine iki sultân
Gör imdi n'idiser takdîr-i Sübhan

Bahaneler olur behâ görinmez
Bahane müşterîye nefs ü şeytân

Bahane iki göründi cihanda
Biri cahîm yolıdur biri gufrân

In English

1. Two sultans have met one another; see now what the decree of the All-Glorious will do.

2. Pretexts arise, (the real) worth is not seen; the pretext, for the buyer, is the self and Satan.

3. Two pretexts appeared in the world; one is the road to hell, the other forgiveness.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Appendix

Here the edition opens a part headed "Ek", appendix, and this verse is its first piece. According to the edition's introduction these chapters do not keep chronological order; their content and style show that they were added later. For this reason it is not certain that the verses here belong to Âşıkpaşazâde.

The Envoys Cease

The hundred and seventy-first chapter tells how enmity began between the Ottomans and Egypt. After the Trebizond campaign no envoy comes from the sultan of Egypt; the custom of friendship is abandoned. When Hoşkadem becomes sultan of Egypt the Ottoman sovereign in turn sends no envoy to say "may the throne be blessed"; the custom is dropped on both sides and goodwill begins to break off. Hoşkadem begins to be an enemy to all sides. An assassin is sent against Mekkî Aslan Beg of Dulkadır; the assassin settles in the Friday mosque of Elbistan, fasts by day and prays by night, and at last finds his chance and kills Mekkî Aslan Beg in the mosque. Hoşkadem sends Aslan's brother Budak Beg in his place; but the lords of Dulkadır dislike this and call the other brother, Şehsuvar, who is with the Ottoman sovereign. Şehsuvar goes with the sovereign's leave and drives Budak from the province. The sultan of Egypt says: "The sovereign of Rum has become my enemy." The date is 862 (1457-58).

Two Pretexts

The tension is met with the thought of fate: two sultans have met one another, and it remains to be seen what God's decree will do. The second couplet looks at the real cause of war: pretexts are many, but the true worth is not seen; for the one who seeks a pretext, it is the self and Satan. The last couplet divides two ways: two pretexts appear in the world, one the road to hell, the other forgiveness. Sultân, Sübhân, şeytân and gufrân stand side by side in the rhyme; Satan and forgiveness face each other in the last couplet.