Photo: Maarten from Netherlands, CC BY 2.0

Manzume 193 — Kişilik bilmege insân gerekdür

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

Three couplets signed Âşıkî in the edition's appendix, where the Conqueror's envoy to Kayıtbay is shown no honour and the sultan of Egypt in return sends a market inspector.

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Kişilik bilmege insân gerekdür
Ve hem ol tâlib-i Sübhan gerekdür

Ne bilsün cevheri pula satanlar
Ki Çerkez'dür aña harîdâr gerekdür

'Âşıkî hanlara oldı du'âcı
Gönül ma'mûrlıgına han gerekdür

In English

1. To know a man's worth one must be a man; and moreover one who seeks the All-Glorious.

2. What do those who sell a jewel for a scrap of coin know; for (they) are Circassians, it needs a buyer.

3. Âşıkî has become one who prays for khans; for the heart to flourish, a khan is needed.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Market Inspector

Another grievance between the Ottomans and Egypt is added in the hundred and seventy-sixth chapter. Some years later the Conqueror sends an envoy to Kayıtbay to say "may the throne be blessed"; the envoy is the chief of the pursuivants and carries fine gifts. But in Egypt he is again not shown honour according to custom and returns with complaints. The sovereign is grieved at this. The sultan of Egypt in turn sends an envoy after this one; the man he sends is a market inspector. The author explains why this was wounding: the inspector is "the head of the people of the market", the chief of the bazaar tradesmen; to send a market inspector to such great sovereigns is a slight. The Conqueror is grieved at this act, and this too becomes a beginning of enmity. The date is 884 (1479-80).

Jewel and Coin

The diplomatic insult is told through a measure of worth. To know a man's worth, his value, one must be a man, and one who seeks God. The second couplet makes a harsh comparison: what do those who sell a jewel for a scrap of coin know of its worth. These people are Circassians; that is, the Mamluk government met a sovereign's envoy with a bazaar official. It takes a buyer who knows the jewel. In the last couplet the author says he prays for khans: for the heart to flourish, a khan is needed. This is a closing that shows the appendix's loyalty to the Ottoman house. The edition prints these couplets in the appendix. All three couplets end on "gerekdür", the refrain the next verse uses as well.