Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Şular kim düşmânından gāfil oldı
Virür başın murâdsuz magbûn oldı
Atın düşmân biner evi yıkılur
'Adûlar şâd dostlar mahzûn oldı
'Âşıkî kudretüñ işi 'acebdür
Hakîkatde kamusı ma'lûm oldı

In English

1. Those who were heedless of their enemy give their heads in vain and were deceived.

2. The enemy rides his horse, his house is torn down; enemies rejoiced, friends were grieved.

3. Âşıkî, the working of divine power is a wonder; in truth all of it was known.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Heedlessness

The Adana phase of the war between the Ottomans and Egypt fills the hundred and seventy-ninth chapter. The Ottoman troops join the Turkmen lords and great battles are fought; Gündüzoğlu is beheaded, and Ramazanoğlu is seized and sent to the Ottoman sovereign. Then the troops return to Adana and "busied themselves with conviviality", that is, gave themselves to drinking parties. The Egyptian troops at Aleppo learn of this and tell their sultan they cannot stand against the army of Rum; the sultan of Egypt gathers a great army, pours out treasure and sends it to Aleppo. The Ottoman sovereign orders the governor-general of Anatolia to help his slaves at Adana; but the governor-general reaches Ereğli and sits there, and he too gives himself to conviviality. Learning that the Ottoman troops are busy with conviviality, the Egyptian army marches, crosses the Bakraz mountains, bridges the Ceyhan, casts cannon at the fortress of Ayas and comes to the head of the bridge of Adana. Musa Beg and Mustafa Beg are beheaded; Ferhad mounts his horse but cannot keep his seat, falls, and he too gives his head. Those of the remaining troops who are caught are killed, and some are strung on ropes and sent to Aleppo and Egypt. The fortress of Adana is besieged.

The Enemy's Horse

The lesson of the disaster is given in the first couplet: those heedless of their enemy give their heads in vain and are deceived. The second couplet tells the outcome of heedlessness with a vivid image: the enemy rides his horse and his house is torn down; enemies rejoice, friends grieve. In the closing couplet the author says that the working of God's power is a wonder and that in truth all is known. The couplets are directly linked with the phrase "busied themselves with conviviality", repeated twice in the prose: the Ottoman troops' defeat came less from the enemy's strength than from their own heedlessness. The author of these appendix couplets is unknown; the edition keeps them apart from the main text. All three couplets end on "oldı".

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 582-583 (transliterated text, bâb 179).