Photo: Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 196 — 'Âşıkî di menâkıb bunda kalsun

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

Four untitled couplets in the appendix, where Hersekoğlu Ahmed Paşa marches to Adana with hungry troops, wishing the legends to stop here and praying for the dynasty.

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

'Âşıkî di menâkıb bunda kalsun
Yazam bu hanı dahı añdugumdan

Muhammed Han oglı Bâyezîd Han
Diyem gazâların bildügümden

İlâhî Âl-i 'Osmân nesli hak
Kalalar tâ kıyâmet hükm-i mutlak

Ve her kim diye bu du'âya âmîn
İde her korkudan Hak anı emîn

In English

1. Âşıkî, say: let the legends stop here; let me write of this khan too (as far as) I have recalled him.

2. Bayezid Khan, son of Muhammed Khan; let me tell of his holy wars (as far as) I know them.

3. O God, may the line of the House of Osman remain by right, with absolute rule, until the Resurrection.

4. And whoever says amen to this prayer, may God keep him safe from every fear.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Relief for Adana

The hundred and eightieth chapter begins with news reaching the Ottoman sovereign that the slaves guarding the fortress at Adana were cut down through heedlessness. The sovereign first says a cool word: "To lose an army or not to lose it is no wonder." Then he orders Hersekoğlu Ahmed Paşa, governor-general of Anatolia: "Go quickly and help my slaves guarding that fortress." The paşa marches and comes down to Adana. But the troops are in a poor state: most of the cavalrymen are on foot, with no provisions and no arms; hungry and ill-clad, they stand against the enemy. The people of the fortress come out and break the enemy's cannon. The verse comes at this point, untitled.

A Farewell

Here the account is broken off by a farewell. The author tells himself to say, "let the legends stop here"; he will write of this khan too, that is Bayezid, as far as he has recalled him. The second couplet adds that he will tell of his holy wars as far as he knows them. These two couplets seem a place where the author of the appendix admits the limits of his knowledge. The last two couplets rhyme within themselves like a mesnevi and are a prayer for the dynasty: may the line of the House of Osman keep absolute rule until the Resurrection; may whoever says amen to this prayer be safe from every fear. This prayer, coming after the defeat in the previous chapter, stresses loyalty to the dynasty despite disaster. Printed in the appendix, the piece can be read beside the prayer in the verse that closes the S manuscript; but it is not certain that both come from the same hand. The rhyme is in "-dugumdan/-dügümden" in the first two couplets, and in "hak/mutlak" and "âmîn/emîn" in the last two.