Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Tabîbler şerbeti virdi hana
O han içdi şerâbı kana kana
Cigerin togradı şerbet o hanuñ
Hemîn-dem zâr itdi yana yana
Didi niçün baña kıydı tabîbler
Boyadılar cigerüm cânı kana
İcâbet itmedi tabîb şerâbı
Tîmârları kamu vardı ziyâna
Tabîbler hana çok taksîrlık itdi
Budur togrı kavil düşme gümâna
Du'â it 'Âşıkî bu han hakkında
Ki nûr-ı rahmete cânı boyana
İlâhî cümle oglın pîr görsün
Ogul oglanları gelsün dîvâna
Diyenler bu du'â hakkında âmîn
Cihan âfetlerinden olsun emîn

In English

1. The physicians gave the khan a draught; that khan drank the wine in deep draughts.

2. The draught tore that khan's liver to pieces; at that moment he moaned, burning.

3. He said, "Why did the physicians do me such harm; they dyed my liver and my soul with blood."

4. The physician's wine did no good; all their treatments came to loss.

5. The physicians did the khan much wrong; this is the true word, do not fall into doubt.

6. Âşıkî, pray for this khan, that his soul may be dyed in the light of mercy.

7. O God, may he see all his sons grown old; may his sons' sons come to his council.

8. May those who say amen to this prayer be safe from the calamities of the world.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Lifespans and Sermons

The hundred and eighty-first chapter opens with a question: "O dervish", do you know the histories of the House of Osman, their lifespans and their reigns? The answer lists for each sovereign his lifespan, his age when his father died, how many years the sermon was read in his name, and the cause of his death. After Osman, Orhan and Murad I comes Yıldırım Bayezid; the struggle with Timur caused his death. Amasya appears in this list for Çelebi Mehmed: his life was forty-eight years, he was eighteen when his father died, and "for twenty-one years his sermon was read, at times in the province of Amasya, at last in all the provinces." That is, Çelebi Mehmed's rule began in Amasya and then spread over the whole land; the site's page Amasya in the Interregnum covers this period. His death came at Edirne from a flux. Murad II, returning from an outing, had a headache and died a few days later. The Conqueror's life was fifty-one years and the sermon was read in his name for thirty years. The cause of death was an ailment in his foot; the physicians could find no cure, and at last gathered, agreed and let blood from his foot; the ailment grew worse, and they gave him "şerâb-ı fârig", a draught of release; then he died.

The Physicians' Draught

Here the Conqueror's death is told in bitter words. The physicians gave the khan a draught and he drank it in deep draughts; the draught tore his liver to pieces and the khan moaned, burning. The third couplet is a reproach in the khan's voice: why did the physicians do him such harm, dyeing his liver and soul with blood. The fourth and fifth are a plain accusation: the physicians' draught did no good, their treatments came to loss, they did the khan much wrong; the author adds, "this is the true word". The last three couplets are a prayer: may the khan's soul be dyed in the light of mercy, may his sons grow old, may his grandsons come to his council, may those who say amen be safe from calamities. Compared with chapter 155, which tells of the Conqueror's death in plain words, this appended piece adds an interpretation that blames the physicians for his death. Since it stands in the appendix that follows the main text, nothing certain can be said of its author. Hana, kana kana, yana yana, kana, ziyâna, gümâna, boyana and dîvâna gather on "-âna"; the last couplet closes with "âmîn/emîn".

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 584-585 (transliterated text, bâb 181).