Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Paşâdur Hayreddîn feth itdi iklîm
Dölendi râhat oldı bil her iklîm
Bu Âl-i 'Osmân'a hôş hizmet itdi
Begendi hizmetini il ü iklîm
Paşa oldı kabûl çün han yanında
Ki lâzımdur kabûl ide her iklîm
Bilindi Hayreddîn kim ol vezîrdür
Düzildi tertîb ü bahşîş her iklîm
Bu tertîb tasnîfin Hayreddîn itdi
Kabûl itdi anı bil cümle iklîm
Niçe yirlerde rişvet kapu açar
Bu şimdi tertîbe bagladı iklîm
Vezîrde tertîb ü erkân gerekdür
Ki hayr-ı dîne kuşana her iklîm
In English
1. It is Hayreddin Paşa who conquered the land; every land was set in order and came to ease, know this.
2. He gave fine service to the House of Osman; province and land approved his service.
3. The paşa found favour with the khan; every land must accept him.
4. It became known that Hayreddin is vizier; in every land order and largesse were set right.
5. Hayreddin drew up the plan of this order; know that all lands accepted it.
6. In many places bribery opens doors; the land is now bound to this order.
7. A vizier needs order and protocol, that every land may gird itself for the good of the faith.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Towards Macedonia
Reaching Edirne in the fifty-fourth chapter, Murad Han orders his vizier Hayreddin Paşa to conquer lands together with Evrenez. Evrenez has made Gümülcine his frontier base and taken Büre, İskete and Marulya; he sends the tribute regularly to the khan. Delü Balaban has built a fort before Serres and sits there. Şahin takes Kavala, Drama, Zihne and Serres one by one by agreement; whatever the law of sovereignty requires is done, what is to be sent to the khan is sent, what is to be given to the gazis is given. Then Karaferye and its district are conquered, the lands are divided among timar holders and tribute is laid on the infidels. Evrenez is now given Serres as his frontier.
Praise of a Vizier
Çandarlı Hayreddin Paşa, little named in the prose, stands at the centre of the seven couplets. The refrain "iklîm", land or region, recurs in all seven couplets. Nothing is said of Hayreddin's prowess in war; what is praised is his "tertîb", his ordering of the affairs of state and his fixing of rules for revenues and grants. The sixth couplet sets this order against bribery: while elsewhere bribery opens doors, these lands have been bound to a rule. In the hundred and sixty-sixth chapter, listing the works of the viziers, Âşıkpaşazâde will place Hayreddin Paşa first, saying that he founded the janissary corps and began the system of "teşrif", honours, for the poor, the rich and the learned at the Ottoman Porte. These seven couplets take on further meaning when the historian's attitude to the viziers of his own day is considered: against viziers accused towards the end of the work of bribery and lawlessness, Hayreddin stands as the model of a good vizier.
Bibliography
- Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 390-391 (transliterated text, bâb 54).
