Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Laz'uñ ma'dinlerin zabt itdi insân
Ki harc ide anı bir han-ı sultân
Kâfir kim hükm iderdi ma'din üzre
Anuñ hâkimi oldı şimdi bir han
O kenzi Hak yolına harc ider kim
Bâyezîd Han'dur ol erbâb-ı ihsân
Yaraşur Âl-i 'Osmân 'adl ü bezle
Bu âli böyle sevdi Ganî Sübhân

In English

1. A man seized the mines of the Laz, so that a khan, a sultan might spend their yield.

2. It was an infidel who ruled over the mine; now its master has become a khan.

3. He spends that treasure on God's path; that man of bounty is Bayezid Han.

4. Justice and generosity become the House of Osman; the Rich and Glorious (God) loved this house thus.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Kratovo and Bursa

Bayezid's first acts after his accession are listed in the fifty-seventh chapter. The mines of Kratovo in the land of the Laz and their district, together with all the mines, are given to Paşa Yiğit Beg at Skopje; the author introduces him as "İshak Beg's master and like a father to him". Firuz Beg is sent to Vidin. Murad Han's body has been sent to Bursa; meanwhile the lord of Karaman has been raiding. Evrenez is left at Serres and takes Vodena and Çetroz; Firuz Beg raids Wallachia, and Paşa Yiğit Beg busies himself with Bosnia. Bayezid then comes to Bursa and turns to pious works: he builds a mosque, opposite it a medrese, a hospital and the zaviye of Ebu İshak.

The Master of the Mine

In the couplets the mines and the pious foundations are tied together. The silver mines of Serbia have passed out of infidel hands into the rule of a khan; this treasure will be spent on God's path, that is on buildings such as the mosque, medrese and hospital in Bursa. The last couplet returns once more to the pair "'adl ü bezl", justice and generosity, and says that the Ottomans are loved by God for these virtues. In describing conquests Âşıkpaşazâde also takes economic resources into account; this piece is one example. Paşa Yiğit Beg and İshak Beg, whom he raised, also have a place in the author's own life; later the author will tell how he came to Skopje with İshak Beg on his return from Mecca. İnsân, sultân, han, ihsân and Sübhân are the words of the "-ân" rhyme.

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 394-395 (transliterated text, bâb 57).