Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 78 — Mûsî'nüñ fikri budur kim tuta cümle 'âlemi

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

Musa Çelebi takes the throne in Rumelia while Mehmed Çelebi, hearing in Amasya of Emir Süleyman's death, comes from there to Bursa: two long-lined couplets.

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Mûsî'nüñ fikri budur kim tuta cümle 'âlemi
Takdîri Hak'dur iden tedbîri ko sen âdemî

Mâlikü'l-mülkdür o mülkin düziben ü hem bozan
Bir kulına virmedi Hak işbu cümle 'âlemi

In English

1. Musa's thought is this: to hold the whole world; O man, leave planning aside, it is God's decree that acts.

2. He who builds and pulls down sovereignty is the Master of sovereignty; God did not give all this world to one servant.

Literary and Historical Commentary

From Amasya to Bursa

Musa has taken full possession of Rumelia, and the timar holders and provincial governors have submitted to him: so the sixty-eighth chapter opens. At the same time "Sultan Mehmed in Amasya heard that Emir Süleyman had died"; Mehmed comes to Bursa, the people of Bursa meet him and he takes the throne. Wherever Emir Süleyman ruled, he now rules. Here the author adds a short but weighty note on Amasya: "Emir Süleyman did not rule over Amasya. He himself had ruled it from before; that too was in his hand." That is, Amasya remained in Mehmed's hands throughout the Interregnum and never came under his brother's rule. Musa meanwhile makes Kör Şahmelik vizier, Mihaloğlu Mehmed Beg governor-general and the son of the kadı of Simavna military judge; he takes fortresses in Serbia, raids towards Constantinople and besieges Silivri. When Kör Şahmelik flees to Constantinople, Musa grows suspicious and returns to Edirne.

The Metre Changes

What first sets these two couplets apart from the other verses is their metre: the lines approach fifteen syllables and recall the remel pattern built on "fâ'ilâtün". The edition does not explain the change. The couplets set Musa's desire to hold the whole world against God's decree: planning belongs to man, but it is decree that acts; God has not given the whole world to a single servant. These words hint in advance at the end of the brothers' war in the Interregnum, that is, at Mehmed's defeat of Musa. The refrain "'âlemi" recurs at the end of both couplets. For the place of Amasya in this period see the page Amasya in the Ottoman Interregnum.