Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0

Manzume 82 — Eyüdür dostluk itmek hanlar-ılan

Amasya05 Editorial Board • Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk • 01 October 2026 • Updated: 14 October 2026 • 2 min reading

Friendship with khans, in two couplets: before his Karaman campaign Mehmed Çelebi asks İsfendiyar for troops and Germiyan for supplies, which arrive in plenty.

Contents 4

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

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Eyüdür dostluk itmek hanlar-ılan
Müdârâ yâ mahabbet anlar-ılan

Ve bâri her cihetden söz kabûl it
Kulaguñ dinç ola hem varuñ-ılan

In English

1. It is good to be friends with khans; to get along with them or to love them (is good).

2. At least heed words from every side; so that both your ear and your wealth may be at peace.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Supplies and Friendship

With Musa removed, the seventy-second chapter shows where Mehmed Çelebi turned next. Hearing of the lord of Karaman's "reckless deed" at Bursa, Mehmed comes to Bursa. He first sends an envoy to İsfendiyar: let him either come himself or send one of his sons to the army, otherwise he will be marched upon. İsfendiyar at once sends his son Kasım Beg with the envoy. An envoy goes to the lord of Germiyan too: he has seen what the lord of Karaman did to Ottoman lands; Mehmed will march on Karaman from Seyitgazi, and the lord of Germiyan should show his friendship by sending supplies to the army. The lord of Germiyan says, "What favour is it to ask for supplies; I will come myself to serve, bowing my face," and sends supplies in plenty; the author says that until the khan reached that country and returned, the flow of supplies from Germiyan never ceased.

Ease for Ear and Wealth

The key word of this small piece of political counsel is "müdârâ": friendship with khans is good, whether by accommodation or by true affection. The second couplet draws a practical conclusion: heeding words that come from every side brings ease to both ear and wealth. The lord of Germiyan's more than fulfilling what was asked is the counterpart of this counsel in the prose. "Müdârâ" means getting along, managing; in Âşıkpaşazâde's language this word mostly describes an enforced friendship with a powerful neighbour. Rhyme and refrain are "-lar-ılan/-uñ-ılan": hanlar-ılan, anlar-ılan, varuñ-ılan.