Âşıkî, Manzume 9: İşitdük kānûn-ı 'Osmân kim var

Manzume 9 — İşitdük kānûn-ı 'Osmân kim var

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

Justice and generosity as Osman's law: five couplets closing the chapter in which Sultan Alâeddin sends a banner and the nevbet, and the custom of standing for it is explained.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

İşitdük kānûn-ı 'Osmân kim var
Budur 'adli vü bezli şen iden yâr

Bularuñ kölgesinde uçdı hümâ
Şikârdur bunlara her murg-ı sunkar

Cihân halkına farz oldı ideler
Du'âlar cümle halkuñ bil kim iy yâr

Gerekdür kuvvet ü hem 'akl u tedbîr
Muvâfık olına bil 'ilm ü takdîr

Gerekdür yâr u hemdem-i münâsib
Gerek yigit ola vü ger ola pîr

In English

1. We have heard that Osman has a law: that law is justice and generosity, which gladden the friend.

2. In their shade the hüma flew; every falcon is their prey.

3. Know, O friend, that it has become a duty for the people of the world that all should pray for them.

4. Strength, reason and good counsel are needed; know that knowledge and destiny too must agree.

5. A fitting friend and companion is needed, whether he be young or old.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Banner and Nevbet

With Karacahisar in his hands, Osman Gazi opens the eighth chapter by sending his nephew Aktemür with gifts to Sultan Alâeddin. The sultan is delighted and sends Osman a banner, fine horses and the equipment of gazâ. When Aktemür brings the banner it is the hour of the afternoon prayer; the nevbet is struck and Osman remains standing until it ends. The author says that down to his own day the Ottomans stood up when the nevbet was played on campaign, and explains the custom in a question and answer: the nevbet is the call to gazâ, and they rise saying "we are ready for gazâ for the sake of God"; moreover they are masters of the table, and as in the custom of Abraham the nevbet is played in the afternoon so that people may come and eat. The chapter ends with the sentence "whatever this House of Osman does, it does according to the law of good conduct", and the verse takes up this word "law" and carries on.

What the Law Contains

Osman's law fits into two words in the first couplet: adl and bezl, justice and generosity. This pair is the basic measure by which Âşıkpaşazâde judges the Ottoman rulers, and it recurs again and again through the chronicle. In the second couplet the hüma is the legendary bird whose shadow, falling on a head, was believed to bring sovereignty; here the hüma flies in the shade of the Ottomans and the birds of prey become their quarry. The image is deliberately reversed: even the bird of fortune is under this dynasty's protection. The last two couplets turn to counsel for a ruler: strength, reason, good counsel and a fitting companion. These lines prepare the reader for the next chapter, which tells of Osman's neighbourly relations with the tekfur of Bilecik and his search for companions. Eleven-syllable lines predominate; the rhyme leans on the sound "-âr/-ar" in yâr, sunkar, yâr, takdîr, pîr.