Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Hırâmân geldiler mahbûbe Rûmlar
Gāziler göñli yandı sanki mumlar
Kaçan kim bâgça içre geldi bunlar
Gāziler didi melekdür ola bunlar
Yañagı gülgûn la'lîn dudaklar
O sîmîn sāk ol bîh zenahlar
Melek envârlu kızlar geldi cânlar
Ki gördi kulı oldı göñül ü cânlar
Çemen üzre çü servi seyr iderler
Göñüller kölgeye düşüp giderler
Hayâli kölgesi cân göñlüm aldı
Mu'anber zülfi bûyı 'aklum aldı
Nazarlar atar u gamzelü kızlar
Fidâ olur gören yigid ü pîrler
Dimāglar mest ider o müşk-bûlar
'Akıllar sayd ider o rûmî hûblar
Urumca söyler bize nâzlar eyler
Sanasın ney çalar çeng ü saz eyler
Bu resme gāziler bunları gördi
Han Orhan bunları guzzâta virdi
Bile evler mükellef nakd u cinsler
Virildi gāzilere oldı ünsler

In English

1. The Greek beauties came, swaying gracefully; the gazis' hearts burned like candles.

2. When they came into the garden the gazis said, "These must be angels."

3. Cheeks the colour of roses, lips like rubies; those silver legs, those quince-like chins.

4. Maidens with the light of angels came, darlings came; hearts and souls that saw them became their slaves.

5. Like cypresses they stroll upon the meadow; hearts fall into their shade and go.

6. The shade of her image took my soul and heart; the scent of her ambergris locks took my reason.

7. They cast glances, those dimpled maidens; young and old who see them are sacrificed to them.

8. Those musk-scented ones make the mind drunk; those Greek beauties hunt down reason.

9. They speak in Greek and are coy with us; you would think they played the reed flute, the harp and the saz.

10. In this way the gazis saw them; and Orhan Han gave them to the gazis.

11. Furnished houses, money and goods were given to the gazis as well; companionship was born.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Surrender of İznik

The taking of İznik is the subject of the thirty-second chapter. The surrounding land had long since passed into Turkish hands and was held by timar holders; the townspeople were worn down by hunger. One day Orhan comes before the town; the infidels send a man they trust and ask for a pact on the condition "let those of us who go, go, and those who stay, stay". Orhan accepts; according to the author he used to say "Generosity is the best gazâ", and this generosity led many to become Muslims. The tekfur is sent out by the Constantinople gate, Orhan enters by the Yenişehir gate and is taken to a beautiful garden called Ebkülos. The townspeople receive him as if their king had died and his son were ascending the throne. Many women come; Orhan asks where the men are, and is told that some died in battle and some of hunger. Orhan orders the gazis to take these widows lawfully "by God's command", and the gazis who marry are given houses in the town as well. The author adds: with wives and houses ready, who would refuse, unless he were a great fool.

A Mesnevi of Beauties

These eleven couplets are among the most "literary" pieces of the work. The vocabulary of beauty of divan poetry is carried into a historical scene: rose cheeks, ruby lips, silver legs, quince chins, cypress stature, locks scented with musk and ambergris, dimple and glance. Familiar images such as the heart burning like a candle and hearts falling into the beloved's shade are used too. In the ninth couplet the women speaking Greek is likened to music, to the sound of reed flute, harp and saz; the poet, describing speech he does not understand, hears it as music. The couplets are in mesnevi form: each rhymes within itself (Rûmlar/mumlar, bunlar/bunlar, dudaklar/zenahlar, iderler/giderler). The last two couplets return to the order in the prose and close the scene with a decision on settlement. The gaze of this piece, which presents the women of a conquered town as a kind of booty, reflects as it is the understanding of gazâ of its own time.

Bibliography

  • Âşık Paşazade, Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi, ed. Kemal Yavuz, M. A. Yekta Saraç, Istanbul: K Kitaplığı, 2003, pp. 367-368 (transliterated text, bâb 32).