Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün

Ey muḥīṭ-i ‘ulūm kim maḥżā
Ḳaṭredür ‘ilmüñüz ḳatında deñiz
Didiñüz virelüm saña ṣadaḳa
Va‘deden ġayrı nesne virmedüñüz

In English

1. O ocean of the sciences, beside whose learning the sea is nothing but a drop.

2. You said, "Let us give you alms"; but you gave nothing except a promise.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kıt‘a (fragment) of two couplets; only the second lines of the couplets rhyme: deñiz, virmedüñüz. The metre is from the hafîf family of aruz (quantitative metre), "fā‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün"; the edition does not state the metre. It is number XLVI in Ahmet Kartal's edition. Âşık Çelebi gives the same kıt‘a after another kıt‘a on the same subject, under the heading "Der-īn ḥāl" (on this situation); in his text "ki" is read for "kim" in the first line and "yanında" for "ḳatında" in the second; in some manuscripts "saña vireyüm" appears for "virelüm saña".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The kıt‘a begins with praise and ends in satire. In the first couplet the addressee is called "muḥîṭ-i ‘ulûm", the ocean of the sciences; beside his learning the sea is a drop. This congruence of images (tenasüp) between ocean, sea and drop raises the praise to its height through great exaggeration. In the second couplet the tone suddenly changes. This owner of ocean-like learning told the poet "let us give you alms", but gave nothing but a promise. The generous sea of the first couplet turns in the second into a stinginess that gives not even a drop. This sudden contrast between praise and satire forms the whole wit of the kıt‘a. The choice of the word "ṣadaḳa", alms, is also mocking: the poet speaks of the expected reward as if it were mere charity.

Historical Context

Âşık Çelebi relates plainly why the kıt‘a was written. When Zeyrekoğlu became chief judge (kazasker), Basîrî presented a kaside to him, and Zeyrekoğlu promised a reward but did not give it. Thereupon Basîrî first uttered this kıt‘a: "Zeyrekoġlına şā‘irüñ birisi / Medḥ iletdi vü devlete irdi / Ger ṣorarsañ ne virdi cā’izesin / Luṭflar itdi va‘deler virdi" (one of the poets brought a eulogy to Zeyrekoğlu and attained fortune; if you ask what reward he gave, he showed kindnesses and gave promises). Then, under the heading "Der-īn ḥāl", comes this second kıt‘a. In Kartal's edition the first kıt‘a appears separately as number XLIX and this one as number XLVI. Kartal quotes the two kıt‘as together from Âşık Çelebi in his article.

According to the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam, Basîrî lived on the rewards he received for the kasides he presented to the sultan and the great men of state; Kartal also notes that he satirised in his poems those who promised a reward and did not give it. Âşık Çelebi says too that he needled the great men of state with his words and yet enjoyed their bounty. This kıt‘a is a mocking testimony, drawn from a small incident with a chief judge, to the system of rewards by which the poet made his living.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Âşık Çelebi, Meşâ'irü'ş-şu'arâ, ed. Filiz Kılıç, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018 (e-book), p. 182, entry on Basîrî. ekitap.ktb.gov.tr

Academic studies

Books

Online sources