Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Mustafânın no’la ger bir iki üftâdesine
Pertev-i nûr-ı Muhammedden irerse lemeât

In English

1. What wonder is it if gleams from the radiance of the light of Muhammad reach one or two of Mustafa's devoted ones, the few who have given themselves to him.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplet survives from a poem that Edâyî presented to Chief Treasurer (başdefterdar) Şerîfezâde Mehmed Çelebi, his patron in Istanbul. The sources differ on the form of the poem: Hüsameddin regards it as a couplet from a kaside (qasida), while Âşık Çelebi, in the words quoted by Hüsameddin, writes that Edâyî composed "a kıt'a" (short poem) for Şerîfezâde and gives the couplet as an example written "in this metre and this rhyme". Since the two lines do not rhyme, the couplet is not an opening couplet (matla); the rest of the poem is unknown. The rhyme lies in the word "lemeât" (gleams) at the end of the second line. The sources do not indicate the metre.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The whole subtlety of the couplet lies in two proper names. Mustafa and Muhammad are names of the Prophet; "nûr-ı Muhammed" denotes the Muhammadan light that Sufism regards as the source of all existence. In this first sense the couplet reads as a religious statement: it is no wonder that those who give their hearts to Mustafa should receive a share of the light of Muhammad. In the second sense, however, Mustafa is the poet's dead master Prince Mustafa, and the "üftâde" (devoted, fallen ones) are the poets and secretaries of his court. Muhammad is Şerîfezâde Mehmed Çelebi, to whom the poem was presented. The poet thus expresses, through a double entendre (tevriye) built on the two names of the Prophet, the hope of one or two of the prince's men, left stranded after his death, for light, that is, favour and protection, from a new patron. The words "nûr, pertev, lemeât" (light, radiance, gleams) form a congruence of images (tenasüp) around light.

That the poet names himself one of the prince's "üftâde" also shows that he did not hide this loyalty. According to Hüsameddin, Edâyî had used words offensive to Rüstem Pasha in the elegies he wrote for the prince; at such a time, uniting the name of his former master with that of his new patron in the same couplet, under the cover of the names of the Prophet, was an act of quiet courage. This last assessment is our own.

Historical Context

According to Hüsameddin, after the prince was killed in Şevval 960 (October 1553), Edâyî went to Istanbul in 961 (1554) and took refuge with Chief Treasurer Şerîfezâde Mehmed Çelebi. Of the poem Edâyî presented to him, Şerîfezâde liked this couplet best, and thanks to it he showed his appreciation by having him enrolled among the secretaries of the Imperial Council (Divân-ı Hümâyûn). In a footnote Hüsameddin records that Şerîfezâde's name appears as chief treasurer in the registers of the Rumelian Grand Vizierate in Rebiülevvel 963 (January-February 1556). Âşık Çelebi also writes that Şerîfezâde received Edâyî "with a smiling face like an opening couplet" and opened a door for him "like verse". The TEİS entry, relying on Âşık Çelebi, likewise states that Edâyî, who withdrew into seclusion for a while after the prince's death, entered Şerîfezâde's protection. For the poet's life see Edâyî Receb Bey.

Bibliography

Online sources