Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Makdemün şâh-ı rebîn edip i'lân zerrîn
Gülşene müjde-resân geldi şitâbân zerrîn
Eşref-i feyz-i Hudâ-dâd-ı nesîm-i kudsî
İtdi mir'ât-ı zamîrinde nümâyân zerrîn
Felek-i ahdâr olup arsa-i gülşen anda
Oldı çün necm-i Süreyyâ-yı fürûzân zerrîn
Zühredür çarh-ı çemende ya Süheyl-i Yemenî
Gîsûdâr-ı necm gibi oldu dırahşân zerrîn
Nâmına dinse sezâ tufesi ezhâr zîrâ
Oldu arâyis-i tâc-ı ser-i şâhân zerrîn
Özbekî dervîş olup Edhemî sikkeyle velî
Sîne-i sîm ile bir dilber-i fettân zerrîn
Mâlik-i hâtem olup oldu cihândâr-ı çemen
Oturur taht-ı zümürrüdde Süleymân zerrîn
Bezm-i gülşende sunar sâkî olup ezhâra
Tolu yügürdi kadehle mey-i irfân zerrîn
Oldu mahbûba semensâ gibi mergûb u latîf
Dil-i dânâyı ider hüsnüne hayrân zerrîn
Eser-i sun-ı ilâhîye olupdur mir'ât
İrdürür nâzırına kudreti seyrân zerrîn
Oldu hûbân-ı çemen içre ferîd ü nâzük
Hüsn ile olsa nola fâyık-ı akrân zerrîn
Oldu çün cümle-i ezhâraser-âmed ki sezâ
Eylese cümlesine da'vî-i rüchân zerrîn
Ravza-i hazret-i Âsaf'd güşâde olalı
Oldu magbût-ı gül ü sünbül ü reyhân zerrîn
Nice Âsaf o keremkâr-ı dil-ârâ ki ider
Nüsha-i madeletin hırz-ı girîbân zerrîn
Midhat-i rey-i münîri ki olup gülşene zîb
Tâb-ı şevkiyle olur şem-i fürûzân zerrîn
Sâyesi düşse eger Gülşen olur heşt behişt
Neşve-i bûyunu eder koynuna pinhân zerrîn
Neyyir-i adli cihân bâgına pertev vereli
Oldu mehtâb-ı cihân-tâb ile yeksân zerrîn
Hak şuma (?) tâze zemîn üzre bu tarh-ı tâze
Oldu revnak-dih-i ser-ilevha-i bostân zerrîn
Ger pesend eyler ise şi’rine Âsaf Eşref
Kalemün gülbün olup nazmına erzân zerrîn
Mir Ali kıt’ası oludu sözün katreleri
Surhı gül harfleri sünbül cedveli rahşân zerrîn
Sözünü eyle duâ ile müzeyyen nite kim
Oldu ârâyiş-i hâk-i çemenistân zerrîn
Tâ ola nükhet-i ezhârına sahn-ı çemenün
Mâye-i bûy u neşât-ı bahârân zerrîn
Feyz-i Hak gülşen-i ikbâlin ide nâz-perver
Tâ o feyz ile ola gül gibi handân zerrîn
Ömrü efzûn ola hem zâtı da âlem-ârâ
Tâ k gülşende ola mazhar-ı ihsân zerrîn

In English

1. Announcing the arrival of the king of spring, the zerrîn came running to the rose garden as the bearer of good news.

2. The noblest of the God-given grace of the holy breeze made the zerrîn appear in the mirror of its heart. (The word "Eşref", noblest, also recalls the poet's pen name.)

3. When the field of the rose garden became a green sky, the zerrîn became the shining Pleiades there.

4. Is it Venus in the sky of the meadow, or Canopus of Yemen? The zerrîn shone like a comet.

5. It would be fitting to say that the gift of the flowers is made in its name, for the zerrîn has become the ornament of the crown on the heads of kings.

6. It became an Uzbek dervish with the cap of Edhem, yet the zerrîn also became a bewitching beauty with a silver breast.

7. Holding the seal, it became the ruler of the meadow; the zerrîn sits like Solomon on an emerald throne.

8. In the gathering of the rose garden it plays the cupbearer and offers to the flowers; the zerrîn filled the cup with the wine of wisdom and ran.

9. It became a beloved as admired and graceful as the jasmine; the zerrîn makes the heart of the wise marvel at its beauty.

10. It has become a mirror to the work of God's art; the zerrîn lets the beholder gaze upon His power.

11. Among the beauties of the meadow it became unique and delicate; is it any wonder if the zerrîn surpasses its peers in beauty?

12. Since it has become the head of all the flowers, it would be fitting if the zerrîn claimed precedence over them all.

13. Ever since the garden of His Excellency Âsaf was opened, the zerrîn has become the envy of rose, hyacinth and basil.

14. What an Âsaf is that generous one who adorns the heart, whose copy of justice the zerrîn wears as an amulet at its collar.

15. Through the praise of his luminous judgement, which adorns the rose garden, the zerrîn becomes a candle burning with the radiance of his zeal.

16. Were his shadow to fall upon it, the rose garden would become the eight paradises; the zerrîn hides the delight of his fragrance in its bosom.

17. Ever since the sun of his justice gave its light to the garden of the world, the zerrîn has become one with the world-illuminating moonlight.

18. With this new design upon this new ground, the zerrîn has become the one that gives lustre to the head panel of the garden. (The words "Hak şuma (?)" at the start of the line carry a question mark in the source as well; their meaning could not be made out.)

19. If Âsaf approves of Eşref's poetry, his pen becomes a rose bush and the zerrîn a cheap price for his verse. ("Erzân" means both cheap and worthy; zerrîn, in its sense of "golden", is also thought of as the reward for the poem.)

20. The drops of his words have become a calligraphic panel by Mîr Ali: its letters red roses, its rulings hyacinth, its zerrîn shining. (The red ink, the ruled borders and the gold illumination of a calligraphic panel are meant.)

21. Adorn your words with prayer, just as the zerrîn has become the ornament of the soil of the meadow.

22. As long as there is fragrance in the flowers of the meadow's courtyard, may the zerrîn be the leaven of the scent and joy of the springs.

23. May God's grace tend with loving care the rose garden of his fortune; through that grace may the zerrîn laugh like the rose.

24. May his life be long and his person adorn the world, as long as the zerrîn in the rose garden receives bounty.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Kaside of a Flower

In this kaside "zerrîn" is both the redif and the hero. Meaning "golden, gold-coloured" in Persian, the word was also the name of a yellow spring flower in Ottoman gardens, and the poet keeps both senses in play to the end. Words ending in "-ân", such as "i'lân, şitâbân, nümâyân, fürûzân", carry the rhyme. Mustafa Safâyî took twenty-four couplets of this kaside into his tezkire; in İsmail Hakkı Aksoyak's dictionary article these couplets are quoted from Pervin Çapan's edition. Aksoyak states that the kaside was written for Damad İbrâhim Pasha. A few spellings in the text ("tufesi", "Âsaf'd", "ezhâraser-âmed", "oludu", "Tâ k") have been left as they stand in the quotation; the words "Hak şuma" at the start of the eighteenth couplet carry a question mark in the source as well.

From Spring to the Vizier

The kaside follows the familiar sections of the genre in order. The first twelve couplets are a description of spring, and their hero is the zerrîn: a herald announcing the coming of the king of spring, the Pleiades of a green sky, a star like Venus or Canopus, a dervish in the cap of Edhem, Solomon on an emerald throne, a cupbearer offering wine to the flowers. The thirteenth couplet is the transition (girizgâh): since "the garden of His Excellency Âsaf" was opened, the zerrîn has become a flower envied even by the rose. Âsaf was the vizier of Solomon, and in divan poetry his name stands for the grand vizier. The couplets that follow praise the vizier's justice, judgement and fragrance; the flower of the garden is now in his service.

In the nineteenth couplet the poet names himself and turns to the sense of zerrîn as "golden": if the vizier approves of Eşref's poetry, even gold will be a cheap return for it. The twentieth couplet carries on the same play with calligraphy. The poet's words resemble a kıt‘a by Mîr Ali, the celebrated master of the nesta'lik script; its letters are red roses, its rulings hyacinth, its illumination gold. One more word in this couplet has two meanings: "kıt‘a" means both a short poem and a calligraphic panel. The last four couplets are the prayer section. That the phrase "Eşref-i feyz-i Hudâ-dâd" in the second couplet hints at the poet's pen name at the very start of the kaside hardly looks accidental.

The Gardens of the Tulip Era

The year in which the kaside was written is not known. Damad İbrâhim Pasha became vizier in 1716 and grand vizier in 1718, and held that office until 1730; these years, known as the Tulip Era, were a time when gardens, pavilions and the growing of flowers were in fashion. The words about the opening of "Âsaf's garden" may point to one of these garden projects; the text does not say which garden is meant. Eşref is also recorded as having presented his Mir'âtü's-safâ to the same pasha; that work and Eşref's other books are introduced in Eşref Abdurrahman Efendi of Merzifon.

Bibliography

Online sources