Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Müstef'ilün Müstef'ilün Müstef'ilün Müstef'ilün

Tâc u kabâyı terk idüp 'uryân olayum bir zemân
Gurbetde seyrân eyleyüp pûyân olayum bir zemân
Çeng ü rebâbuñ sohbeti mutrib temâm oldı hemân
Bezm-i belâda ney gibi nâlân olayum bir zemân
Gâh düşüp gâhi turup gâhi gülüp gâh ağlayup
Geh kan yutup bir hoş olup hayran olayum bir zemân

In English

1. Let me leave crown and robe and be naked for a while; let me roam in exile and wander for a while.

2. O musician, the company of harp and rebab is over now; in the gathering of affliction let me moan like the reed flute for a while.

3. Now falling, now rising, now laughing, now weeping; now swallowing blood, let me be merry and for a while lose myself in wonder.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a poem of three couplets and the only ghazal in the Dîvânçe this short. The numbering in the edition ends with the third couplet, so no gap appears in the text. The metre is the recez pattern Müstef'ilün Müstef'ilün Müstef'ilün Müstef'ilün, and there is no other poem in this metre in the Dîvânçe. The redif (refrain word) is "olayum bir zemân" (let me be ... for a while), and the rhyme is the "-ân" of "'uryân, pûyân, nâlân, hayrân". The words "(İSEN, 1990:76)" in the second line of the first couplet are Kılıç's reference to the edition of Latîfî and have been removed from the text. Kılıç quotes the third couplet as an example of letter repetition. The poet's life, works and the state of the Dîvânçe are discussed in Şehzade Korkut (Harîmî): Literary Persona, Works and Poems.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem tells of the passage from the signs of sovereignty to the state of a dervish. Crown and robe are the visible marks of rule; to leave them is to renounce worldly rank. Roaming in exile also calls up the life of wandering dervishes. In the second couplet the harp and rebab give way to the reed flute: the instruments of courtly pleasure fall silent and the moan of the reed flute played in dervish rites takes their place. It is notable that a prince so engaged with music should speak his farewell through instruments. The third couplet builds a quick rhythm through the repeated word "gâh" (now). It describes a state of drunkenness or ecstasy swinging between falling and rising, laughing and weeping. Kınalızâde describes these couplets as "ebyât-ı dervîşâne", couplets in the manner of a dervish.

Historical Context

This is the poem the biographical anthologies tie most openly to Korkut's life. Latîfî writes that Korkut, seeing his father's favour turn to his elder brother Ahmed, left crown and throne and went to Egypt, and that he spoke these three couplets at that time as "hasb-i hâl", the voice of his condition. Emecen also records that the prince went to Egypt in 1509 with the intention of pilgrimage. Kınalızâde says the couplets are "attributed" (mensûb) to the prince, which leaves the attribution as a report. Sehî gives only the first couplet. The text in the anthologies differs slightly from the Dîvânçe. In Latîfî the first couplet reads "mihmân olayın" and the last "sarhoş olup sekrân olayın"; in Kınalızâde the third couplet begins "Geh düşeyin gâhî turup geh güleyin gâh aglayup". If the context Latîfî gives is correct, the poem fits an effort by Korkut to present his journey to Egypt as a withdrawal from the contest for the throne.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

  • Filiz Kılıç, "Osmanlı Hanedanında Bir Şair: Şehzade Korkut", Bilig (Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi), 2, Summer 1996, pp. 203–219 (Dîvânçe text pp. 209–218; ghazal 27, p. 214). teis.yesevi.edu.tr
  • Feridun Emecen, "Korkut, Şehzade", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, Ankara 2002, pp. 205–207. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/korkut-sehzade

Official sources

Books

Online sources