Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Lillâhi’il hükm vâhidi’l-kahhâr
Hamd ana kim kazâ yaratmış ola
Rûh-ı pâk-ı Muhammed’e salavât
Her ki geldi cihâna gitmiş ola
Nice tedbîr ider beni âdem
Hazret-i Hak ki emr itmiş ola
Rûh-ı Sultân Mustafâ’yı Hudâ
Şühedâ zümresine katmış ola
Mü’min olan virür kazâya rızâ
Çün ecel va‘desine yitmiş ola
Rûhına Fâtihâ okı Hasbî
Ana târih tokuz yüz altmış ola
İki ilhâm-ı Hak iki târîh
Bir du‘âya bahâne itmiş ola

In English

1. Judgement belongs to God, the One, the Subduer; praise be to Him who created destiny.

2. Blessings upon the pure soul of Muhammad; may everyone who came into the world have gone (all will go).

3. However much the son of Adam takes precautions, once God has commanded (it comes to pass).

4. May God have added the soul of Sultan Mustafa to the company of the martyrs.

5. The believer accepts destiny, for the appointed term of death has arrived.

6. O Hasbî, recite a Fatiha for his soul; may the date of his death be nine hundred and sixty.

7. May two inspirations from God, two chronograms, have become an occasion for a prayer.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kıt'a of seven couplets, and all its second lines end with the redif (refrain word) "-mış ola" ("yaratmış ola, gitmiş ola, itmiş ola, katmış ola"). This redif in the optative mood is the language of submission, which ties what has happened to God's decree. The kıt'a is a chronogram poem: in the sixth couplet the year of the death is stated openly as "tokuz yüz altmış" (960). The hijri year 960 corresponds to 1553, the year in which Prince Mustafa was killed. The words "iki ilhâm-ı Hak iki târîh" (two inspirations from God, two chronograms) in the last couplet suggest that the kıt'a contains two chronograms, that is, also lines that give the year through the abjad reckoning; Kınalızâde too speaks of "bu târîhleri" (these chronograms) for this poem. We have not ourselves calculated and verified which lines yield 960 in abjad. The sources do not state the metre.

The text appears in the entry on Hasbî in Âşık Çelebi's Meşâirü'ş-şuarâ, and Recep Hasar quotes it unchanged in his thesis. Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi gives four couplets of the same kıt'a (here couplets 3, 4, 6 and 7) under the pen name "Habsî"; his text has the readings "benî-i Âdem", "emrin itmiş", "Rûhına fâtiha okur Habsî" and "İki ilhâm-ı Hak iki mısrâ‘". Kınalızâde's saying "iki mısrâ‘" (two lines) instead of "iki târîh" in the last couplet shows clearly that the chronograms were placed in two lines. The spelling "Lillâhi’il" in Hasar's text has been kept; in the edition of Âşık Çelebi it reads "Lillâhi'l-hükm".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In contrast to the angry language of the elegies, the kıt'a is written in a calm voice of submission. The first two couplets open with praise of God and blessings on the Prophet and recall that death is inevitable for everyone. The third couplet expresses the contrast between human precaution and God's command: whatever anyone does, what is to be will be. Without naming those responsible for the event, these words dissolve their reckoning too into God's decree. In the fourth couplet the prince joins the company of the martyrs, and in the fifth the believer accepts destiny. In the sixth couplet the poet addresses himself and counsels the reader to recite a Fatiha. The last couplet closes the kıt'a by wishing that the two chronograms may become the occasion of a prayer. Placing the Quranic expressions "lillâhi'l-hükm" (judgement belongs to God) and "el-vâhidü'l-kahhâr" (the One, the Subduer) in the first line gives the kıt'a the air of a prayer.

Historical Context

Âşık Çelebi gives this kıt'a at the end of his entry on Hasbî with the words "Sultân Mustafâ katline bu târîh anuñdur" (this chronogram on the killing of Sultan Mustafa is his), and Kınalızâde says "Merhûm Sultân Mustafâ katline bu târîhleri hûb vâki‘ olmışdur" (these chronograms of his on the killing of the late Sultan Mustafa turned out well). In the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, Mehmet Fatih Köksal states that the record in the Sicill-i Osmanî that Hasbî was killed in the affair of Prince Mustafa cannot be correct, since the poet wrote these chronogram poems. The kıt'a thus also has documentary value for the poet's life. The long elegy Hasbî wrote for Prince Mustafa is a separate article in this category; the other elegies are described in our article Elegies for Prince Mustafa.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

  • Recep Hasar, Türk Edebiyatı'nda Padişah ve Şehzade Mersiyeleri, MA thesis, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, 2018, pp. 120-121. https://hdl.handle.net/11352/2746

Books

Online sources