Original Text (Mixed Languages)

اعلم جمع الورى سيدنا مصطفى
شفع روز و جزا سيدنا مصطفى
بندهٔ حلمى فقير هاهد از تو مدد
يا سند الاصفيا سيدنا مصطفى

Hüsameddin gives the text only in Arabic script; the reading in Latin letters below is ours. In the print the word that should be read "şefî'" or "şâfi'" is set as "شفع", and the word that should be read "hâhed" (خواهد, he asks) as "هاهد"; the reading has been corrected accordingly.

A'lem-i cem'i'l-verâ seyyidinâ Mustafâ
Şâfi'-i rûz-ı cezâ seyyidinâ Mustafâ
Bende-i Hilmî-i fakîr hâhed ez tû meded
Yâ sened-i asfiyâ seyyidinâ Mustafâ

In English

1. The most knowing of all creation is our master Mustafa; the intercessor on the Day of Judgement is our master Mustafa.

2. Your poor servant Hilmî asks you for help; O support of the chosen ones, our master Mustafa. (The reading and meaning are ours; the edition gives neither the reading nor the meaning of the text.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Three of the four lines end with the same words, the refrain "seyyidinâ Mustafâ" (our master Mustafa). This repetition gives the poem the sound of the refrain-bearing na'ts of the hymn (ilahi) and kaside traditions, and it agrees with Müstakimzâde's statement that these couplets were set to music: a repeated refrain is a part that a chorus or congregation can easily sing in a composed piece. The source does not make this last connection; it is our inference; who composed the music and in which mode (makam) is unknown. The lines of the first couplet and the last line fit the pattern "müfteʿilün fâʿilün müfteʿilün fâʿilün"; with our reading the third line does not sit fully in this pattern, which may be due to the corruption in the print. The edition names no metre; the pattern has been worked out from the reading.

The language is a mixture of Persian and Arabic; poems in which two or more languages are used together in this way are called mülemma. "Seyyidinâ", "cem'i'l-verâ" (all creation) and "asfiyâ" (the chosen ones) are Arabic; "rûz" (day), "bende" (servant) and "hâhed ez tû" (asks of you) are Persian.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The na't addresses the Prophet with two attributes. The first is "a'lem", being the most knowing; that a commentator on hadith, a man who gave his life to explaining the Prophet's sayings, should put this attribute first carries a meaning of its own. The second is his being the intercessor on the Day of Resurrection. The plea for help comes in the second couplet, where the poet calls himself "bende-i Hilmî-i fakîr", the poor servant Hilmî. "Fakîr" is a humble word that Ottoman authors used of themselves; Müstakimzâde too calls himself "bu fakir", this poor one, when speaking of his teacher. The word "sened" in the last line means both a support and, in the science of hadith, a chain of transmission. This second sense may not be clearly intended in the couplet, but it strikes the ear in the writing of a teacher of a science built on chains of licences.

Historical Context

The couplets come from the entry on Abdullah Hilmî Efendi in Tuhfe-i Hattâtîn by his pupil Müstakimzâde Süleyman Sâdeddin. Müstakimzâde introduces them with the words "Çend beyit bu na't-ı şerîf âsâr-ı kalemlerinden serzede ve beste dahi olmuşdur": this na't of a few couplets came from his pen and was also set to music. Hüsameddin took this quotation into his own entry on the scholar in Amasya Tarihi. When the na't was written is unknown. The disagreement between Hüsameddin and the TDV over his birthplace is set out, together with his life and works, in the article Yûsufefendizâde Abdullah Hilmî Efendi.

Bibliography

Online sources