Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün (son beyit: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün)

Zülfikâr-ı Hayder-i Kerrâr hakkı Hubbiyâ
Milket-i âlemden efdal devleti gâzîlerin
Var iken Nakkâş Hubbî nakşa meyl itmek neden
Sen seni hayrette sanma halk kamu hayrettedir
Kuhl-i cândur Hubbiyâ hâk-i rehi gâzîlerün
Buldılar hakdan atâ bî-hadd ü pâyân gâzîler
Hubbiyâ âşık degül da’vâ-yı bî-burhân iden
Cân u dilden derd-ile giryân-ı cânân olmaya
Cân u baş-ile fedâ Hakk’un yolında sıdk-ıla
Vuslat-ı cânâne Hubbî âlemde eylersen recâ
Hubbiyâ durma du’â kıl rûz u şeb gâzîlere
Tâ şifâ kıla sana rûz-i mahşerde şehîd
Arsa-i âlemde kılsın gün gibi
Hân Selîm devrinde hoş devrân tîğ

In English

1. O Hubbî, by the right of the Zulfiqar of Haydar, Ali, who charged the enemy again and again, the fortune of the warriors is more excellent than the dominion of the world.

2. Hubbî, why incline to the painting, to created things, while the Painter, God, exists? Do not think that you alone are in wonder; all people are lost in wonder.

3. O Hubbî, the dust of the warriors' road is kohl for the eye of the soul; the warriors have found from God a bounty without limit or end.

4. O Hubbî, one who makes a claim without proof, who does not weep with pain from heart and soul for the beloved, is no lover.

5. Hubbî, if in this world you hope for union with the beloved, sacrifice your life and head faithfully on the path of God.

6. O Hubbî, do not tarry; pray day and night for the warriors, so that on the day of resurrection the martyr may bring you healing, that is, intercession.

7. In the age of Khan Selim, may the sword wheel and shine in the arena of the world like the sun. ("Devrân" means both turning and time.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

These seven couplets are not a single poem. To show that Hubbî's work İmâdü'l-cihâd belongs to her, Mücahit Kaçar cites as examples six of the couplets with the pen name found at the end of the poems in the two manuscripts; the seventh couplet is the one on folio 9a of the Paris manuscript that Kaçar quotes to establish the date of the work. Each couplet comes from a different poem, and the full texts of these poems have not been published. Kaçar gives the couplets with the pen name according to the folios of the work (8a, 20a, 7a, 18a, 22a, 28a). The first six couplets are in the remel family of aruz (quantitative metre), "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün", and the last couplet in the short pattern of the same family, "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The text is given in Kaçar's transcription.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Most of the couplets are the closing couplets of ghazals; the poet addresses herself by her pen name and ties the subject of the ghazal to a counsel or a prayer. The subject, as throughout İmâdü'l-cihâd, is holy war. In the first couplet the fortune of the warriors, their happiness and honour, is ranked above the dominion of the world, and the oath is sworn in the name of Zulfiqar, the sword of Ali. In the third couplet the dust of the warriors' road is called "kuhl-i cân", kohl for the eye of the soul. In divan poetry the dust of the beloved's feet becomes kohl for the lover's eye; Hubbî transfers this familiar image to the warriors and puts them in the beloved's place.

The fourth and fifth couplets tie the language of love to the path of God. The true lover is the one who weeps from the heart for the beloved, and one who makes claims without proof is not counted a lover; whoever wishes for union with the beloved must sacrifice his head on the path of God. Here "cânân" is a two-sided word that suggests both the beloved and God. The second couplet leans on a more Sufi idea: while the "Nakkâş", the Painter, the Creator, exists, it is out of place to incline to the "nakş", the painting, the created. In the short mesnevi in the same work, too, the world is called a painting to which the wise do not bind their hearts. In the sixth couplet the poet counsels praying for the warriors and hopes for the intercession of the martyrs at the resurrection; the mention of the word "şehîd" together with resurrection and intercession is a reference to the religious value of martyrdom.

The last couplet is the only one that points openly to the reign of Selim II. It says may the sword wheel and shine like the sun in the arena of the world; since the words "devr" and "devrân" express both time and turning, there is a play on words and a double entendre (tevriye) in the couplet. The turning of the sun in the sky and the turning of the sword in the arena, the age of the ruler and the cycle of the sun, are bound to one another.

Historical Context

On the basis of the phrase "Hân Selîm devri" in the last couplet, Mücahit Kaçar thinks İmâdü'l-cihâd was written during the reign of Selim II (1566-1574). Hubbî was the wife of Şems Çelebi, who had been Selim II's tutor in his princely years, and after his death she maintained her ties with the prince and became his companion when he became sultan. That she should have written poems on holy war within this closeness, with prayers and praise for the sultan's reign, accords with this information. At the end of the National Library manuscript of the work the translator says that he wrote it during a campaign to win the blessing of the warriors.

Bibliography

Online sources