Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Only the following couplet of this poem has been published in the source; the complete poem has not been published.

Ṣadr-ı dâmâd şehinşâh-ı ‘Alî Pâşâ kim
‘Aḳl-ı evvel olur olsa aña ẟânî vü naẓîr

In English

1. The sultan's son-in-law, the chief minister Ali Paşa, of whom, were there a second and an equal to him, it could only be the First Intellect.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplet is the 58th couplet of the first kaside in Âkif's divan. According to Öntürk and Tunçadam, the last 16 couplets of the panegyric section of this 96-couplet kaside are devoted to Dâmâd Ali Paşa; the couplet comes from this part. The article did not publish the whole kaside. The metre is not stated in the article.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The subtlety of the couplet lies in the contrast between the words "evvel" (first) and "ẟânî" (second). "Akl-ı evvel", the First Intellect, is the name given in Islamic philosophy to the first being to emanate from God, and it is regarded as the highest of created things. The poet says that if a second or an equal were to be sought for Ali Paşa, it could only be this "First Intellect"; thus the being that would be "second" bears the name "first", and the man praised is raised above everything. The word "dâmâd" says that Ali Paşa was married to the sultan's daughter, and "ṣadr" refers to the office of vizier.

Historical Context

According to Öntürk and Tunçadam, in the heading of the kaside Ali Paşa is named "Dâmâd-ı şehinşâh-ı Ḳâ’im-maḳâm Pâşâ", the sultan's son-in-law and kaymakam (deputy grand vizier) paşa; another proof of the poet's close relationship with him is the poem dated 1121 (1709-10) written for a commentary by Ali Paşa. Çifçi writes that Dâmâd Ali Paşa was grand vizier in 1713-1716, that Âkif was in Istanbul in these years and that he dedicated his maqamas to him. The word "ṣadr" in the couplet also suggests the grand vizierate, but because the heading calls him kaymakam the year of the kaside cannot be fixed. For the poet's life, see the article Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi.

Bibliography

  • Tolga Öntürk and Özcan Tunçadam, "Amasyalı 'Îdî-zâde Âkif Mustafa ve Divanı", Hikmet-Akademik Edebiyat Dergisi, 6(12), 2020, pp. 259-281 (text: pp. 264). https://doi.org/10.28981/hikmet.683811
  • Mehmet Faruk Çifçi, "İbnü'l-Verdî'den 'Îdîzâde'ye Makâmelerde Veba Algısı", Pamukkale Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8(1), 2021, pp. 296-297. https://doi.org/10.17859/pauifd.913179

Online sources