Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Zülâl-âsâ ḳalmadan aḳdı ‘Âkif âb târîḫi
Gel iç kim selsebîliñ ḥükmün itdi Vâlide icrâ (1120)

In English

1. Âkif, this water chronogram flowed from the pen like limpid water: Come and drink, for the Valide (Sultan) has carried out the decree of Selsebil.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplet is the last couplet of the third chronogram poem in Âkif's divan. According to Öntürk and Tunçadam, this kıt‘a, headed "Tariḫ-i çeşme-i ḫoşgüvâr der-Üsküdâr", has 12 couplets and gives the date of construction of the fountain in the mosque complex built in Üsküdar in 1120 (1708-09) by Gülnuş Emetullah Sultan, mother of Sultan Ahmed III. The article did not publish the whole poem but gave only the chronogram couplet, in Arabic script and in transliteration. The note "(1120)" at the end of the line belongs to the edition.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

We added up the letters of the second line in the Arabic-script spelling given in the article; the total is 1120, confirming the date given in the edition. The chronogram line begins with an invitation: "Come and drink". This turn of phrase, common in fountain chronograms, calls the reader both to drink the water and to work out the count of the line. "Selsebil" is the spring of paradise named in the Qur'an; the poet says that with the fountain built by the Valide Sultan the decree of this spring of paradise has been carried out on earth. In the first line the poet says that the chronogram flowed from his pen like limpid water; water, poetry and pen are thus bound together. The word "ḳalmadan" in the transliteration is written "قلمدن" (kalemden, from the pen) in the Arabic-script text in the article; the rendering follows this reading.

Historical Context

According to Öntürk and Tunçadam, this complex in Üsküdar, known by the name of Gülnuş Emetullah Sultan, contains a mosque, a primary school, a tomb, a public kitchen, a water reservoir, shops and a royal pavilion; when the Valide Sultan died in 1127 (1715) she was buried here, in her own tomb. The authors say that the poet's composing a chronogram for this fountain suggests that he was in Istanbul at about this time. Çifçi also writes that Âkif must have come to Istanbul from Egypt around 1708. 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. 266). 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