Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilün
Der-miyān itdüñ ẓaferden tīġ u nuṣretden kemer
İşde meydān merd-ise meydāna gelsün surḫ-ı ser
Rāyet-i Fetḥ-āyet-i şāhı çeküp iḳbāl ile
Cānib-i şarḳa seḥerden gün gibi ḳılduḳ sefer
Nehr-i cārīdür ki himmet şarḳa olmışdur revān
Tīġumuz a‘dāyı ġarḳ-āb-ı helāk itmek diler
Ābdur gerçi ṣafāda tīġ-ı ḫūn-efşānumuz
Başına görseñ ki a‘dānuñ ne āteşler yaḳar
Ṣu gibi nūş itmege ḳanın ḳızılbaşuñ yine
Ḫancer-i bürrān-ı ḫūn-efşānumuz işler yeder
Furṣat u şevket bize oldı ḳaravul ṣaġ u ṣol
Fetḥdür sālār u serheng ü ḳulaġuzdur ẓafer
Ḳara baġrında ḳızılbaşuñ ne başlar çıḳdıġın
Der-zebān-ı ḥālle bir lāleyi gūş itseñ eger
Tūġlar çözmiş ṣaçın meftūl ṣābīler gibi
Naḳd-i cānın cünd-i a‘dānuñ diler kim ide cerr
Āl ü vālālarla her bayraḳ ‘arūs-ı fetḥdür
Olmaġa a‘dāya hem-pehlū iderler āller
Sīnesin dāyim te’essüfden dögüpdür ṭabllar
Vā saña iy düşmen-i bed-i‘tiḳād u bed-güher
Sūr-nālar nāle vü feryād idüp dir dem-be-dem
Şimdilik nevbet bizümdür iy ‘adū-yı bī-hüner
Her ṭarafdan zencler ceng içre urup el ele
Hey hey urur düşmene eylerler istihzā meger
Her naḳāre dir ne ḳara günlere ḳalduñ göre
Aç gözüñ eyler naḳāre gülleñi tīġ-ı żarar
Ṭōplar berḳ-i şerer-bār-ı helāket oldıġın
Başına ṭoḫınmayınca bilmez el-ḥaḳ surḫ-ı ser
Bir çaḳım oddur atılmaġa ‘adūdan cānibe
Ḫışm ile ṭōp u tüfeng aġzından āteşler ṣaçar
Bir belādur k’āsümānī ḳahrdan nāzil olur
Ḳılmaġa her ṭōp a‘dā milkini zīr ü zeber
Leşker-i cerrār u ḫūn-efşānumuz kim her biri
Rüstem-i destāna destān-ı veġā ta‘līm ider
Ḳahramān’ı ḳahr ider virmez Nerīmān’a amān
Sām olur ser-sām ḫavfından muḳābil olsa ger
Sehm-i sehminden olur Behrām-ı bī-ārām rām
Güstehem hem cān virüp tenden Tehem-ten el çeker
Ḥażret-i Sulṭān Süleymān devletinde gerçi kim
Leşkerüñ her ṣaffı ṣaf-derlerle birdür ser-te-ser
Āferīn olsun velīkin ‘asker-i İslām da
Rūm ili gerçeklerine kim geçerler gerçek er
Her sipāhī biñ sipāhī ḳahr ider bir ḥamlede
İşde meydān yāver itmezse ‘adū-yı bī-hüner
Her ṣubaşı bir ṣubaşıdur şecā‘at ābına
Teşnedür tīġından a‘dā bir içim ṣu ḥarr ider
Beglerinüñ her biri rūy-ı ẓaferde beg durur
Şāhid-i nuṣret o beglerle bulupdur zīb ü fer
Ḫāṣṣeten ol ‘askere beglerbegi olsun kerīm
Kim ‘Alī’dür nām ile ol ṣun‘ıdur Ḥaydar-siyer
Tañrı arslanı ‘Alī ḥaḳḳı-y-çün oldur ad ile
Pīşe-i cūd u şecā‘atden yekūn-ı şīr-i ner
Ḳan ḳuşanur ḫavf-ı tīġından anuñ şīr-i sipihr
Dāmen-i çerḫi şafaḳdan surḫ olur ṣanmañ seḥer
Bir kerem kānı mürüvvet ma‘denidür kim anuñ
Dest-i cūdı ḥasretinden la‘l olur ḫavfın çeker
Rūşen eylerken anuñ dünyāyı rāy-ı rūşeni
Māh u ḫūrşīdi sipihr-i pīr bilsem kim neder
Būy-ı ḫulḳ ile mu‘aṭṭardur dimāġ-ı kā‘ināt
Deñ getürsin şimdiden girü ḳoḳuyı misk-i ter
Bir ‘Ömer ‘adl ü ‘Alī cūd u Muḥammed ḫulḳdur
Kim naẓīri görmedi dünyāda erbāb-ı naẓar
‘Adl ü cūd u ḫulḳ [kim] her laḥẓa ‘ādet ẕātına
Yusa ‘ādetle sa‘ādet ehlidür ol nām-ver
Fitne Ye’cūc’ı zemānında nice bulsun ẓuhūr
Rāh-ı Ḥaḳ’da Sedd-i İskender’dür ol Dārāb-der
Her marīż-i faḳr olan ma‘zūle tīmār itmede
Lafẓ-ı cān-baḫşında var nuṭḳ-ı Mesīḥā’dan es̱er
N’ola gösterse cinān ‘aksin cihān āyīne-veş
Ṣayḳal-ı rāyıyla gitdi rūy-ı ‘ālemden keder
Şerbet-i cūdı cihān ḫalḳını sīr-āb eyledi
Şimdiden girü ne dadı var ṣuya ursun şeker
Şeh Süleymān’uñ ṣalaldan tīġın ol mīr-i şecī‘
Fitne ḳaṭ‘ oldı vü götrüldi cihāndan şūr u şer
Yoḳ dur[ür] evṣāfına ġāyet ṣavāb oldur hemān
Kim du‘ādan dem urup idem kelāmum muḫtaṣar
Vaṣf u medḥinden du‘ādur saña Fażlī’nüñ ġaraż
Ẕāt-ı pāka gerçi kim virür kerīmā derd-i ser
İntisāb itmek diler dergāhuña ol müstemend
Bendeñ olmaḳdur murādı ḳıl ḳabūl iy nām-ver
Niçe kim her ṣubḥ-dem cünd-i ẓulām-efrūz-ı şeb
‘Ayn-ı nuṣretden ola meşhūr şemşīr-i seḥer
Eyleye ġālib seni her laḥẓa a‘dā üstine
Nitekim şemşīr-i ḳahr-ı Ḫüsrev ü Cemşīd-fer
Ḥaşr olınca devlet ü baḫt ile oluben kām-rān
Dāyimā ol Āṣaf-ı maḳbūl şāh-ı baḥr ü ber
In English
1. You have girded your waist with a sword of victory and a belt of divine help; here is the field, let the red head come forth if he is a man. ("Surḫ-ı ser", red head, alludes to the Kızılbaş, the "Red Heads".)
2. Raising with good fortune the banner of the shah that heralds conquest, we set out at dawn like the sun towards the east.
3. Resolve is a river flowing towards the east; our sword wishes to drown the enemies in the water of destruction.
4. Our blood-scattering sword is indeed water in its clearness; but if you could see what fires it kindles on the heads of the enemies.
5. Our sharp, blood-scattering dagger is at work once more to drink the blood of the Kızılbaş like water. (The phrase "işler yeder" at the end of the line is obscure.)
6. Opportunity and majesty have become our outposts on the right and the left; conquest is our commander and vanguard officer, victory our guide.
7. If you listened to what a tulip tells in the language of its state, you would hear what heads have come out of the black breast of the Kızılbaş. (The red petals and black centre of the tulip are likened to the red-capped Kızılbaş and his black breast.)
8. The horsetail standards, like children who have loosed their curling locks, wish to collect the coin of life of the enemy army. (The couplet can be read in two ways: "ṣābī" may be taken as child, but it also means the star-worshipping Sabians; "cerr" means collecting alms.)
9. With red cloths and silks every banner is a bride of conquest; they use wiles to come side by side with the enemy. ("Āl" means both red and wile.)
10. The drums have beaten their breasts ceaselessly in sorrow: woe to you, O enemy of evil faith and base stock. (The beating of the drum is likened to the beating of the breast.)
11. The shawms, moaning and wailing, say at every moment: O enemy without skill, for now the turn is ours. ("Nevbet" means both turn and the performance of the military band.)
12. In the battle the cymbal players on every side strike their cymbals together and, mocking the enemy, cry "hey hey".
13. Every kettledrum says: To what black days you have come, you will see; open your eyes. (The rest of the second line is obscure; it may be understood that the sword of harm will turn the enemy into a beaten kettledrum.)
14. The red head truly does not know that the cannons are lightning scattering the sparks of destruction until it strikes his head.
15. Cannon and musket are a flash of fire to be hurled towards the enemy; in their wrath they spit fire from their mouths.
16. Every cannon is a calamity descending in wrath from heaven to turn the land of the enemy upside down.
17. Each man of our numerous and blood-scattering army teaches the epic of war to the legendary Rüstem.
18. He overpowers Kahraman and gives no quarter to Neriman; if Sam were to face him, he would be stunned with fear. (Kahraman, Neriman and Sam are heroes of the Shahnameh; there is a play on sound between "Sām" and "ser-sām", stupor.)
19. Restless Behram submits in terror of his arrow; Güstehem too gives up his life, and Tehemten (Rüstem) lets go of his body. ("Sehm" means both arrow and fear; there is also a play on sound between "Tehem-ten" and "ten", body.)
20. In the reign of His Majesty Sultan Süleyman every rank of the army is indeed full from end to end of brave men who break the enemy line.
21. But bravo to the army of Islam as well, to the brave men of Rumelia, who are known as true men. (In Old Turkish "gerçek" means brave.)
22. Each cavalryman overpowers a thousand cavalrymen in a single charge; here is the field, (the enemy will see it) if the skill-less enemy has no helper.
23. Every subaşı is a source of the water of valour; the enemies burn with thirst for a sip of water from his sword. (There is a play between "ṣubaşı", commander, and "ṣu başı", spring.)
24. Each of his begs is a beauty mark on the face of victory; the beauty of triumph has found adornment and splendour through these begs. (In the old script "beg" and "ben", beauty mark, are written the same way.)
25. Above all, the generous one who is the beylerbeyi of that army; his name is Ali, and he is a creation with the character of Haydar (Ali).
26. By the right of Ali, the Lion of God, he too, true to his name, is a male lion of the forest of generosity and valour.
27. The Lion of the sky (the constellation Leo) is bathed in blood for fear of his sword; do not think that the skirt of the heavens is reddened by the dawn in the morning.
28. He is a mine of generosity, a source of magnanimity; out of envy of his generous hand the stone in the mine turns into a ruby and lives in fear of him.
29. When his bright judgement lights up the world, I wonder what the old heavens do with the moon and the sun.
30. The brain of the universe is perfumed with the scent of his character; let fresh musk try from now on to make its scent equal to his.
31. He is an Omar in justice, an Ali in generosity, a Muhammad in character; those who have eyes have not seen his like in the world.
32. Justice, generosity and good character are at every moment the custom of his person; by this custom that renowned man is one of the blessed. (The line plays on the word "sa‘ādet", blessedness, containing the word "‘ādet", custom; how the word "yusa" is to be understood here is not clear.)
33. How could the Gog of sedition appear in his time; that man with a gate like Darius's is the Wall of Alexander on the path of God. (According to legend, Alexander had a wall built against the peoples of Gog and Magog.)
34. He is tending every dismissed man sick with poverty; in his life-giving words there is a trace of the speech of the Messiah (Jesus). ("Tīmār" means both care and healing and the tımar, the land grant given as a living.)
35. Is it any wonder if the world, like a mirror, shows the reflection of paradise; by the polish of his judgement the grief has gone from the face of the world. ("Keder", grief, also means the cloudiness of a mirror.)
36. The sherbet of his generosity has quenched the thirst of the people of the world; what taste is left to sugar from now on, let it throw itself into water (for shame).
37. Since that brave emir has wielded the sword of Shah Süleyman, sedition has been cut off, and tumult and evil have been lifted from the world.
38. There is no end to his qualities; the best course is to turn to prayer and cut my words short.
39. O generous one, Fazlî's aim in describing and praising you is to pray for you; though indeed these give a headache to your pure person.
40. That sorrowful man wishes to attach himself to your court; his desire is to be your servant; O renowned one, accept him.
41. As long as, every dawn, the sword of morning is drawn from the eye of victory against the army of night that kindles darkness ("meşhūr" means both drawn and famous),
42. may (God) make you at every moment victorious over your enemies, like the sword of wrath of (the sovereign) with the splendour of Khosrow and Jamshid.
43. Attaining his desires with fortune and luck until the Day of Resurrection, may that favoured Asaf (remain) for ever with the shah of land and sea. (Asaf is the vizier of the prophet Solomon; since the sultan's name is Süleyman, his statesman is likened to Asaf.)
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a kaside (qasida) of praise of forty-three couplets (beyit). The metre is the "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün" pattern of the remel family. The rhyme is the sound "-er" (kemer, ser, sefer, diler, yaḳar...); there is no redif (refrain word). Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent is named in couplet 20 and the praised beylerbeyi Ali in couplet 25; the pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 39. Özkat presents this kaside as a poem of praise expressing the valour of Sultan Süleyman and his soldiers, and says that in the opening section (nesib) Fazlî tried to convey the pomp of the battlefield.
The text is found only in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 115b). The word "şerer" (spark) in couplet 14 is written "şeref" in the text of the manuscript and corrected to "şerer" in the margin; "oddur" in couplet 15 is likewise "otdur" in the text and corrected in the margin. Özkat follows these corrections.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The first nineteen couplets of the kaside are a tableau of a campaign. The poet speaks in the voice of "we": the sultan's banner has been raised, and the army has marched east in the morning like the sun. The enemy is plainly the Kızılbaş; the words "surḫ-ı ser" (red head) in the first couplet and "ḳızılbaş" in the fifth show this. Fazlî goes on playing with this name: in couplet 7 the tulip with red petals and a black centre is likened to the red heads that come out of the black breast of the Kızılbaş; in couplet 14 it is said that the red head will not understand that the cannon is like lightning until it strikes his head. Özkat mentions couplet 4 separately: in saying that the swords are like water in their clearness yet kindle fires on the enemy's heads, the poet also alludes to the tradition of tempering steel in water.
In the battle scenes the military band and firearms come to the fore. The drums pity the enemy and beat their breasts, the shawms moan "the turn is ours", the cymbal players mock, the kettledrums announce black days. In these couplets the instruments are made to speak and are adorned with finds such as the double entendre (tevriye) in the word "nevbet". Cannon and musket spit fire from their mouths, and every cannon turns the enemy's land upside down like a calamity descending from heaven. In couplets 17-19 the brave men of the army are measured against the heroes of the Shahnameh: they teach Rüstem an epic, overpower Kahraman and stun Sam. Plays on sound are dense in these couplets: "Sām" and "ser-sām", the meanings of "sehm" as arrow and fear, "Tehem-ten" and "ten". In couplet 6 opportunity and majesty become outposts, conquest the commander and victory the guide; Özkat cites this couplet as an example of the lively depiction of movement on the battlefield.
After couplet 20 the praise turns to the army of Rumelia and its beylerbeyi Ali. In couplet 21 the old meaning of the word "gerçek", brave, is used together with its present meaning, true; in couplet 23 there is a play between "ṣubaşı" and "ṣu başı", and in couplet 24 between "beg" and "ben". Since the beylerbeyi's name is Ali, the poet ties him to the caliph Ali; by the right of the Lion of God he too is a male lion, and even the Lion in the sky, the constellation Leo, is bathed in blood for fear of his sword. This explanation of the red of the dawn in couplet 27 is a typical hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology). In couplet 34 the word "tīmār" is used both in the sense of tending and healing dismissed men in poverty and in the sense of granting them a tımar as a living. The kaside ends with a prayer likening the praised man to Asaf, the vizier of the prophet Solomon; since the sultan's name is Süleyman, the comparison is apt.
Among the idioms collected by Özkat are, from this kaside, "başına ateşler yakmak" (to kindle fires on someone's head, couplet 4), "kara günlere kalmak" (to come to black days) and "gözünü açmak" (to open one's eyes, couplet 13), "ağzından ateş saçmak" (to spit fire from one's mouth, couplet 15), "altüst etmek" (to turn upside down, couplet 16), "aman vermemek" (to give no quarter, couplet 18), "can vermek" (to give up one's life) and "el çekmek" (to let go, couplet 19), "kan kuşanmak" (to be girded with blood, couplet 27) and "dem vurmak" (to speak of, couplet 38). Özkat cites the use of the Persian "derd-i ser" instead of "baş ağrısı" (headache) in couplet 39 as an example of Fazlî's use of some idioms in their Arabic and Persian equivalents.
Historical Context
The kaside must have been written during one of Süleyman's campaigns to the east, against the Kızılbaş; but which campaign it was is not stated clearly in the poem, and Özkat gives no date. Who the praised "beylerbeyi Ali" was could not be established either. When Özkat lists the poems of praise Fazlî wrote for statesmen, he does not mention this man; he places the kaside among the poems of praise written for Süleyman.
Bibliography
- Mustafa Özkat, Kara Fazlî'nin Hayatı, Eserleri, Edebî Kişiliği ve Dîvânı (İnceleme-Tenkitli Metin), MA thesis, Marmara University Institute of Turkic Studies, Istanbul 2005, pp. 153-156, kaside no. 11 (Süleymaniye Library, Âşir Efendi 314, fol. 115b); also pp. 48-50 (on the kasides), pp. 76-77 (descriptions of war) and pp. 87-93 (idioms), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.
Online sources
