Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün

Demidür ḫurrem ol iy dil ki irdi sūr-ı sulṭānī
Ser-ā-ser ḫūb-rūlarla pür oldı At Meydānı
Cihān güm güm öter pür-şevḳ-i ‘ālem irdi eflāke
Ṣadā-yı sūr-nāy u ṣīt-i senc ü ṭabl efġānı
Çalınup sūr-nāy u ṭabl irişdi çerḫa āvāzı
Melekler yañılup tesbīḥin anuñ oldı ḥayrānı
Temāşā eyle var anı bulınmaz bir anuñ gibi
Temāşā menba‘ı ḥaṭṭ ma‘deni ẕevḳ ü ṣafā kānı
O meydān-ı vesī‘a ‘arṣa-i maḥşer disem lāyıḳ
Ki cem‘ olmış ḳamu anda cihānuñ insi vü cānı
Cihānda görmedügüñ görmek isterseñ bugün anda
Nedīm ü masḫara envā‘ın iy dil eyle seyrānı
Yiridür ḥoḳḳalar eflāk u mihre mihr ü māh olsa
Anuñla itmege bāzı o bezmüñ ḥoḳḳa-cünbānı
Şu‘ā‘ın ṭōp idüp ḳılmış feleklerden ṭoḳuz kāse
Bu sūruñ olmaġa ḫūrşīd-i ‘ālem kāse-gerdānı
Göricek ‘arṣada cündīlerinüñ cengini şāhuñ
Muḳārin oldı ṣandum çerḫde Behrām u Keyvān’ı
Girüp meydānına cündīlik oynamaġa ol şāhuñ
Felek nīze idindi pertev-i ḫūrşīd-i raḫşānı
Ḳuruldı çerḫ-āsā ḫaymeler bir bir ki reşkinden
Dönüp yirden yire geçdi göricek āsümān anı
Göricek lāleler zeyn itdi ṣandum rūy-ı ṣaḥrāyı
Ḫıyām-ı lāle-gūn ile pür olmış At Meydānı
Girüp ṣūretlere şol deñlü şīrin-kārlıḳ itdi
O şekker işleri anda ki ‘ālem oldı ḥayrānı
Gelüp ferzāne şeh naṭ‘ında şekker işleri ḫalḳuñ
Kimine at virdi kimine fīl itdi iḥsānı
Sebīl oldı şeker şerbetleri hep selsebīl-āsā
Anı nūş eyleyenler istemezler āb-ı ḥayvānı
Żiyāfet oldı hep begler gelüp sulṭān işiginde
Cihān ḫalḳı bugün anda ṭoyınca gördi iḥsānı
Simāṭını göricek ol büyük ġarrā çöreklerle
Didüm bir āsümāndur kim pür itmiş mihr ü māh anı
Ṭoḳuz gög çīnīdür bir biri içre āsümān iy dil
Aġalar begler öñine çekilmege şehüñ ḫᵛānı
Simāṭ-ı çerḫde pür-şevḳ olupdur ḳurṣ-ı mihr iy dil
O şāhuñ süfresinde olmaġa göynüklü bir nānı
Ṣanasın ‘īd-i aḍḥādur bu sūr-ı pür-sürūr iy dil
Ki çıḳdı Ka‘be-ḫān şāhuñ şu deñlü oldı ḳurbānı
Şafaḳ ṣanmañ felekde görinen her şeb ki ṣalmışdur
Sipihr āyīnesine ‘aks ol ḳurbānlaruñ ḳanı
Kebāb oldı kebūterler mu‘allaḳlar dönüp cümle
Şikārı öğdi anda olayın āvārenüñ ānı (?)
O meydān içre me’mūniyyeler hep ṭōplardur kim
Anı ḳapmaġa olur her kişinüñ desti çevgānı
Pilav üstinde göricek ol iki şemseyi ṣandum
Hemānā ḳubbe-i çerḫ üzre mihr ü māh-ı tābānı
Ser-ā-ser ins ü cinn vaḥş u ṭuyūrı cümle ṭoyurdı
Bugün irişdi mūr u māra iḥsān-ı Süleymān’ı
Cihānuñ her güni ‘īd ü gicesi Ḳadr olmışdur
Gice gündüz ṣafā ile geçürseñ n’ola devrānı
Cihānı her gice āteş işi pür-şevḳ ider anda
Ṣanasın ravża-i Aḥmed’de her şeb nūr-ı Yezdānī
Ṣanasın nūrdan bir servdür bāġ-ı cinān içre
Yanıcaḳ anda şādırvānı iy dil eyle seyrānı
Görinenler kevākib ṣanmañuz kim āsümānīler
Çıḳup eflāke çaḳ yer yer sipihrüñ yandı dāmānı
Göricek āsümānīler hevādan indüñüz ṣandum
Ḳıyāmet irişüp çerḫüñ döküldi necm-i raḫşānı
İrişdi çaḳ semāya āsümānīler ‘acebdür ger
Ḫurūs-ı ‘arşı yaḳmaz-ise anuñ nār-ı sūzānı
Yanup pāpāslar anda ser-ā-ser nār u nūr oldı
Anuñla rūşen oldı ser-be-ser çeşm-i Müselmān’ı
Yürüdi anda āteş-bāzuñ işi od gibi ol dem
Od urup ata idicek o ṣaḥrā içre cevlānı
Ḳoşusı atları anuñ şu resme cüst ü çābükdür
‘İnānın ṭutmasa gidüp aşar Īrān u Tūrān’ı
Yiridür aṭlas-ı çerḫ olur ise öñdüli anuñ
Ḳoşusında geçüp atı anuñ kim aldı meydānı
Bu sūr-ı pür-sürūr u ẕevḳ-baḫşuñ vaṣfın eylerken
Dilüme geldi medḥ-i şāhda bu maṭla‘-ı s̱ānī
Ala iy milk-i iḳbālüñ şeh-i İskender aḳrānı
Ki açduñ tīġuñ ile milk-i Tebrīz ü Ḫorāsān’ı
Elüñde ḫātem-i devlet ser-ā-ser ins ü cin rāmuñ
Bugün milk-i cihānuñ ḥaḳ bu kim sensin Süleymān’ı
Urula baġrına ḫüsrevlerüñ key reşkden şāhā
Eger bu salṭanatda görseler sen şāh-ı devrānı
Çeküp şemşīr-i İslām’ı ḳırup küffār yoġ itdüñ
Zihī evżā‘-ı dīn-dārı zihī kār-ı Müselmān’ı
Unuduldı adı Nūşīn-revān’uñ milk-i ‘ālemde
Şu deñlü ‘adl ü dād itdüñ sen iy Sulṭān-ı ‘Os̱mānī
Şeh-i şāhān-ı ‘ālemsin saña lāyıḳ durur şehliḳ
Ki açduñ tīġuñ ile milk-i Tebrīz ü Ḫorāsān’ı
Ḫudā ḥaḳḳı senüñ şemşīriñüñ şānında nāzildür Bugün
İnnā Fetaḥnā āyeti iy Ḫüsrev-i S̱ānī
Nice İskender-i S̱ānī diyem ben saña şāhā kim
Göreydi sen şehi olurdı İskender saña s̱ānī
Ḫudā virmiş saña luṭf u ‘ināyet hem ‘aṭā vü cūd
Saḫāvet milkinüñ sensin bugün iy şāh sulṭānı
Kef-i deryā-nis̱āruñ la‘l ü dür ṣaçdıḳca reşkinden
Yüregi ḳan ṭolar k’anuñ acıdur baḥr-i ‘Ummān’ı
Bulınmaz kām-kārā sen ḳadar milk-i cihān içre
Mürüvvet ma‘deni luṭf issi vü cūd u seḫā kānı
Sözüñ taṭvīl idüp Fażlī igende virme taṣdī‘i
Du‘ā-yı devletine ḳıl hemānā fetḥ-i destānı
Niçe kim sūr-ı ‘ālemde ola sūr-ı sürūr-efzā
Niçe kim sūr ile mesrūr ola ḫalḳuñ dil ü cānı
Hemīşe sūr-ı ‘ömrüñ eyleye muḥkem senüñ Bārī
Gül-i sūrīlerüñe hīç irişdürmeye noḳṣānı

In English

1. O heart, it is time to be merry, for the sultan's wedding feast has come; the Hippodrome (At Meydanı) is filled from end to end with fair-faced beauties.

2. The world is booming, the eagerness of the world has reached the heavens; the sound of the shawm, the din and the wailing of cymbal and drum (have risen to the skies).

3. Shawm and drum were played and their sound reached the sphere; the angels were confused, forgot their rosaries and were enraptured by it.

4. Go and watch it, its like is not to be found; it is the source of spectacle, the mine of delight, the quarry of pleasure and joy.

5. It would be fitting if I called that wide field the plain of the Resurrection, for all the men and jinn of the world have gathered there.

6. O heart, if you wish to see what you have never seen in the world, watch there today the jesters and clowns of every kind.

7. It would be fitting if the juggler of that gathering made the spheres his cups and the sun and moon his balls to play his tricks with them.

8. The sun of the world has made its rays into balls and nine bowls out of the spheres, in order to be the bowl-spinning juggler of this wedding feast.

9. When I saw the combat of the shah's cündîs (horsemen playing at javelin and lance) in the arena, I thought Mars and Saturn had come into conjunction in the sky.

10. To enter that shah's arena and play at the horsemen's game, the sphere took the ray of the shining sun as its lance.

11. Tents like the sky were pitched one by one; when the sky saw them, it turned and sank into the ground with envy.

12. The Hippodrome was filled with tulip-coloured tents; seeing them, I thought tulips had adorned the face of the plain.

13. There those sugar works took on forms and showed such sweet skill that the world was amazed. (At festivities, figures of animals and objects made of sugar were displayed.)

14. The wise shah came to the chessboard and, of the people's sugar works, gave a horse to some and bestowed an elephant on others. ("Ferzāne", wise, evokes the "ferz", the vizier (queen) in chess; "naṭ‘" is the chessboard, and the horse (knight) and the elephant (bishop) are also chess pieces.)

15. The sugar sherbets were poured out freely like Selsebil, the spring of paradise; those who drink them do not even want the water of life.

16. All the begs came to the feast at the sultan's gate; today the people of the world received his bounty there until they were full.

17. When I saw that table laden with large white buns, I said: this is a sky that the sun and moon have filled.

18. O heart, the nine heavens, one inside the other, are porcelain bowls; the shah's table (has been prepared) to be set before the aghas and the begs.

19. O heart, on the table of the sphere the disc of the sun has become eager to be a well-baked loaf on that shah's table.

20. O heart, you would think this joyful wedding feast was the Feast of Sacrifice; the shah's table became a Kaaba, so many were the sacrifices. (The phrase "Ka‘be-ḫān" in the line is obscure.)

21. Do not call it dawn, what is seen in the sky every night; it is the blood of those sacrifices reflected in the mirror of the heavens.

22. The pigeons became kebabs, the tumbler pigeons all turned on the spit. (The second line seems not to have been read; Özkat too has put a question mark in the text.)

23. The me'muniye sweets in that field are all balls; everyone's hand becomes a polo stick to snatch them. (Me'muniye is a kind of sweet; the çevgân is the stick used to strike the ball from horseback.)

24. When I saw those two şemses on top of the pilaf, I thought they were the sun and the moon shining above the dome of the sky. (A şemse is a sun-shaped ornament.)

25. He fed men and jinn, wild beasts and birds, all of them from end to end; today the bounty of Süleyman reached even the ant and the snake. (The prophet Solomon is told to have ruled over all creatures and to have spoken with the ant; the sultan's name too is Süleyman.)

26. Every day of the world has become a feast day, every night a Night of Power; is it any wonder if you spend your time night and day in joy.

27. There, every night, the fireworks fill the world with eagerness; you would think the light of God shone every night on the tomb of Ahmed (the Prophet Muhammad).

28. O heart, watch the fountain there when it is lit; you would think it a cypress of light in the garden of paradise.

29. Do not think that what you see are stars; the rockets shot straight up to the heavens and set the skirt of the sky alight here and there.

30. When I saw the rockets coming down from the air, I thought the Resurrection had come and the shining stars of the sphere had been scattered.

31. The rockets reached straight up to the sky; it would be strange if their burning fire did not burn the rooster of the Throne. (The rooster of the Throne is, in legend, a great rooster in the heavens.)

32. There the priests burned and became fire and light from end to end; with this the eyes of the Muslims were made bright from end to end.

33. The work of that fireworks master went like fire at that moment, when he set fire to the horse and made it gallop across that plain.

34. His racehorses are so nimble and swift that, if he did not hold the reins, they would run and cross Iran and Turan.

35. It would be fitting if the satin of the sky were the prize for the horse that passed the others in the race and won the field.

36. While I was describing this joyful, delight-giving wedding feast, this second opening couplet came to my tongue in praise of the shah:

37. O shah of the land of fortune, peer of Alexander, you who opened with your sword the land of Tabriz and Khorasan.

38. The seal of fortune is in your hand, men and jinn obey you from end to end; truly, today you are the Solomon of the land of the world. (The prophet Solomon is told to have ruled men and jinn with his seal ring.)

39. O shah, if the Khosrows had seen you, the shah of the age, in this sovereignty, they would have beaten their breasts with envy.

40. You drew the sword of Islam and destroyed the infidels by cutting them down; how fine a devout state, how fine a Muslim deed.

41. O Ottoman sultan, you have dispensed such justice that the name of Anushirvan has been forgotten in the land of the world. (Anushirvan is the Sasanian ruler remembered for his justice.)

42. You are the shah of the shahs of the world, kingship becomes you; for you opened with your sword the land of Tabriz and Khorasan.

43. O second Khosrow, by God, today the verse "İnnâ fetahnâ" (We have granted you a clear victory) has been sent down in honour of your sword. (It is the first verse of the sura of Victory.)

44. O shah, how am I to call you a second Alexander; had Alexander seen you as shah, he would have been second to you.

45. God has given you grace and favour, bounty and generosity; O shah, today you are the sultan of the land of generosity.

46. As your sea-like scattering palm scatters rubies and pearls, the heart of the Sea of Oman fills with blood from envy; that is why its water is bitter.

47. O shah who attains his desires, in the land of the world there is no mine of magnanimity, no lord of grace, no quarry of generosity to equal you.

48. Fazlî, do not draw out your words and cause trouble; open at once the tale of prayer for his fortune.

49. As long as there are joy-increasing wedding feasts in the feast of the world, as long as the hearts and souls of the people are gladdened by feasts,

50. may the Creator always keep the rampart of your life strong; may He never let any loss reach your red roses. ("Sūr" means both wedding feast and city wall; "gül-i sūrī" is the red rose.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of fifty couplets (beyit). The metre is the "mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün" pattern of the hezec family. The rhyme is the sound "-ānı" (sulṭānī, Meydānı, efġānı, ḥayrānı, kānı...); there is no redif (refrain word). According to Özkat, the kaside is a "sûriyye", that is, a kaside describing a palace wedding feast. Saying in couplet 36 that "this second opening couplet came to my tongue", the poet renews the opening couplet (tecdîd-i matla) in couplet 37 and ends the kaside with the praise of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent and a prayer. The pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 48.

The text is found only in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 123b). Özkat could not read couplet 22 fully and has put a question mark at its end. The words "İnnā fetaḥnā" in couplet 43 are the beginning of the first verse of the sura of Victory.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first thirty-five couplets of the kaside are a step-by-step description of a wedding festival. According to Özkat, in his kasides of the sûriyye type Fazlî relates with all their liveliness how palace weddings were held in the sixteenth century: the Hippodrome decked out with tents recalling a tulip garden and with colourful ornaments, the entertainments, the banquets and the guests' race to snatch the food. As examples of this description Özkat cites couplet 12, in which tulip-coloured tents fill the Hippodrome, and couplet 23, in which the me'muniye sweets are balls and the hands reaching out to snatch them are polo sticks.

The order of the festival can be followed in the kaside. First the sounds of shawm, cymbal and drum rise to the skies; in the field, jesters, clowns and jugglers perform (couplets 6-8). Then the cündîs play at javelin and lance in the arena, and the tents are pitched. Figures made of sugar are displayed; in couplet 14 they are described through chess pieces: the "ferzāne" (wise) shah comes to the chessboard and bestows a horse on some and an elephant on others. Then comes the banquet: the sherbets flow freely, the table laden with white buns is likened to a starry sky and the nine heavens to porcelain bowls one inside the other. The number of sacrifices turns the wedding into the Feast of Sacrifice; the poet even explains the red of the dawn as the blood of the sacrifices reflected in the mirror of the sky (couplet 21). In couplet 25 the sultan's bounty reaching even the ant and the snake is an allusion to the prophet Solomon's rule over all creatures.

The night section is given over to fireworks (couplets 27-33). A fountain of fire is likened to a cypress of light in paradise, the rockets set the skirt of the sky alight, and the poet likens their descent to the scattering of the stars at the Resurrection. The "priests" burned in couplet 32 and the horse that the fireworks master sets on fire and makes gallop in couplet 33 must be parts of the fire displays at the festival; their details cannot be drawn from the poem. Özkat mentions couplet 29 in two respects: as an example of the idiom "etekleri tutuşmak" (to have one's skirts catch fire) being used in its Persian equivalent "dāmānı yanmak", and in his list of idioms. This section of the kaside closes with a horse race; it would be fitting for the satin of the sky to be given as a prize to the winning horse (couplet 35).

In the section of praise Süleyman, true to his name, is likened to the prophet Solomon, and also to Alexander, Khosrow and Anushirvan. The find in couplet 44 is noteworthy: the poet hesitates to call the sultan a "second Alexander", for had Alexander seen him he himself would have remained second. In couplet 46 the bitterness of the water of the Sea of Oman is explained by its heart filling with blood from envy of the sultan's generous palm. In the last couplets a double entendre (tevriye) is built by using the word "sūr" in its senses of wedding feast and city wall, and "gül-i sūrī" in the sense of red rose. Özkat's list of idioms also includes, from this kaside, "yerden yere geçmek" (to sink into the ground, couplet 11), "sebil olmak" (to be poured out freely, couplet 15), "meydan almak" (to win the field, couplet 35) and "yüreği kan dolmak" (to have one's heart fill with blood, couplet 46).

Historical Context

Kara Fazlî was presented to Süleyman by his master Zâtî at the circumcision feast of Prince Mehmed in 936 (1530) and offered the sultan a kaside; this event was a turning point in the poet's life. According to Özkat, one of Fazlî's two sûriyyes (kasides 12 and 13) must be the kaside he presented to the sultan at the circumcision feast of Prince Mehmed, Prince Mustafa and Prince Selim held at the Hippodrome on 29 Şevval 936 (27 June 1530). This kaside states plainly that the feast was held at the Hippodrome. On the other hand, the kaside twice says that the sultan opened the land of Tabriz and Khorasan with his sword (couplets 37 and 42); this detail too should be taken into account in the question of which feast the poem was written for.

Bibliography

Online sources