Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilün
Bir seḥer-gāh meger ḫüsrev-i çārüm-eyvān
Sūr-ı eflākda dikdi ‘alem-i nūr-efşān
Şeb-i tārīk geçüp itmiş idi mihr ẓuhūr
Ẓulmet içre nitekim çeşme-i āb-ı ḥayvān
Ḥücreme geldi benüm bir melek-i sidre-serīr
Didi kim başuña gün ṭoġdı ṭur iy bī-sāmān
Ġāfil olma gözüñ aç devlet ü ‘izzetle bugün
Sūr ider sūr-ı cihānda yine sulṭān-ı cihān
Ḥamdülillāh yine başlansa gerek bir sūra
Ki ola “ Fātiḥa” sı āyet-i gül-zār-ı cinān
Öyle sūr itse gerekdür ki sürūrından anuñ
Göglere çıḳsa gerek velvele-i ṭabl-ı zenān
Göglere irse gerek ṭabl u nefīr āvāzı
Gür gür olmazsa ‘acebdür hele gūş-ı Keyvān
Sūr-ı eflākda pür-şevḳ durur ol sūra
İki senc olmaġa ḫūrşīd ile māh-ı tābān
Cümle oḳınsa gerekdür ümerā-yı ‘ālem
Gelse ol sūrı ḳamu itse gerekdür seyrān
Maṭbaḫında şu ḳadar bişse gerekdür ni‘met
Ki ṭuyūrı ṭoyura cümle degül geh insān
‘Ālemüñ lā‘l ola her seng-i siyāhı ḳandan
Mākiyān ile bize şol ḳadar ola ḳurbān
Cān virürler ikisi de ḳulı ḳurbānı durur
Ḥamel ü s̱evr bugün olmaġa anda biryān
Şu ḳadar söğlün eti ola söğülme anda
Ki söğülmeyle yiyeler anı bengī yārān
Yiridür kim bu yidi ḳat felek-i mīnā-fām
Olsa ol sūr-ı mu‘aẓẓamda yidi çerḫi ḳazan
Kūh-ı billūr durur dāne pirinci anuñ
İştihā şāhına maṭlūb durur ġāyet o kān
Ṣaḥnı her dāne pirincüñ ki ṭolu revnaḳ ola
Beñzer ol incü ile ṭopṭolu bir baḥre hemān
Ṭōpdur anda olan sükkeri me’mūniyye
İştihā ḳal‘asını eylemek-içün vīrān
Nice vaṣf eyleyeyin anda bişen ni‘meti ben
Kimse anuñ ‘adedin bilmeye ancaḳ Sübḥān
Sükkerī şerbetine kim dil uzatsa anuñ
Aġzı dadını hemān virse gerekdür ol ān
Şol maḥbūb dügün ola bu kim anda şeker
Ezile başını ortaya ḳoyup aña revān
Bir yürekler yaḳıcı ḫūbdur anda ‘asel
İçmeyen şerbetini eylemez anı iẕ‘ān
Şāh naṭ‘ında şeker işleri ferzānelerüñ
Kimine at kimine fīl idiser iḥsān
Dürlü ṣūretlere girüp nüdemā eyleyeler
Anda eşkāl-i ġarīb ile cihānı ḥayrān
Her güni ‘īd olup her gicesi Ḳadr ola
Bir nice gün ola bu sūr ile ‘ālem ḫandān
Gündüzin ‘ıyş ü ṣafā ile ḳamu ẕevḳ ideler
Gicesi āteş işinden ola pür-şevḳ-i cihān
Ḳal‘a-i düşmen-i sulṭān gibi her āteş-bāz
Od urup itse gerek niçe ḳılā‘ı vīrān
Şöyle şevḳ olsa gerek āteş işinden giceler
Ki yaḳa giceligin şevḳle ba‘żı yārān
Yürüye od gibi anda işi āteş-bāzuñ
Od urup ata o ṣaḥrāda idicek cevelān
Getürüp ortaya pāpāsları ger yaḳalar
Nār u nūr ola yanınca olara vird-i zebān
Āsümānīleri kim ire hevāya anuñ
Bir ṭırāḳa ḳopara idesin āḫir seyrān
Böyle ḫalḳuñ göricek kes̱ret ile seyrānın
Ara yirde delice olsa gerek ser-gerdān
İşidüp bu sözini ol melik-i Īsī-demüñ
Didüm ol sūre nedür ola sebeb iy lebi cān
Didi şeh-zādeleri sünnet idüp şāh-ı cihān
Lūle-i la‘lden aḳıtsa gerekdür mercān
Şāh-ı Cem cām u Sikender-derece Dārā-dār
Mihr-i Bercīs sa‘ādet meh-i keyvān-eyvān
Ḥażret-i Şāh Süleymān-ı zemān bin Selīm
Şāh-ı şāhān-ı cihān ḫüsrev-i ḫāḳān-ı zemān
Südde-i salṭanata ẕāt-ı laṭīfi sulṭān
Nāme-i ma‘delete nām-ı şerīfi ‘ünvān
Rāy-ı pür-nūrına ḫūrşīd dimek olur idi
Ẕerre ḫūrşīd-i münīr olmaġa olsa imkān
Ḳaṣr-ı ḳadri yücedür şol ḳadar anuñ ki Züḥal
Çıḳdı bām-ı felege itmege anı seyrān
Server-i rif‘ati bir mertebede a‘lādur
Yiridür küngüre-i ‘arş aña olsa mekān
Ḳahramān uġraya ḳahrına eger kim anuñ
Ḳahr ide ol dem anı virmeye ol ḳahr āmān
Server-i ḳahrınuñ içürse eger şerbetini
Nīş ide nūşını nūşīn revānuñ o revān
Şīr-gerdūn ola naḫcīri eger ḳursa kemīn
Tīr-eflāk ola omacı eger çekse kemān
Sensin ol şāh-ı felek-ḳadr ü melek-mertebe kim
Faḫr ider saña ḳul olmaġ ile şāhān-ı cihān
Görmedi sencileyin bir şeh-i ‘ālī-menzil
Gerçi çoḳ serveri seyr itdi ‘uyūn-ı devrān
Sensin ol şāh ki sulṭān-ı serāy-ı heftüm
Şimdi bir Hindi ġulāmuñ durur adı Keyvān
Bir silaḥ-dār ola ḳapuñda diler kim Behrām
Tīġ-dār olduġı eflākde oldur her ān
Bir ḳaṣīde getürüpdür saña Fażlī çāker
Görse anı diye sellemtü hezārān Selmān
Nice kim sūr-ı cihānda ola sūr-ı a‘ẓam
Nice kim sūr ile mesrūr ola maḫlūḳ-ı cihān
Sūr-ı ‘ömrüñi senüñ eyleye Bārī muḥkem
Gül-i sūrīlerüñe irmeye hergiz noḳṣān
In English
1. One dawn, it seems, the sovereign of the fourth heaven (the sun) planted his light-scattering banner on the rampart of the spheres.
2. The dark night had passed, and the sun had appeared like the fountain of the water of life in the midst of darkness.
3. An angel whose throne is the lote tree came to my cell and said: O wretched one, get up, the sun has risen over your head. (The lote tree, sidre, is the tree in the seventh heaven.)
4. Do not be heedless, open your eyes; today the sultan of the world is once again holding a wedding feast with fortune and glory on the rampart of the world. ("Sūr" means both wedding feast and city wall.)
5. Praise be to God, a feast is to begin once more; its Fatiha will be a verse of the rose garden of paradise. (The word "sūr" also evokes "sure", a sura of the Qur'an; the Fatiha is the first sura.)
6. He will hold such a feast that, from its joy, the din of the women beating drums will rise to the heavens.
7. The sound of drum and trumpet will reach the heavens; it would be a wonder if the ear of Saturn did not ring with it.
8. The sun and the shining moon stand eagerly on the rampart of the spheres to be two cymbals at that feast.
9. All the emirs of the world will be invited; all of them will come and watch that feast.
10. So much food will be cooked in his kitchen that it will feed all the birds, let alone men.
11. So many sacrifices, hens included, will be made for us that every black stone in the world will turn to ruby with blood.
12. Both the Ram and the Bull (Aries and Taurus) are his devoted slaves; today they give up their lives to be roasted there.
13. There will be so much boiled meat there that the hemp-eating friends will eat it as söğülme. (Söğülme is boiled and chopped meat; the word also evokes "sövülmek", to be cursed. The detail of the couplet is obscure.)
14. It would be fitting if these seven enamel-blue spheres became seven cauldrons at that great feast.
15. Each grain of his rice is a mountain of crystal; that mine is what the shah of appetite seeks above all.
16. The dish of rice, every grain of which is full of lustre, resembles a sea brimming with pearls.
17. The sugared me'muniye there is a cannonball for destroying the fortress of appetite.
18. How am I to describe the food cooked there; no one knows its number but God.
19. Whoever stretches his tongue towards its sugared sherbet will find a sweet taste in his mouth at that moment.
20. This will be such a lovely wedding that sugar will run towards it, put its head forward and be crushed.
21. Honey there is a heart-burning beauty; whoever does not drink its sherbet will not acknowledge its worth.
22. The wise shah, on the chessboard, will bestow from the sugar works a horse on some and an elephant on others. ("Ferzāne", wise, evokes the "ferz", the vizier (queen) in chess; the horse (knight) and elephant (bishop) are also chess pieces.)
23. The boon companions will put on all sorts of guises and amaze the world there with strange forms.
24. Every day will be a feast day and every night a Night of Power; for many days the world will laugh with this feast.
25. By day all will take their pleasure in merriment and joy, and by night the world will be full of excitement from the fireworks.
26. Every fireworks master will set fire to and destroy many a fortress, as if it were the fortress of the sultan's enemy.
27. There will be such excitement from the fireworks at night that some of the friends will burn their nightgowns in their eagerness. ("Yaka" evokes both burning and the collar of a garment.)
28. The work of the fireworks master will go like fire there, when he sets fire to the horse and makes it gallop across that plain.
29. If they bring out the priests and burn them, "fire and light" will be the litany on their tongues as they burn.
30. When its rockets rise into the air they will make a bang, and in the end you will watch.
31. Whoever sees the people coming out in such crowds to watch will be dizzy like a madman in the midst of it.
32. When I heard these words of that angel with the breath of Jesus, I said: O you whose lip is life, what is the reason for that feast?
33. He said: The shah of the world will have the princes circumcised; coral will flow from a ruby spout. (The blood of the circumcision is likened to coral.)
34. He is a shah with the cup of Jamshid, the rank of Alexander and the majesty of Darius; a sun with the good fortune of Jupiter, a moon that has reached the hall of Saturn.
35. He is His Majesty the Shah, the Solomon of the age, son of Selim, the shah of the shahs of the world, the sovereign of the khans of the time.
36. His subtle person is the sultan of the threshold of sovereignty, his noble name the title of the book of justice.
37. If a mote could become the shining sun, his luminous judgement could be called the sun. (Beside him the sun remains a mote.)
38. The palace of his worth is so lofty that Saturn has climbed onto the roof of the sphere to look at it.
39. The throne of his eminence is of such a rank that it would be fitting if the battlements of the Throne of God were its place.
40. If Kahraman were to meet his wrath, that wrath would crush him at once and give him no quarter. (Kahraman is one of the heroes of the Shahnameh; his name is played on with the word "kahr", wrath.)
41. If the lord of his wrath made one drink its sherbet, it would turn the sweet soul of Anushirvan to poison. ("Nūş" means sweet and "nīş" poison; the name Nūşīn-revān can be read as "sweet soul".)
42. If he lay in ambush, the Lion of the sky would be his prey; if he drew his bow, the Tir of the heavens (Mercury) would be his target. ("Tīr" means both arrow and the planet Mercury.)
43. You are that shah of heavenly worth and angelic rank whom the shahs of the world are proud to serve as slaves.
44. The eyes of time have watched many a ruler, but they have not seen a shah of such lofty station as you.
45. You are the shah whose Indian slave is now Keyvan (Saturn), the sultan of the seventh palace. (Saturn was thought of as dark in colour and is therefore likened to an Indian slave.)
46. Behram (Mars) wishes to be a weapon-bearer at your door, for in the heavens it is he who bears the sword at every moment.
47. Your servant Fazlî has brought you a kaside; if thousands of Selmans saw it, they would say "I submit". ("Sellemtü" means I submit; the word plays on the name of the Persian kaside poet Selman.)
48. As long as there is a greatest feast in the feast of the world, as long as the creatures of the world are gladdened by feasts,
49. may the Creator keep the rampart of your life strong; may no loss ever reach your red roses. ("Gül-i sūrī" is the red rose.)
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a kaside (qasida) of forty-nine couplets (beyit). The metre is the "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün" pattern of the remel family. The rhyme is the sound "-ān" (eyvān, efşān, ḥayvān, sāmān, cihān...); there is no redif (refrain word). Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent is named in couplet 35 as "Ḥażret-i Şāh Süleymān-ı zemān bin Selīm", and the pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 47. According to Özkat, like the twelfth kaside it is a "sûriyye", that is, it takes a palace wedding feast as its subject; in subject it does not differ from it.
The kaside is found without a title in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 124b), and with the title "Der Medḥ-i Pād-şāh-ı İslām Refe‘ullāh-ı Livā’-yı Devlete Der-Ṣıfat-ı Sūr-ı Pür-Sürūr" in miscellany no. 1966 of the Revan collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 145a); the title states that the kaside was written in praise of the padishah of Islam and in description of the joyful feast. Couplet 20 is missing in the Revan copy. The other differences are small: "kim" in couplet 14 is missing in the Süleymaniye copy, "fīl idiser" in couplet 22 is "idiser fīl" in the Süleymaniye copy, "nedür" in couplet 32 is "neden" in the Revan copy, and "bin" in couplet 35 is "ibn-i" in the Revan copy.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The kaside is set in a small narrative frame. One morning, as the sun rises, an angel seated on the lote tree comes to the poet's cell and wakes him: today the sultan of the world will once again hold a wedding feast. From couplet 6 to couplet 31 the festival to come is described from the angel's mouth in the future tense, with the "-se gerek" (will surely) construction. In couplet 32 the poet asks the reason for the feast, and the angel replies that the sultan is going to have the princes circumcised (couplet 33). The first couplet of the kaside is one of those Özkat mentions among the descriptions of weddings: the sun planting its light-scattering banner on the rampart of the spheres at dawn evokes the planting of the banner that announces the wedding. Among the idioms collected by Özkat are, from this kaside, "alem dikmek" (to plant a banner, couplet 1), "başına gün doğmak" (to have the sun rise over one's head, couplet 3), "kulu kurbanı olmak" (to be someone's devoted slave, couplet 12), "başını ortaya koymak" (to put one's head forward, couplet 20) and "yürek yakıcı" (heart-burning, couplet 21).
The description of the festival largely overlaps with the twelfth kaside, and some couplets appear in both kasides in almost the same words. The bestowing of a horse on some and an elephant on others from the sugar works on the chessboard (couplet 22 of kaside 13, couplet 14 of kaside 12), the days being feast days and the nights Nights of Power (couplets 24 and 26), the fireworks master setting fire to the horse and making it gallop across the plain (couplets 28 and 33), the burning of the priests (couplets 29 and 32), the rockets, and the closing prayer with "sūr-ı ‘ömr" and "gül-i sūrī" (couplets 48-49 and 49-50) are common to the two poems. What is peculiar to this kaside is the hyperbole of the banquet section: food is cooked that would feed even the birds, black stones turn to ruby with the blood of the sacrifices, the Ram and the Bull long to be roasted, the seven heavens become seven cauldrons, the grains of rice become mountains of crystal, and the me'muniye sweets become cannonballs that destroy the fortress of appetite. In couplet 26 the fortresses set on fire by the fireworks masters are also mentioned.
In the section of praise, images of the stars come to the fore. Saturn climbs onto the roof of the sphere to look at the sultan's palace, and this planet, the sultan of the seventh heaven, becomes the sultan's Indian slave; Mars asks to be a weapon-bearer at his door. In couplet 42 the word "Tīr" is used in the senses of both arrow and the planet Mercury; the Lion of the sky becomes the sultan's prey, and Tir his target. In couplet 41 the word "nūş" (sweet) in the name "Nūşīn-revān" is set against "nīş" (poison). In couplet 47 the poet says that thousands of Selmans who saw his kaside would say "sellemtü" (I submit); the likeness of sound between the name and the verb is a play on the name of the Persian kaside poet Selman. The word "sūr", which also appears in the title, sets up associations throughout the kaside through its senses of wedding feast, city wall and sura; in the fifth couplet it is said that the feast will have its "Fatiha".
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. According to Özkat, one of the twelfth and thirteenth kasides must be the kaside 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). In this kaside the reason for the feast is given plainly as the circumcision of the princes, and the festival is described as an event not yet held but announced. Özkat does not state definitely which of the two kasides was written for the 1530 feast.
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. 160-164, kaside no. 13 (Süleymaniye Library, Âşir Efendi 314, fol. 124b; Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Revan 1966, fol. 145a); also pp. 50-51 (on the kasides), p. 77 (descriptions of weddings) and pp. 90-94 (idioms), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.
- Hasan Aksoy, "Kara Fazlî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 24, Istanbul 2001, pp. 360-361, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kara-fazli.
Online sources
