Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilün

‘Āleme şöyle şeref virdi ser-ā-ser nevrūz
Ḳadrle ḳıldı şebi rūza berāber nevrūz
Ḥūtdan Yūnus-ı ḫūrşīd çıkup buldı ḫalāṣ
Ḥameli aña Ḫudā itse n’ola ger nevrūz
Tīġ-ı ḫūrşīdle fetḥ itdi sa‘ādet milkini
Milket-i ‘āleme şāh oldı muẓaffer nevrūz
Bāġ zeyn itdi ḳamu ḫil‘at-ı nevrūz ile
Geydirüp nergise bir ḫōş kile-i zer nevrūz
Mīl-i ḫūrşīdle bir sürme-i nūrānı çeküp
Eyledi dīde-i ezhārı münevver nevrūz
Baş getürdi göz açup ḫᵛāb-ı ‘ademden ezhār
Anlara ‘arż idicek luṭf ile peyker nevrūz
Çeşme-i mihrden aḳıtdı ṭarāvet ābın
İtdi sīr-āb cihān bāġını yek-ser nevrūz
Ḳıldı ol āb-ı muṣaffā ile hep tāze vü ter
Cümle eşcāra virüp neşv ü nemālar nevrūz
Ābdan olduġına cümle-i eşyāya ḥayāt
İtdi gün gibi yine rūşen ü iẓhar nevrūz
Dem-i ‘Īsī ile ṣan mürdelere irdi ḥayāt
Bāġ-ı emvātına cān virdi ser-ā-ser nevrūz
Ḫalḳa göstermege dünyāyı ser-ā-ser rūşen
İtdi peydā yine mir’āt-ı Sikender nevrūz
Şevḳ ü şādī ile pür oldı cihānuñ ḳalbi
Oldı gūyā ki dem-i vuṣlat-ı dilber nevrūz
Dürülüp defteri dīvān-ı şitānuñ cümle
Aldı destine yine bir ḳalem-i zer nevrūz
Müfredāt ile yazup ṣafḥa-i gülşende ḳamu
İtdi taḥvīl-i bahārı yine defter nevrūz
Göñlini ḫāme-i luṭf ile yazup her kişinüñ
Eyledi defter-i şādīde muḥarrer nevrūz
O göñüller yazıcı yaza umaram göñlüm
Ki gice vü gündüz anuñ medḥini yazar nevrūz
Ekber-i cümle-i şeh-zāde-i sulṭān-ı cihān
Kim anuñ ḳullıġıdur ḫalḳa muḳarrer nevrūz
Muṣṭafā nām u ‘Alī cūd u Muḥammed aḫlāḳ
Ki düşüpdür es̱er-i luṭfına maẓhar nevrūz
Rūz-ı nevrūzda varsun yüzini görsün anuñ
Görmeyen kimse cihān içre muḳarrer nevrūz
Rūzı nevrūz olur yüzini gören kişinüñ
Böyle pīrūz olur mı ‘acebā her nevrūz
Güle baḳsun diyü anı açılup göñl ü gözi
Bezedi güller ile gülşeni yer yer nevrūz
Bir idüp rūz u şebi on iki ay itdi sefer
Yüzini görmek ola diyü müyesser nevrūz
Berre-i şīr-i nere itdi muḳārin tā kim
Ḳalbüñe vire bu seyr ile feresler nevrūz
Ḥameli eyledi tennūr-ı felekde biryān
Server-i ḳadrüñi ḳonuḳlamaḳ ister nevrūz
Ḫalḳ içinde bu ḳadar ‘izz ü şeref bulmazdı
Ger saña olmasa bir bende-i çāker nevrūz
Nergise efser-i zer virdi güle ḫil‘at-ı sebz
Senden ögrendi seḫā resmini eks̱er nevrūz
Göz açup cümle şükūfe açılup şād oldı
Bāġa virdi ḫaber-i luṭfuñı beñzer nevrūz
Ṭās-ı ḫūrşīd alup destine ḳanuñ ṭolınur
Naḳd-i iḥsānuñı tā senden ide cer nevrūz
Fażliyā gel sözüñ uzatma du‘āya getür el
Ki du‘ā mevsimidür olsa muḳadder nevrūz
Bu du‘āyı umaram kim ḳıla maḳbūl Ḫudā
‘Aceb olmaya ḳabūl olsa du‘ālar nevrūz
Giceñi ḳadr ile çoḳ rūza berāber ide Ḥaḳ
Eyledükce şeb ile rūzı berāber nevrūz
Meskenüñ burc-ı sa‘ādet ola ḫūrşīd gibi
Tā ki virdükce şeref dehre ser-ā-ser nevrūz

In English

1. Nevruz has given the world such honour from end to end that it has made the night equal to the day in worth. (At Nevruz night and day become equal.)

2. The Jonah of the sun has come out of the Fish and found deliverance; is it any wonder if God makes the Lamb (Aries) a Nevruz gift to it. (The sun passes from Pisces into Aries; there is an allusion to the prophet Jonah's deliverance from the belly of the fish. "Ḥamel" means both Aries and lamb.)

3. Nevruz has conquered the land of felicity with the sword of the sun; victorious Nevruz has become shah of the realm of the world.

4. Nevruz has adorned every part of the garden with the robe of honour of Nevruz, and dressed the narcissus in a fine golden cap.

5. With the pencil of the sun Nevruz has applied a luminous kohl and brightened the eyes of the flowers.

6. When Nevruz graciously showed them its face, the flowers opened their eyes from the sleep of non-existence and raised their heads.

7. Nevruz has made the water of freshness flow from the fountain of the sun and quenched the thirst of the garden of the world from end to end.

8. Giving growth and increase to all the trees, Nevruz has made them all fresh and green with that pure water.

9. Nevruz has once again made it as clear and plain as day that the life of all things is from water. (There is an allusion to the Qur'anic verse "We made every living thing from water".)

10. You would think that life had reached the dead through the breath of Jesus; Nevruz has given life from end to end to the garden of the dead.

11. To show the people the whole world bright from end to end, Nevruz has once again brought forth the mirror of Alexander. (According to legend the whole world could be seen in Alexander's mirror.)

12. The heart of the world is filled with eagerness and joy; Nevruz has become as it were the moment of union with the beloved.

13. The whole register of the council of winter has been rolled up and closed; Nevruz has once again taken a golden pen in its hand.

14. Writing everything item by item on the page of the rose garden, Nevruz has once again entered the transfer of spring in the register. ("Müfredāt", itemised entries, and "taḥvīl", transfer, are words used in the record-keeping of the council secretary; "taḥvīl" is also the sun's passage from one sign of the zodiac to the next.)

15. Writing the heart of every person with the pen of grace, Nevruz has recorded it in the register of joy.

16. I hope that writer of hearts will write my heart too; for night and day Nevruz writes his praise.

17. He is the eldest of all the princes of the sultan of the world; that Nevruz is his servant is known to all the people.

18. His name is Mustafa, his generosity is Ali's, his character the character of Muhammad; Nevruz has become the recipient of the work of his grace.

19. Let anyone in the world who has never truly seen Nevruz go on the day of Nevruz and see his face.

20. The day of the man who sees his face becomes Nevruz; I wonder whether every Nevruz is as auspicious as this.

21. So that his eye and heart may open and he may look at the roses, Nevruz has adorned the rose garden with roses here and there.

22. Making night and day one, Nevruz has travelled for twelve months, so that it may be granted to see his face.

23. Nevruz has brought the lamb together with the male lion, so that it may give joy to your heart with this journey. (The lamb points to Aries and the lion to Leo; the word "feresler" at the end of the line has been understood here as joy, but this reading is not certain.)

24. Nevruz has roasted the Lamb in the oven of the sky, wishing to entertain your exalted worth as its guest.

25. Had Nevruz not been your servant and attendant, it would not have found so much glory and honour among the people.

26. Nevruz has given the narcissus a golden crown and the rose a green robe; it learned the custom of generosity mostly from you.

27. All the blossoms opened their eyes, bloomed and rejoiced; Nevruz must have brought the garden the news of your grace.

28. Taking the bowl of the sun in its hand, Nevruz goes round your mine, so that it may beg from you the coin of your bounty. ("Cer" means collecting alms.)

29. O Fazlî, come, do not draw out your words, raise your hands in prayer; for if Nevruz is decreed, it is the season of prayer.

30. I hope that God will accept this prayer; it would be no wonder if prayers were accepted at Nevruz.

31. As long as Nevruz makes night equal to day, may God make your night equal in worth to many a day.

32. As long as Nevruz gives honour to the world from end to end, may your dwelling be the tower of felicity like the sun.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of thirty-two couplets (beyit). The metre is the "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün" pattern of the remel family. The rhyme is the sound "-er" (ser-ā-ser, berāber, muẓaffer, zer, münevver, peyker...), and the redif (refrain word) is "nevrūz"; every couplet ends with this word. Its title is "Ḳaṣīde-i Nevrūz". Özkat presents the kaside as a "nevrûziyye", that is, a kaside on Nevruz and the coming of spring, and states that it was written as a poem of praise for Prince Mustafa. The first sixteen couplets form the opening section (nesib), a description of Nevruz; Mustafa's name is mentioned in couplets 17 and 18, the pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 29, and the last four couplets are a prayer.

The text is found only in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 112b). For whom and on what occasion it was written is clear from the title and the text; in what year it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Nevruz is the day on which the sun enters Aries and night and day become equal. Fazlî opens the kaside with these two facts: in the first couplet Nevruz makes the night equal to the day, and in the second the sun comes out of Pisces. This coming out is likened to the prophet Jonah, delivered from the belly of the fish; the meaning lamb of the word "Ḥamel", the name of Aries, also gives rise in the couplet to the hidden idea of a gift. The same astronomical images return at the end of the kaside: in couplet 22 Nevruz travels for a whole year, and in couplet 24 it roasts the Lamb in the oven of the sky, wishing to entertain the prince as its guest. Özkat cites this couplet as an example of the Old Turkish words found in Fazlî's poems, here the verb "konuklamak" (to entertain as a guest).

In the opening section Nevruz behaves like a ruler: it conquers the land of felicity with the sword of the sun, hands out robes of honour to the garden, dresses the narcissus in a golden cap, and applies kohl to the eyes of the flowers with the pencil of the sun. Personification carries this part of the kaside from beginning to end. In couplets 9 and 10 the coming of spring is described through the idea that the life of all things is from water and through the breath of Jesus that raises the dead. In couplets 13-16, however, the images come from the world of the council secretary: the register of the council of winter is rolled up, Nevruz takes the golden pen in hand, writes everything on the page of the rose garden as "müfredat" (itemised entries), enters the "tahvil" (transfer) of spring in the register, and records everyone's heart in the register of joy. The word "taḥvīl" describes both the transfer entry in the register and the sun's passage from one sign of the zodiac to the next. These couplets, coming from the pen of a council secretary, bring the poet's profession into the description of Nevruz; in couplet 16 he wishes that Nevruz, the "writer of hearts", may write his own heart too, and so passes to the praise.

In the section of praise Mustafa is named as the eldest of the princes of the sultan of the world, the one whose name is Mustafa, whose generosity is Ali's and whose character is the character of the Prophet Muhammad. As Özkat points out, the poet likens the prince's face to Nevruz: the day of the man who sees his face becomes Nevruz (couplet 20). In this section too the refrain word takes on a new role in every couplet: Nevruz becomes the prince's servant, learns generosity from him, takes the bowl of the sun in its hand and begs for his bounty. The kaside ends with the wish that, just as Nevruz makes the night equal to the day, God may make the prince's night equal in worth to many a day; thus the words "kadr" (worth) and "berāber" (equal) of the first couplet are used again in the closing prayer. Among the idioms collected by Özkat are, from this kaside, "baş getirmek" (to raise one's head, couplet 6), "defteri dürülmek" (to have one's register rolled up, couplet 13), "gözü gönlü açılmak" (to have one's eye and heart opened, couplet 21) and "duaya el getirmek" (to raise one's hands in prayer, couplet 29).

Historical Context

Through its title and couplets 17-18 the kaside is addressed to Prince Mustafa. After 1543 Fazlî became the secretary of the council of Mustafa, governor of the province of Amasya, and remained in his service until 1553; according to Özkat, all the poet's kasides up to the twenty-seventh were written for Mustafa. At which year's Nevruz this kaside was presented is not known.

Bibliography

Online sources