Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ġazāya eyledüñ niyyet idüp fermān-ı sulṭānī
‘Adū ḳaṣdına bend itdüñ miyāne tīġ-ı bürrānı
Eger merd ise gelsün işde meydān surḫ-ı ser kāfir
İgen germ olmasun beñzer ki ḫālī ṣandı meydānı
Çeküp şemşīr-i İslām’ı ḳarup erbāb-ı ilḥādı
Ḳılalum kenz ü bid‘atdan müberrā rūy-ı devrānı
Alup dādını aṣḥāb-ı güzīnüñ ol Revāfıż’dan
Aṣalum tīġumuz ‘arş üzre idüp ‘avn-i Yezdān’ı
Yine ġayret ḳuşaġın iki yerden ḳuşanup çün tīġ
Ḳılalum ṭu‘me-i tīġ ehl-i Tebrīz ü Ḫorāsān’ı
Bi-ḥamdi’llāh bugün furṣat bizümdür baḫt yāverdür
Açalum tīġumuzla cümle-i Īrān u Tūrān’ı
Bizümdür yümn-i İslām ile fetḥ ü nuṣret ü devlet
Ne itdür surḫ-ı ser kim eyleye da‘vā-yı sulṭānī
Çeküp aḳ sancaġı varduḳda ḫaşyetden ne mümkindür
Ola hergiz ḳızılbaşuñ ḳara başına dermānı
Diyār-ı şarḳa deryā gibi aḳdı ‘asker-i enbūh
Ḳoparmaġa ‘adūnuñ başına ḳahr ile tūfānı
Bulup bir iki gün ruḫṣat o müfsid çoḳ fesād itdi
Ümīd oldur velī vara fesāda çār erkānı
Ḳızılbaşuñ ḳara baġrında başlar çıḳdı ḫavf ile
O derd ile revān eyler o cānī ‘āḳıbet cānı
Temelluḳ gösterüp gerçi çü rūbeh ṣulḥa ḳaṣd itdi
Velīkin şīr-i dīller hīç maḳbūl itmedi anı
Virüp ḳatline erbāb-ı şerī‘at şer‘ ile fetvā
Muṣallat eyledi ol kāfire erbāb-ı īmānı
Hemānā ġayret-i dīn ol durur ol vācibü’l-ḳatlüñ
Olanuñ tīġ ile levḥ-i cihāndan adı vü ṣanı
O niyyet üzre kim bī-şekk ġażā-yı ekber olmışdur
Çekildi devlet ü iḳbāl ile rāyāt-ı ‘Os̱mānī
Çü dāne ‘askerin zīr-i zemīne çekmege bir bir
Ḳarınca gibi ḳaynar her ṭaraf ceyş-i Süleymānī
Ḫuṣūṣā ‘umde-i dünyā vü devlet şāh-ı bā-şevket
Ki odur ḳadr ile rükn-i a‘ẓam ḳaṣr-ı cihān-bānı
Ferīd-i dehr-i Sulṭān Muṣṭafā Ḫān-ı ‘alīyyü’l-ḳadr
Şecā‘at ‘arṣasınuñ pehlevānı Rüstem-i S̱ānī
Hezārān kerr ü ferr ü şevket ü ṣavletle ‘azm itdi
‘Adūnuñ başına teng itmege ḳahr ile devrānı
Ne şehdür ol ki anuñ ṣıdḳ-ı tīġından felek şīri
Ġam ile ḳan ḳuşanur her seḥer ṣanmañ şafaḳ anı
Şecā‘at pīşesinde bebr-heybet bir Ġażanfer’dür
Ne rūbehdür ‘adū kim ola anuñ merd-i meydānı
İşitse vaṣf-ı tīġın surḫ-ı ser gerçi kim ḫūnīdür
Teninde ḫavf u ḫaşyetden ḳuruya ḳalmaya ḳanı
Ne cānı var ‘adūnuñ kim muḳābil ola ol şāha
Eline tīġ alup meydāna girse ḳılsa cevlānı
Siper olsa yiridür tīrine ger sīnesi ḫaṣmuñ
Kemānınuñ revādur cān-ı a‘dā olsa ḳurbānı
Ḳayırma pādişāhum ‘azm-i rezm it virmek Allāh’uñ
Mu‘āvindür saña her yirde ‘avn ü fetḥ-i Sübḥānī
Sikender baḫt u devlet fetḥ ü nuṣret yār u yāverdür
Ümīd oldur refīḳüñ ola Ḥaḳḳ’uñ luṭf u iḥsānı
Sen ol şehsin ki nāmuñ şevket ü ferr ile ṭutmışdur
Ḳamu Rūm u Rey ü Şām u ‘Irāḳ-ile Ṣıfāhān’ı
Güzīn ü ekberi ‘Os̱māniyān’uñ şimdi sensin [kim]
Şecā‘atde seḫāvetde naẓīrüñ bir daḫı ḳanı
Ümīd oldur bu demde ‘azm-i rezmüñ iy şeh-i ‘ālī
Serīr-i devlete ide vesīle ‘avn-i Rabbānī
Ḫudā ḥaḳḳı senüñ şemşīr-i küll şānında nāzildür
Bugün İnnā-Fetahnā āyeti iy Ḫüsrev-i S̱ānī
Nice İskender-i S̱ānī diyem ben saña şāhā kim
Göreydi sen şehi olurdı İskender saña s̱ānī
Du‘āya el getür Fażlī kelāmuñ eyleme taṭvīl
Du‘ādur çün ġaraż eyle du‘āya fetḥ-i destānı
Nice kim tīġ ile fetḥ ola şāhum memleket dāyim
Nice kim şāhlar ide cihānı bende fermānı
Ḳılıcak cümleden üstün olup sen ġālib ü manṣūr
Hemīşe ‘ārıż olsun leşker-i ḫaṣma perīşānı
Serāy-ı devletüñ tā ḥaşr olup ma‘mūr u müstaḥkem
Ola te’yīd ü fetḥ ü ‘avn ü nuṣret çār erkānı

In English

1. By the sultan's command you have resolved on holy war; you have bound the sharp sword to your waist against the enemy.

2. If the red-headed infidel is a man, here is the field, let him come; let him not grow too heated, it seems he thought the field was empty.

3. Let us draw the sword of Islam, cut down the heretics and cleanse the face of the age of "kenz" and innovation. ("Kenz" means treasure; it is puzzling in this context.)

4. Let us take back the right of the chosen Companions from those Rafızis, win the help of God and hang our sword on the Throne of heaven. (Rafızi is the name given in Sunni sources to the Shiites who do not recognise the first caliphs.)

5. Girding ourselves once more like a sword with the belt of zeal in two places, let us make the people of Tabriz and Khorasan fodder for the sword.

6. Praise be to God, today the opportunity is ours, fortune is our helper; let us open all Iran and Turan with our sword.

7. By the blessing of Islam conquest, victory and fortune are ours; what dog is the red head that he should lay claim to sovereignty.

8. When we arrive raising the white banner, is it at all possible that a remedy be found from fear for the black head of the Kızılbaş.

9. The numerous army flowed like the sea to the lands of the east, to raise a flood of wrath upon the enemy's head.

10. That mischief-maker found a day or two of opportunity and stirred up much mischief; but it is to be hoped that his four elements too will fall into decay. ("Çār erkān", the four elements, are what existence is made of; the dissolution of his order is meant.)

11. Heads came out of the black breast of the Kızılbaş for fear; in the end that criminal gives up his life with that pain. ("Baş", head, also means the head of a boil on a wound.)

12. True, he fawned like a fox and attempted peace; but the lion-hearted did not accept it at all.

13. The scholars of the sacred law, in accordance with the law, gave a fatwa for his killing and set the people of faith upon that infidel.

14. That the name and fame of that man whose killing is obligatory should be wiped from the tablet of the world by the sword is nothing but zeal for the faith.

15. With that intention, which is without doubt the greatest holy war, the Ottoman banners have been raised with fortune and good luck.

16. The army of Süleyman swarms like ants on every side, to drag the enemy's soldiers one by one under the ground like grain. (There is an allusion to the story of the prophet Solomon and the ants.)

17. Above all the support of the world and the state, the majestic shah; in his worth he is the greatest pillar of the palace of world rule.

18. He is the unique one of the age, Sultan Mustafa Khan of lofty worth; the champion of the field of valour, a second Rüstem.

19. With thousands of charges and wheelings, with majesty and assault, he has set out to make the times narrow with wrath upon the enemy's head.

20. What a shah he is: through the truth of his sword the lion of the sky is bathed in blood with grief every dawn; do not take it for the red of dawn.

21. In the forest of valour he is a lion with the awe of a tiger; what fox is the enemy that he should face him as a man of the field. ("Ġażanfer" means lion.)

22. Though the red head is a shedder of blood, if he heard the description of his sword, the blood in his body would dry up with fear and nothing would remain.

23. If he takes his sword in hand, enters the field and makes his horse prance, what life has the enemy that he should stand against that shah.

24. It would be fitting if the enemy's breast became a shield to his arrow; it would be right if the souls of the enemies were a sacrifice to his bow.

25. My padishah, do not worry, resolve on battle; the help and conquest that God will grant are your aid everywhere.

26. The fortune of Alexander and state, conquest and victory are your friends and helpers; it is to be hoped that the grace and bounty of God will be your companions too.

27. You are the shah whose name has filled with majesty and splendour all of Rum, Rey, Damascus, Iraq and Isfahan.

28. You are now the choicest and the eldest of the Ottomans; where is there another like you in valour and generosity.

29. O lofty shah, it is to be hoped that at this time your resolve on battle will, with the help of the Lord, become a means to the throne of state.

30. 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 sharp sword. (It is the first verse of the sura of Victory.)

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

32. Fazlî, raise your hands in prayer, do not draw out your words; since the aim is prayer, open the tale of prayer.

33. My shah, as long as lands are conquered by the sword, as long as shahs make the world the servant of their commands,

34. may you be above all, victorious and triumphant; may ruin always befall the army of the foe.

35. May the palace of your fortune be prosperous and strong until the Day of Resurrection; may God's support, conquest, help and victory be its four pillars.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of praise of thirty-five 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, bürrānı, meydānı, devrānı, Yezdān'ı...); there is no redif (refrain word). Prince Mustafa is named in couplet 18 as "Sulṭān Muṣṭafā Ḫān", and the pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 32. According to Özkat, the kaside is a poem of praise written for Prince Mustafa and expresses the valour of the Ottoman army and of the prince. The first sixteen couplets are a call to holy war and a description of a campaign; after couplet 17 Mustafa is praised, and the last four couplets are a prayer.

The text has no title and is found only in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 114b). The word "enbūh" (numerous) in couplet 9 is written "enbū" in the manuscript. The dots of the letters of the word "güzīn" in couplet 28 are not written in the manuscript, and the "kim" in square brackets is a completion made in the edition.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first part of the kaside speaks in the voice of an army setting out on holy war by the sultan's command. The enemy, as in the eleventh kaside, is the Kızılbaş; the words "surḫ-ı ser" (red head), "Revāfıż" (Rafızis), "Tebrīz ü Ḫorāsān" and "Īrān u Tūrān" show this plainly. Here too Fazlî goes on playing with colours: in couplet 8 the white banner and the black head of the Kızılbaş are set side by side, and in couplet 11 "heads" are said to come out of the black breast of the Kızılbaş. The word "baş" here evokes both severed heads and the heads of boils on a wound. Couplets 10-14 tell how the enemy stirred up mischief with a brief opportunity and sought peace like a fox, but the scholars of the law gave a fatwa for his killing. These couplets seem to describe a particular event; but who the enemy is is not stated by name.

Couplet 16 is one that Özkat mentions in three separate places: "Çü dāne ‘askerin zīr-i zemīne çekmege bir bir / Ḳarınca gibi ḳaynar her ṭaraf ceyş-i Süleymānī". Özkat first cites this couplet as an example of simile (teşbih): the army of Süleyman is likened to ants dragging the enemy's soldiers under the ground like grain. The couplet also alludes to the story of the prophet Solomon and the ants; the sultan's name too is Süleyman. Second, Özkat notes that Fazlî uses synonyms from different languages in the same couplet, here the Arabic "‘asker" and "ceyş" (army); and finally he says that whether this usage should be counted a fault of expression belonging to the poet or to the copyist is open to discussion.

In the section of praise Mustafa is called a "second Rüstem", a lion of the forest of valour with the awe of a tiger; even the lion of the sky fears his sword and is bathed in blood every morning (couplet 20). This last image is also used in the praise of the beylerbeyi Ali in the eleventh kaside. Couplets 30 and 31, moreover, are almost identical to couplets 43 and 44 of the twelfth kaside: the first verse of the sura of Victory being sent down in honour of the prince's sword, and the idea that Alexander, had he seen him, would himself have remained second. It appears that Fazlî reused the same finds for different patrons. Among the idioms collected by Özkat are, from this kaside, "kılıcını arşa asmak" (to hang one's sword on the Throne of heaven, couplet 4), "gayret kuşağını kuşanmak" (to gird on the belt of zeal, couplet 5), "bahtı yâver olmak" (to have fortune as one's helper, couplet 6), "su gibi akmak" (to flow like water, couplet 9), "kan kuşanmak" (to be girded with blood, couplet 20) and "kanı kurumak" (to have one's blood dry up, couplet 22). The word "ḳayırma" in couplet 25 is also used in its Old Turkish sense of "do not worry".

Historical Context

The kaside describes Prince Mustafa setting out on a campaign against the Kızılbaş by the sultan's command; which campaign it was is not stated in the poem, and Özkat gives no date. Mustafa had been sent from Manisa to Amasya in 1541 and was also charged with the defence of the region where he was stationed during his father's campaigns. Since Fazlî became his secretary of the council in Amasya after 1543, the kaside was most probably written in these years. It is noteworthy that in couplet 28 Mustafa is called "the choicest and the eldest of the Ottomans" and that in couplet 29 it is wished that this campaign may become, with God's help, a means "to the throne of state". Mustafa's candidacy for the throne was a subject of talk among the army and the people in those years; the prince had asked the beylerbeyi of Erzurum for support in ascending the throne after his father, and in the end he was killed on his father's order in 1553.

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. 173-176, kaside no. 17 (Süleymaniye Library, Âşir Efendi 314, fol. 114b); also p. 19 (his life), pp. 45-46 (figures of speech and use of words), p. 52 (on the kasides), pp. 90-93 (idioms) and p. 115 (faults of expression), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.
  • Şerafettin Turan, "Mustafa Çelebi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 31, Ankara 2020, pp. 290-292, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mustafa-celebi.

Online sources