Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Yed-i ṣun‘ ile sipihr üzre Ḫudā-yı müte‘āl
Yazdı bir ‘ayn ki tā ‘īd-i sa‘īde ola dāl
Ehl-i ‘ıyşuñ ayaġın almış idi māh-ı ṣıyām
Geldi ‘īd irdi elinde ḳadeḥi māl-ā-māl
Peyk-i ‘īd irdi getürdi yine şādī ḫaberin
Elde zerrīn teberidür görinen ṣanma hilāl
Ḫalḳa şādī vü ṭarab cāmını feyż itdi ḳamu
Oldı ol cām-ı ṭarab-nākla herkes ḫoş-ḥāl
‘Īd irişdi eline ḫancer-i zerrīnin alup
Ḳılmaġa ceyş-i ġam u ġuṣṣa ile ḥarb u ḳıtāl
Gördüñüz ‘īd-i sa‘īdüñ yine nāzüklügüni
Cümleten ḫalḳ-ı cihānı ṭonadup eyledi al
Māh-ı nev ṣanma görinen ki ser-i şeh-peridür
Uçmaġ ister bu yaña ṭāyir-i evc-i iḳbāl
‘Īd lafẓındaki ‘ayn ile yed eyler īmā’
Ya‘ni eyyām-ı ṣafā irdi ele cām-ı zer al
Zevraḳ-ı cāmla geç dirim ġamdan dāyim
Baḥr-i aḥżarda hilāl olduġı bu fülk mis̱āl
Her-dem ebrū-yı sepīdi ile eyler īmā’
İç mey-i surḫ diyu pīr-i sipihr-i muḥtāl
Meh-i nevden ele dās aldı çü dihḳān-ı felek
İrdi vaḳt-i direv-i mezra‘-ı endūh u melāl
Şāhid-i ‘īdiye ḫod ḳılmaġa tesḥīr felek
Āteşe na‘l ḳomış ṣanma şafaḳ içre hilāl
Aldı destine yaḫūd ḫāme-i zer tīr-i debīr
Yazmaġa bu ġazeli ṣafḥa-i dehre fi’l-ḥāl
‘Īd irişdi yine ‘uşşāḳa idüb ‘arż-ı cemāl
Merḥabā ḳıl ḳuluñuñ göñlini şāhum ele al
Rūze-i hecr ile iy dil nice maḥrūm olalum
‘Īd irişdi demidür beẕl ola ger ḫᵛān-ı viṣāl
‘Īd-gāh içre ṣalıncaġa binüp herkesle
Ṣalın iy serv beni sāye gibi ṭopraġa ṣal
Dōst düşmenler ile ‘arṣada dolāba bin
Zār u ser-geşte olursam n’ola dolāb-mis̱āl
Merḥabā eylemedüñ virmedi devlet baña el
Āh kim derd ü ġam u ġuṣṣada oldum pā-māl
‘Īddür geydi cihān ḫalḳı libās-ı fāḫir
Eğnüme ḫūn-ı sirişk oldı benüm ḫil‘at-ı al
Şāhdan ḳullara ‘īdiyye şehā ‘ādetdür
Leblerüñden n’ola ḳılsam yine bir būse su’āl
Meh-i nev ṣanma görinen tenine pīr-i felek
Na‘l kesmiş saña beñzer ki olupdur ebdāl
Yā meger āyine-i çerḫde oldı ẓāhir
‘Aks-i na‘l-i süm-i esb-i şeh-i Cemşīd-iḳbāl
Server-i tīr-i faṭan ṣaf-der-i keyvān eyvān
Mihr-i Bercīs-sa‘ādet meh-i Behrām-ḳıtāl
Ḫüsrev-i ‘arş-medār u şeh-i gerdūn-miḳdār
Server-i nīk-me’āl u ser-i nīkū-āmāl
Muṣṭafā-nām u Muḥammed-siyer ü Ḥaydar-cūd
Ṣāḥib-i taḫt u livā mālik-i ‘izz ü iclāl
Ḫüsrevā ẕerreden aḥḳar görine miḳdārı
Olsa hem-seng terāzū-yı vaḳāruñla cibāl
Görüp işitmede vü virmede mis̱lüñ ḫaberin
Bāṣıra kūr durur sāmi‘a ker nāṭıḳa lāl
Sensin iy şeh bu mü’eyyed yed ü ‘ādil dille
Ḫüsrev-i kān-ı kerem pādişeh-i baḥr-nevāl
‘Adl ü inṣāfuñ ile şefḳat ü elṭāfuñ ile
Milk-i ma‘mūr durur cümle re‘āyā ḫoş-ḥāl
Ẕikr ider ḫaṣlet-i maḥmūdeñi ‘ālem ḫalḳı
Bārek-Allāh ziyād ola zihī ḥüsn-i ḫıṣāl
Ṭurduġuñla kerem-i maḥżsın ü ‘ayn-ı ‘aṭā
Zāde Allāh zihī luṭf-ı Ḫudā celle celāl
Cūddan saña su’āl eyleseler iḥsānuñ
Dir cevābında ne lāzım aña billāh su’āl
Cām-ı ‘adl al bir ele tīġ-ı siyāset birine
Elin al dostlaruñ düşmeniñüñ başını çal
Saña her kimse ki ṭutmadı muḥabbet yolını
İrmedi hīç selāmet yolına ḳaldı o żāll
Saña her kim ki muḥibb ola zihī ehl-i hadī
Saña her kim ki ‘adū ola zihī ehl-i żalāl
Olmayan ẕerre gibi yoluña ser-geşte senüñ
Dilerüm mihr-i cihān-tāb ise de bula zevāl
Maḥv olur milk nizā‘ını iden sen var iken
Baḥr yanında belī ḳaṭre bulur iżmiḥlāl
Saña nisbet ne vücūdı var ola a‘dānuñ
Şīr yanında ne deñlü ola nīrū-yı şeġāl
Salṭanat taḫtına çün virdi Ḫudā istiḥḳāḳ
Ṣabr ḳıl ola müyesser umarum istiḳlāl
Midḥatuñ rāhını ṭayy itmede ‘āciz oldı
‘Arṣa-i ‘arşı egerçi ṭolanur peyk-i ḫayāl
Dāmen-i medḥüñe iy şāh teşebbüs̱ idemez
Ceyb-i ma‘nāya egerçi irişür dest-i maḳāl
Gerçi Fażlī ḳuluñ iḥsānuña müstaġrıḳdur
Yine iḥsānuñ ümīdinde durur māh ile sāl
Ḫāk gibi ki ne deñlü ola sīr-āb olur
Teşne-i ḳaṭre-i bārān ‘amīmü’l-efḍāl
Nice kim ‘īd ola vü ‘īd ile ‘ālem ḫandān
Nice kim rūze gidüp irişe māh-ı şevvāl
‘Īdüñi Tañrı mübārek ide ṣavmuñ maḳbūl
‘Īd-i muḳbil ‘aẓamet bende-i ḳābil iḳbāl
Pertev-i mihr-i ‘ināyāt Ḫudā’dan dilerüm
Bula günden güne ḳadrüñ meh-i nev gibi kemāl
Dōstuñ ḫurrem ü ḫandān ola her şām u seḥer
Ḫaṣm-ı bed-ḫvāhuñ ola ġarḳa-i endūh u melāl

In English

1. Exalted God, with the hand of creation, wrote an "ayn" upon the sky so that it might point to the blessed feast. ("Ayn" is both the name of a letter and the word for "eye"; "dāl" is both the name of a letter and a word meaning "that which points". The word "‘īd", feast, begins with ayn and ends with dal; the crescent in the sky is likened to the letter "ayn".)

2. The month of fasting had taken the cup from the hands of the revellers; the feast has come, and in its hand is a cup filled to the brim. ("Ayak" means a cup in old Turkish; "ayağını almak" means both to take someone's cup and to take away his feet.)

3. The courier of the feast has arrived and brought the news of joy once more; do not take what you see for the crescent, it is the golden axe in the courier's hand.

4. The feast poured out the cup of joy and gladness to all; with that joyful cup everyone's state became happy.

5. The feast has come, taking its golden dagger in hand to do battle with the army of grief and sorrow.

6. You have seen once more the delicacy of the blessed feast: it has decked out all the people of the world and dressed them in red. (The couplet can be read in two ways: "al" means both the colour red and a trick; the feast has either clad everyone in red or deceived everyone.)

7. Do not take what you see for the new moon; it is the tip of a falcon's wing. The bird of the sky of fortune wants to fly this way.

8. The "ayn" (eye) and the "yed" (hand) in the word "‘īd" point to this: the days of pleasure have come, take the golden cup in your hand.

9. I always say, "Cross over sorrow in the boat of the cup"; the crescent seen in the green sea, that is, the sky, is like this ship.

10. The wily old sky signals every moment with its white eyebrow, the crescent, saying "Drink red wine".

11. The farmer of the sky has taken a sickle in hand from the new moon; the time has come to reap the field of grief and sorrow.

12. To bewitch the beauty of the feast and bind her to itself, the sky has put a horseshoe in the fire; do not take it for the crescent rising in the twilight. (Putting a horseshoe in the fire was a spell to make someone come quickly.)

13. Or else Mercury, the scribe of the sky, has taken up the golden pen to write this ghazal at once on the page of time. ("Tīr" is Mercury, held to be the star of scribes.)

14. The feast has come again, showing its beauty to lovers; my king, say "welcome" and win your servant's heart.

15. O heart, how long shall we remain deprived by the fast of separation; the feast has come, it is time for the table of union to be spread generously.

16. O cypress-tall one, mount the swing with everyone at the festival ground and sway; and cast me to the ground like a shadow.

17. Ride the wheel in the square with friends and foes; small wonder if I, like the wheel, groan and grow dizzy. ("Dolāb" means both the revolving amusement at the festival ground and the water wheel that turns with a groaning sound.)

18. You did not say welcome to me, nor did fortune give me its hand; alas, I have been trampled underfoot in pain, grief and sorrow.

19. It is the feast, the people of the world have put on splendid clothes; on my back the bloody tears have become a red robe of honour.

20. My king, it is the custom for a king to give his servants a festival gift; what harm if I ask once more for a kiss from your lips.

21. Do not take what you see for the new moon; for your sake the old sky has cut a horseshoe-shaped wound into its body and come to resemble the abdals. (The wandering dervishes called abdals burned horseshoe-shaped brands into their skin as a sign of love.)

22. Or else in the mirror of the sky appeared the reflection of the shoe on the hoof of the horse of the king fortunate as Jemshid.

23. He is a leader with the intelligence of Mercury, a hero whose hall is as high as Saturn; a sun with the fortune of Jupiter, a moon with the fighting spirit of Mars.

24. A ruler lofty as the Throne of God, a king with the worth of the heavens; a chief whose end is good, a head whose deeds are fair.

25. Named Mustafa, with the conduct of Muhammad and the generosity of Haydar, that is, Ali; master of throne and banner, possessor of honour and majesty.

26. O sovereign, were the mountains to compete in weight with your dignity on the scales, their worth would appear less than a mote.

27. In seeing, hearing and telling of your like, the eye is blind, the ear deaf and the tongue mute.

28. O king, with this hand supported by God and this just heart, you are the ruler of the mine of bounty, the padishah whose gifts are like the sea.

29. Through your justice and fairness, your compassion and kindness, the land is prosperous and all your subjects content.

30. The people of the world recall your praiseworthy character; God bless and increase it, what fine qualities.

31. By your very being you are pure bounty, generosity itself; God increase it, what a grace of God, glorious is His majesty.

32. If they asked Generosity about your munificence, it would answer, "By God, what need is there to ask?" ("Su’āl" means both a question and begging; your gifts are given without being asked for.)

33. Take the cup of justice in one hand and the sword of punishment in the other; hold the hands of your friends and strike off the head of your enemy.

34. No one who has not taken the road of love for you has ever reached the road of safety; he has remained astray.

35. Whoever loves you is truly one of the rightly guided; whoever is your enemy is truly one of the lost.

36. Whoever does not whirl like a mote along your path, even if he be the world-illuminating sun, I pray that he may set.

37. While you exist, whoever contends with you for the realm is annihilated; indeed, beside the sea a drop disappears.

38. What existence can your enemies have compared to you; how great can the strength of a jackal be beside a lion.

39. Since God has made you worthy of the throne of sovereignty, be patient; I hope that independent rule will also be granted to you.

40. Though the courier of imagination roams the arena of the Throne of God, it has fallen short in covering the road of your praise.

41. O king, though the hand of words reaches the collar of meaning, it cannot grasp the hem of your praise.

42. Though your servant Fazlî is immersed in your bounty, he still lives in hope of your bounty month after month and year after year.

43. Like the earth: however much it is watered, it still thirsts for a drop of rain, O you whose grace extends to all.

44. As long as feasts come and the world laughs with the feast, as long as the fast departs and the month of Şevval arrives,

45. May God make your feast blessed and your fast accepted; may the coming feast arrive with majesty and fortune be a worthy servant to you. (The syntax of the line is obscure; the meaning has been conjectured in this direction.)

46. I ask God for the light of the sun of His favour; may your worth grow day by day like the new moon until it is full.

47. May your friend be joyful and smiling every evening and morning; may your ill-wishing enemy be drowned in grief and sorrow.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of forty-seven couplets (beyit). The metre is the "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün" pattern of the remel family; the rhyme is the sound "-āl": dāl, māl-ā-māl, hilāl, ḳıtāl, ḫoş-ḥāl and the same sound in the following couplets. Mustafa Özkat defines the kaside as an ıydiyye, a poem for a religious feast, written in praise of Şehzade Mustafa. The introductory section (nesib) describes the coming of the feast; in couplet 14 the poet makes a tecdid-i matla, that is, he utters within the kaside a new opening couplet with both lines rhyming, and places a ghazal (gazel) between couplets 14 and 18. The name of the person praised appears in couplet 25; the poet praises the prince up to couplet 41, uses his pen name (mahlas) in couplet 42 and ends the kaside with a prayer. The words "rūze" (fast) and "māh-ı şevvāl" in couplet 44 show that the feast celebrated is the Feast of Ramadan.

Özkat publishes the kaside as the twentieth kaside of the divan. The poem is found in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 118b) and in miscellany no. 1966 of the Revan collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 151a). The title is "Ḳaṣīde-i Fażlī berāy-ı Sulṭān Muṣṭafā" in the Revan copy and simply "Ḳaṣīde" in the Süleymaniye copy. In the Revan copy couplets 12 and 13 were mistakenly mixed up and written as a single couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening of the kaside is a series of comparisons built on the new moon, the herald of the feast. The first couplet opens with a play on letters: God has written an "ayn" on the sky, and this letter points to the feast. The word "‘īd" begins with the letter ayn and ends with the letter dal; since "dāl" also means "that which points", the line carries a double entendre (tevriye). In the eighth couplet the same word is taken up again: "ayn" means eye and "yed", which resembles it, means hand; from this the poet draws the sense "take the golden cup in your hand". Then the crescent becomes in turn the golden axe in the courier's hand, the golden dagger drawn against the army of sorrow, the tip of a falcon's wing, the boat of the cup, the white eyebrow of the old sky, the sickle of the farmer of the sky, a horseshoe placed in the fire and the golden pen of Mercury. Özkat notes that in the third and twelfth couplets the poet reminds the reader not to take what is seen for the crescent; this mode of expression with "ṣanma" (do not think) combines simile with feigned ignorance (tecahül-i arif), in which the thing compared is denied while the comparison is made.

Özkat considers this kaside especially important because it reflects the customs of religious feasts in the sixteenth century. The sighting of the crescent is the news of the feast; at the feast those who have quarrelled are reconciled and the elders gladden the young. The line "Merḥabā ḳıl ḳuluñuñ göñlini şāhum ele al" in couplet 14 recalls this custom. Couplets 16 and 17 mention the swings and wheels set up at the festival ground; Özkat sees them as the counterpart of today's funfairs. Since the word "dolāb" also denotes the water wheel that turns with a groaning sound, it forms a fine double entendre with the lover who groans and grows dizzy. In couplet 20 the custom of the festival gift becomes a pretext for asking the beloved for a kiss.

In the section of praise the prince is associated with the planets: in couplet 23 Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are used together to form a congruence of images (tenasüp). The line "Muṣṭafā-nām u Muḥammed-siyer ü Ḥaydar-cūd" in couplet 25 joins the prince's name with the name of the Prophet and the generosity of Ali. Özkat shows that proverbs are carried into the poem in couplets 37 and 38: "A drop vanishes in the sea" and "The strength of a jackal counts for nothing beside a lion". The idiom "başını çal" (strike off the head) in couplet 33 also appears in his list of idioms.

Historical Context

By its title and by the name in couplet 25, the kaside was presented to Şehzade Mustafa. Fazlî's kasides for Mustafa belong to the years from 1543 to 1553, when the poet served as secretary in his divan at Amasya; it is not known at which Feast of Ramadan this kaside was presented. Couplet 39 is striking: the poet says that God has made the prince worthy of the throne of sovereignty, counsels him to be patient and expresses the hope of "istiklal", that is, independent rule. These words are one of the places where the expectation in the prince's circle that he would one day come to the throne is stated openly. Because Mustafa was killed in October 1553 on his father's orders, as Şerafettin Turan relates, this hope was never fulfilled.

Bibliography

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