Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilün

Ḥamdü-lillāh kim dem-i şādī vü behcetdür bugün
Vaḳt-i ‘ıyş ü rūz-ı ṣoḥbet devr-i ‘işretdür bugün
Mihr-i maḳṣūd oldı ṭāli‘ maṭla‘-ı ümmīdden
Başına gün ṭoġdı ḫalḳuñ ṣubḥ-ı devletdür bugün
İy dil ālüfte-i me’lūf ol ṣafā vü ẕevḳ ile
Ẕevḳe irdi her kişi hengām-ı ülfetdür bugün
Ḫᵛān-ı şādī çekdi ḫalḳa çāşnī-gīr-i ḳażā
Yimede içmekde hep ‘ālem żiyāfetdür bugün
Ḥaşr olup ẕevḳ ü ṣafāya yine bulduḳ tāze cān
Ol ṣafādan vaḳtümüz ġāyet ḳıyāmetdür bugün
Hey Muḥammed ümmeti billāh seyr eyleñ gelüñ
Şehr-i Būrsa maḳdem-i şāh ile cennetdür bugün
Ḫoş geçür ‘ömrüñ bu eyyāmı ġanīmet gör dilā
Key ṣaḳın fevt eyleme billāh furṣatdur bugün
Mihr-i vuṣlat eyledi ṣubḥ-ı sa‘ādetden ṭulū‘
Ḥamdü-lillāh intihā-yı şām-ı ḥiddetdür bugün
İktirān itdi şeref burcında māh u müşterī
Sā‘at-ı ferḫunde eyyām-ı sa‘ādetdür bugün
Yūsuf’ından Ḥażret-i Ya‘ḳūb olmışdı cüdā
Bir yire geldi yine hengām-ı vuṣlatdur bugün
Hem-dem oldı Ḥażret-i Sulṭān Süleymān bin Selīm
Şeh Selīm ibn-i Süleymān ile ṣoḥbetdür bugün
Ferr ü kerr ü fer-penāh u pād-şāh-ı kām-rān
Kim Süleymān-saṭvet İskender-ṣalābetdür bugün
Her faṣıl tīr ehli eylerler du‘ā-yı devletin
Vāli-i milk-i cihān ḳuṭb-ı vilāyetdür bugün
Ḫoş geçer ẓıll-ı hümā yanında mecmū‘-ı nüfūs
Salṭanat bāġında bir serv-i ‘adāletdür bugün
Rāyı taḳdīre muvāfıḳdur ne tedbīr eylese
‘Aḳl u fehm ile o şeh Cemşīd-i fikretdür bugün
Merkez-i ḳadrini dā’ir olımaz pergār-ı ‘aḳl
Bir şeh-i ‘ālī-cenāb u ‘arş-ı rif‘atdür bugün
Ḫalḳ-ı ‘ālem muġtenim oldı na‘īm-i cūdına
Luṭf u cūdı ḫalḳa Ḥaḳ’dan özge ni‘metdür bugün
Her zemān ḳuṭb-ı murādı üzre devr eyler felek
Ẕāt-ı pākı merkez-i devr-i sa‘ādetdür bugün
Aña Ḥaḳ’dan virilen iḳbāl ü ‘izzetdür müdām
Ḫalḳa andan irişen luṭf u ‘ināyetdür bugün
Ebr-i nīsānī gibi her laḥẓa gevherler ṣaçar
Keff-i dür-pāşı anuñ baḥr-i saḫāvetdür bugün
Ḫüsrevā nuṣretin-āsā eyle hem fetḥ-i ḳarīb
Şān-ı tīġuñda nüzūl itmiş bir āyetdür bugün
Ḫüsrevā sen ol şehen-şāh-ı ‘ale’l-ḳudretsin
Ḳullaruñ var her biri bir şāh-ı milketdür bugün
İns ü cīnni rām ḳılmış ḥükmüñe luṭf-ı Ḫudā
Allah Allah bu ne devlet bu ne ḳudretdür bugün
Sen Süleymān’a Ḫudā virmiş sa‘ādet ḫātemin
İns ü cīnnüñ ḥükmüñe kārı iṭā‘atdür bugün
Rāḥatü’l-ervāḥ ḳılmış luṭf u cūduñ ol laṭīf
Rāḥ-ı iḥsānuñla ḫalḳuñ rūḥı rāḥatdur bugün
İy Süleymān-ı zemān Fażlī-i mūra ḳıl naẓar
Rāh-ı ġamda pāy-māl[dür] diyu miḥnetdür bugün
Olmadı vuṣlat müyesser kūy-ı şādīden baña
Ḳaṣr-ı ġamda sākin-i künc-i melāletdür bugün
Devletüñde pād-şāhum şād u ḫurrem her kişi
İrişen aña feleklerden felāketdür bugün
Ol ḥaḳīre himmet it şāhum faḳīrü’l-ḥāldür
Müstaḥaḳḳ-ı şefḳat ü luṭf u ‘ināyetdür bugün
Fażliyā el aç du‘āya itme taṭvīl-i kelām
Umaram maḳbūl ola vaḳt-i icābetdür bugün
İsterem tā ḥaşre dek yār ola nuṣret ol şehe
Şimdi kim Ḥaḳ’dan mu‘āvin aña nuṣretdür bugün
Cümle-i şeh-zādelerle Ḥaḳ virüp ‘ömr-i dırāz
Diyeler ḫalḳ-ı cihān her gün selāmetdür bugün
Ḥaşre dek cümle ‘adūsın eylesün maḳhūr Ḥaḳ
Şimdi kim maġlūb-i şemşīr-i hezīmetdür bugün

In English

1. Praise be to God, today is a time of joy and gladness; today is the hour of pleasure, the day of conversation, the age of carousing.

2. The sun of desire has risen from the rising place of hope; the sun has risen over the people's heads, today is the morning of fortune.

3. O heart, be a lover accustomed to friends in joy and delight; everyone has attained delight, today is the time of fellowship.

4. The taster of fate has spread the table of joy for the people; the whole world is eating and drinking, today there is a banquet.

5. Rising again to delight and joy, we have found a fresh soul once more; from that joy our time today is a very resurrection. ("Ḥaşr", resurrection, and "ḳıyāmet", the Last Day, form a congruence of images; "kıyamet" here means the utmost pitch of excitement.)

6. Hey, community of Muhammad, by God, come and look; the city of Bursa is paradise today with the arrival of the shah.

7. O heart, spend your life pleasantly, count these days a godsend; take care not to let it slip, by God, today is the opportunity.

8. The sun of union has risen from the morning of felicity; praise be to God, today is the end of the night of anger.

9. The moon and Jupiter have come into conjunction in the sign of their exaltation; today is the blessed hour, the days of felicity.

10. The prophet Jacob had been parted from his Joseph; they have come together once again, today is the time of union.

11. His Majesty Sultan Süleyman son of Selim has come together (with his son); today there is conversation with Shah Selim son of Süleyman.

12. That padishah, master of charge and wheeling, refuge of splendour, who has attained his desires, has today the awe of Solomon and the firmness of Alexander.

13. At every season the men of the bow pray for his fortune; the governor of the realm of the world is today the pole of sainthood.

14. All souls live happily beside the shadow of the huma; he is today a cypress of justice in the garden of sovereignty. (The shadow of the huma bird was thought to bring fortune and felicity.)

15. Whatever measure he takes, his judgement accords with destiny; that shah is today the Jamshid of thought in reason and understanding.

16. The compass of reason cannot draw a circle around the centre of his worth; he is today a shah of lofty station, a Throne of heaven in eminence.

17. The people of the world have counted the blessings of his generosity a godsend; his grace and generosity are today a blessing to the people apart from God's own.

18. The sphere always turns on the pole of his desire; his pure person is today the centre of the cycle of felicity.

19. What is given to him from God is lasting good fortune and glory; what reaches the people from him today is grace and favour.

20. Like the April cloud he scatters jewels at every moment; his pearl-scattering palm is today a sea of generosity. (It was believed that drops of April rain falling into the oyster became pearls.)

21. O Khosrow, bring about a near conquest too, as the verse of "help" says; it is today a verse sent down in honour of your sword. (There is an allusion to the Qur'anic verse meaning "help from God and a near victory".)

22. O Khosrow, you are that mighty king of kings whose servants are today each the shah of a realm.

23. The grace of God has made men and jinn submit to your command; God, God, what fortune, what power is this today.

24. God has given you, O Solomon, the seal of felicity; today the work of men and jinn is obedience to your command. (The prophet Solomon is told to have ruled men and jinn with his seal ring.)

25. That gracious one has made his kindness and generosity the repose of souls; today, with the wine of your bounty, the souls of the people are at rest. ("Rāḥ", wine, and "rāḥat", rest, make a play on sound.)

26. O Solomon of the age, cast a glance at Fazlî, who is like an ant; he has been trampled underfoot on the road of grief, today he is in distress. (There is an allusion to the story of the prophet Solomon and the ant.)

27. Union in the quarter of joy has not been granted to him; today he dwells in the corner of weariness in the palace of grief.

28. My padishah, in your reign everyone is cheerful and glad; but what reaches him from the heavens today is calamity.

29. My shah, show favour to that humble one, his state is poor; today he deserves compassion, grace and favour.

30. O Fazlî, raise your hands in prayer, do not draw out your words; I hope it will be accepted, today is the time when prayers are answered.

31. I wish that the victory which now comes to him as a helper from God may be the friend of that shah until the Day of Resurrection.

32. May God give him long life together with all the princes; may the people of the world say every day "today there is well-being".

33. May God crush all his enemies until the Day of Resurrection, just as today they have been overcome by the sword of rout.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of thirty-three couplets (beyit). The metre is the "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün" pattern of the remel family. The rhyme is the sound "-et" (behcet, ‘işret, devlet, ülfet, żiyāfet, ḳıyāmet, cennet...), followed by the redif (refrain word) "-dür bugün"; every couplet ends with "...is today". According to Özkat, the kaside was written on Prince Selim's arrival in Bursa and is the first of the four kasides Fazlî wrote for Selim. Sultan Süleyman and Prince Selim are named together in couplet 11; the pen name (mahlas) appears in couplets 26 and 30, and the last three couplets are a prayer.

The text is found only in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 83a). In couplet 11 the word "bin" of the manuscript was corrected by Özkat to "ibn-i" for the sake of the metre; "dā’ir" in couplet 16 is written "dāyir" in the manuscript. Özkat notes that the metre limps in couplet 22.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first ten couplets of the kaside carry the air of a festival. The word "today" in the redif stresses again in every couplet that this joy is being lived in the present: today is the age of carousing, the morning of fortune, a banquet, excitement to the pitch of resurrection. In couplet 6, quoted by Özkat, the poet calls the community of Muhammad to come and look at Bursa; the city has turned into paradise with the arrival of the shah. According to Özkat, the poet all but celebrates a feast at Selim's arrival in Bursa. In couplet 9 the conjunction of the moon and Jupiter in the sign of their exaltation is a position of the stars that the old astrologers held auspicious, and shows the blessedness of the day.

Couplet 10 gives the real reason for the joy through an allusion: the prophet Jacob had been parted from his son Joseph, and now they have come together again. Özkat cites this couplet as an example of Fazlî's use of the stories of the prophets as terms of comparison. In couplet 11 it is said plainly who has been reunited: Sultan Süleyman son of Selim and Shah Selim son of Süleyman. The repetition of the names in reverse order in the two lines (Süleymān bin Selīm, Selīm ibn-i Süleymān) carries the meeting of father and son into the structure of the words. After this couplet the praise turns largely to the sultan: he has the awe of Solomon and the firmness of Alexander; the compass of reason cannot draw a circle around the centre of his worth (couplet 16); the sphere turns on the pole of his desire (couplet 18). In couplet 15 the words "tedbir" (measure taken) and "takdir" (destiny) are used together; the sultan's measures accord with destiny. In couplet 21 there is an allusion to the Qur'anic verse "help from God and a near victory", and in couplets 23 and 24 to the prophet Solomon's rule over men and jinn.

In couplets 26-29 the poet turns to his own state. He likens himself to an ant trampled underfoot before the Solomon of the age; this is a well-known allusion to the story of the prophet Solomon and the ant, and it is in harmony with the sultan's name. He says that on a day when everyone is cheerful calamity has reached him from the heavens, that his state is poor, and asks for favour. The kaside that opened with joy thus closes with a petition (arz-ı hâl). In couplet 32 long life is wished for the sultan "together with all the princes".

Historical Context

According to Özkat, after Prince Mustafa was killed in 1553 Fazlî was assigned as secretary of the council to Prince Selim, then governor of Manisa, remained in Manisa until 1558, and did not leave Selim's side during his governorships of Konya and Kütahya either. The kaside describes Selim's arrival in Bursa and his meeting there with his father Sultan Süleyman; in what year this meeting took place is not stated in the kaside, and Özkat gives no date either.

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. 203-205, kaside no. 27 (Süleymaniye Library, Âşir Efendi 314, fol. 83a); also p. 19 (his life), p. 54 (on the kasides), p. 75 (the prophets) and p. 91 (idioms), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources