Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün
Çalındı kūs-ı sulṭānī yine güm güm öter dünyā
Temāşā-gāh-ı ‘ālemdür bugün ṣaḥrā-yı ma‘nīyā
Ṣafā vaḳti sürūr eyyāmı ‘işret mevsimi geldi
Ki oldı ‘izz ü iḳbāl ile bir sūr-ı sürūr-efzā
Ne sūr ol kim sürūrından anuñ mesrūr olup ‘ālem
Açıldı her göñül pür-şevḳ olup nūş itmeden ṣaḥbā
Ṣadā-yı ṭabl u ṣīt-i senc ü bāng-ı sūr-nāy ile
Zemīne zelzele düşdi zemāne velvele yārā
İrişdi bir ḳıyāmet-dem bu şehr oldı meger maḥşer
Ki ḥaşr oldı ser-ā-ser ins ü cinn ü pīr ile bernā
Dem urdı Ṣūr-ı İsrāfīl’den her sūr-nā beñzer
Ki enfāsı niçe dil-mürdeyi itdi o dem aḥyā
Te’essüf eyleyüp müşt ile döğdi sīnesin her ṭabl
Ki niçün ḥaşre dek olmaz bu şādī günleri ibḳā
Döğünüp her naḳāre dir ne ḳara günlere ḳalduk
Aña kim bu temāşādan bugün maḥrūm ola ḥāşā
Ser-ā-ser sencler şevḳ ile urup el ele yir yir
Sürūrı olmayana hey hey idüp eyler istihzā
İşit kūsuñ ṣadāsın şimdilik nevbet bizümdür dir
Zemān el virmiş iken olma ḫālī ẕevḳden aṣlā
Ḳuruldı gūne-gūne çerḫ-āsā ḫaymeler bir bir
Ṣanasın kim yire indi ṭoḳuz ḳat ṭārem-i a‘lā
Leṭāfetde neẓāfetde cihān gül-zārına döndi
Ḫıyām-ı lāle-gūn ile ser-ā-ser zeyn olup ṣaḥrā
Çekildi süfre-i şāhī ni‘amdan muġtenim oldı
Eger bāy u eger müflis eger a‘lā eger ednā
Meger kim cennet-i firdevsdür bu meclis-i ‘ālī
Ne ḫāṭırdan ḫuṭūr itse hemān ol dem olur peydā
Ṭoyura ḥaşre dek laḥm-ı ṭuyūra olmaya meyli
Eger bir süfresinde ḥāżır olsa biñ kişi farżā
Ġanem ḫod laḥm u şaḥm ile ġanīmetdür anı añma
Cihānı muġtenem ḳıldı ṭoyurdı ḫalḳı müstevfā
O meclisde çörekler mihr ü mehdür keh-keşān süfre
Ṭoḳuz çīnī ṭabaḳdur bu ṭoḳuz ḳat ḳubbe-i mīnā
Ya envā‘-ı nefāyis bişmege ol ‘arş-ı şāhīde
Yedi çerḫi ḳazandur maṭbaḫında günbed-i ḫaḍrā
Pilāv ki ḳıyyesin eflāke teşbīh eylesem lāyıḳ
K’olupdur rişteler ol āsmāna keh-keşān-āsā
Ol iki şemseler üstinde anuñ mihr ü mehdür kim
Ṭulū‘ itmiş muḳābil birbirine nitekim Cevzā
O meydān içre me’mūniyyeler ṣan ṭōplardur kim
Anı ḳapmaġa çevgān itdi destin pīr ile bernā
Veyāḫūd ḳılmaġ-içün iştihānuñ ḳal‘asın vīrān
Olupdur her biri bir ṭōp o meydān ‘arṣa-i heycā
Nefāyis ḳısmınuñ elvān u envā‘ın ne şerḥ idem
Olur bir nev‘inüñ terkībine lāzım hezār eczā
Şeker şerbetleri ḫod selsebīl-āsā sebīl oldı
İçen bir cür‘asın āb-ı ḥayāta eyler istiġnā
Ne şīrin kār olur yā Rab o şekker işleri k’anda
Girüp ṣūretlere ‘arż eyledi biñ hey’et-i zībā
Gelüp ferzāne şeh naṭ‘ında şekker işleri ḫalḳuñ
Kimine at virdi kimine fīl eyledi a‘ṭā
Ne ḳudretdür gör ol naḫli ki bitmiş bir dıraḫt üzre
Hezārān lāle envā‘-ı şükūfe biñ gül-i ra‘nā
Açup ‘ibret gözin kes̱retde vaḥdet seyrin it k’olmış
Niçe reng ü ṣuverle bir ḥaḳīḳat cāmi‘-i eşyā
Nedīm ü masḫara envā‘ınuñ gel hey’etin seyr it
Niçe lu‘bet-nümādur gör sipihr-i bī-ser ü bī-pā
Girüp her birisi bir ṣūrete görseñ ne kār eyler
Bu ṣūretlerle ol kāra olur ḥayrān niçe dānā
Ḳoşusı atları şol resme çāpükdür ki ger rākib
İder iki cihānı bir ‘inānın eylese irḫā
Ḳoşusında geçüp atı anuñ kim aldı meydānı
Yiridür aṭlas-ı çerḫ öñdüli olsa degül kālā
Mes̱eldür bu ki meydān yügrügüñ sen de yıraḳ idüp
Semend-i sa‘yı sür cehd it bu meydāndan girü ḳalma
Temāşā eyleseñ cündīlerini ‘arṣada şāhuñ
Kimisi Ḳahramān’dur kimisi Rüstem kimi Dārā
Yaraġ u yatla cümle[ten] yarar at ile meydānda
Ḳamusı ceng ider gerçi murādı ṣulḥdur ammā
Temāşāsına ḫad yoḳdur eger vaṣf eylesem bir bir
Temām olmaya biñ ṭūmār idersem naẓm ile inşā
Gice gündüz niçe gün seyr ü ẕevḳ ü ‘ıyş ü ‘işretdür
Zihī ‘ıyş ü zihī ‘işret zihī ṣoḥbet zihī na‘mā
Gice irdükde āteş işlerinden cümle-i ‘ālem
Olur pür-şevḳ ü nūrānī nitekim ‘ibretü’l-me’vā
Hevāya āsmānīler ḫurūş ile ṣu‘ūd itdi
Göge zencīr-i zerle çekdiler gūyāki ejderhā
Hevādan āsmānīden nüzūl itdükde seyr eyle
Döküldi yire yıldızlar ḳıyāmet irişüp gūyā
Yürüdi cümle āteş-bāzuñ işi od gibi ol dem
Od urup ata cevlān idicek meydānda berḳ-āsā
Niçe ṭōp u tüfeng ile bezenmiş ḳal‘ayı ol dem
Yaḳup yıḳdı çeküp yaluñ yaraḳ çün ḳal‘a-i a‘yā
Yaḳup pāpāslar yir yir ser-ā-ser nār u nūr oldı
Olup rūşen bil İslām ehli yandı ḫavf ile tersā
Bu āteş işlerinden çoḳ ṭarāḳa ḳopdı ‘ālemde
Delice ara yirde oldı ser-geşte ṭutup sevdā
Ḳadırġalar çatıldı birbirine od ṣaçup yir yir
Cihān deryā-yı āteş oldı āteşden yaḫūd deryā
Dönüp dolāblar ṣaçdı yine ṣu yirine āteş
Temāşā bāḳi oldı tāze ter çün gülşen-i ḫaḍrā
Yanıcaḳ anda şādurvānı seyr it bāġ-ı cennetde
Hemānā nūrdan bir servdür ḫalḳeylemiş Mevlā
Ḫurūsa ḫod ne minnet döne döne yandı seyr itdük
Bu gice anda nūr oldı niçe dīv ü niçe ‘anḳā
Eger bu meclise dirseñ nedür bādī nedür bā‘is̱
İdüp şeh-zāde-i a‘ẓam Resūl’üñ sünnetin icrā
Aḳıtdı lūle’-i yāḳūtdan elmās ile la‘li
Ola tā ḳıymet ü ḳadri füzūn çün dürre-i Sīnā
Veyāḫūd ney-şekerden ḳaşr-ı ney ḫal‘ eyledi tā kim
İre emr-i ḫitāndan cāne leẕẕet ola şekker-ḫā
Şehen-şāh-ı ‘aẓīmü’ş-şān u sulṭān-ı celīlü’l-ḳadr
Mu‘izzü’l-mülki ve’l-mille muġīs̱üd-dīn ve’d-dünyā
Yegāne Ḥażret-i Sulṭān Selīm bin Süleymān Ḫān
Kim oldur şāhlar içre ‘aṭā vü cūd ile yektā
Sikender der Ġażanfer fer Süleymān menzilet k’oldur
‘Ömer ‘adl ü Muḥammed ḫū ‘Alī sīret velī sīmā
Aña da‘vā-yı devletde ne lāzım ḥüccet ü bürhān
Cihānda luṭf u cūd ile çü nāmın eyledi imżā
Sen ol şāh-ı refī‘ü’l-ḳadrsin der-gāhuña nisbet
Felek alçaḳlıḳ eyler itse ger da‘vā-yı isti‘lā
Kerem bārānı fā’iż olmasa ebr-i kefüñden ger
Gül ü lāle bitürmezdi cihānda ḫār ile ḫārā
Sipihr-i salṭanat üzre çü sen mi‘rāca yüz ṭutduñ
Oḳur pīr ü cüvān ṣıdḳ ile sübḥāne’lleẕī esrā
Ḳaçan ola muḳābil saña ḫaṣm-ı tīre-rūz iy şāh
Ne farḳı var semānuñ ṭoġsa ḫūrşīd-i cihān-ārā
Keremden gerçi Ḥātem dem ururdı devr-i cū-dilde
Anuñ da defteri ṭayy oldı nāmıdur hemān peydā
Ne zā’id fikr olur ummaḳ saḫāvet ma‘z-ı zā’idden
Bugün gün gibi rūşen olmış iken sende bu ma‘nā
Zemān-ı ‘adl ü dāduñda cihān āsūde olmışdur
Ne vehm-i ḥīle-i reh-zen ne ḫavf-ı fitne-i a‘dā
Şehen-şāhā bu eyyām-ı sürūr u vaḳt-i şādīde
Cihānuñ cem‘ olup ḫalḳı idüp her birisi bir rā
Ṭarīḳince iderler bir hüner iẓhārına gūşiş
K’alup in‘ām u iḥsānı geyeler ḫil‘at u dībā
Ḳuluñ Fażlī de iẓhār-ı hüner itdi naẓar eyle
Ki oldur böyle da‘vā-yı hünerden maḳṣad-ı aḳṣā
Ḳamunuñ menşe’i cehl ü bunuñ fażl u ma‘ārifdür
Ḳamu fānī durur ammā bu eyler nāmuñı ibḳā
Egerçi iltifātuñla müşerrefdür benüm şāhum
Ne kim ola keremden ger mużā‘af eyleseñ āyā
Hünerdür ḳullara şāh-ı hüner-perver naẓar itse
Anuñla ‘aḳl u fehm-i pāka istidlāl ider dānā
Ḳo taṭvīli yetervir şāha taṣdī‘i hemān Fażlī
El açup ḳıl du‘ā iḫlāṣ ile oldur saña evlā
Niçe kim sūr-ı eflāke döküp zerrīn-‘alem ḫurşīd
Sürūr-ı sūr ile mesrūr ola āfāḳ ser-tā-pā
Sürūr ile geçüp her rūzı sūr olsun sa‘ādetle
Gül-i sūrīsini ḳılsun hemīşe tāze ter Mevlā
In English
1. The sultan's kettledrum has been beaten, the world is booming once more; today the plain is the spectacle-ground of the world. (The word "ma‘nīyā" at the end of the line can be understood as "truly" or as "O people of meaning".)
2. The time of joy, the days of gladness, the season of carousing have come; for a joy-increasing wedding feast has been held with glory and good fortune.
3. What a feast it is: from its joy the world has been gladdened, and every heart has opened in eagerness without drinking wine.
4. With the sound of the drum, the din of the cymbal and the cry of the shawm, an earthquake has struck the ground and a tumult has spread through the age.
5. A moment of resurrection has come; it seems this city has become the plain of the gathering, for men and jinn, old and young, have all assembled.
6. Every shawm seems to speak of the Trumpet of Israfil; its breaths at that moment brought many a heart-dead man back to life. ("Sūr-nā", shawm, and "Ṣūr", the trumpet to be blown at the Resurrection, make a play on sound.)
7. Every drum, grieving that these days of joy do not last until the Resurrection, has beaten its breast with its fist.
8. Every kettledrum beats itself and says "to what black days we have come"; (these words are said,) God forbid, to whoever is deprived of this spectacle today. ("Naḳāre", kettledrum, and "ne ḳara", what black, form a pun.)
9. Here and there the cymbals strike together eagerly and mock with "hey hey" whoever is not joyful.
10. Listen to the voice of the kettledrum, it says "for now the turn is ours"; while time lends a hand, never hold back from delight.
11. Tents of every kind, like the sky, were pitched one by one; you would think the nine highest vaults of heaven had come down to earth.
12. Adorned from end to end with tulip-coloured tents, the plain has become the rose garden of the world in grace and neatness.
13. The shah's table has been spread; rich and penniless, high and low, all have taken their share of the bounty.
14. It seems this lofty gathering is the paradise of Firdevs; whatever passes through the mind appears at that very moment.
15. Suppose a thousand people were present at one of his tables, it would feed them so well that until the Resurrection they would not crave the flesh of birds.
16. It is a godsend already with mutton and fat, do not even mention that; it has filled the world with plenty and fed the people in full.
17. In that gathering the buns are the sun and moon and the Milky Way is the tablecloth; this ninefold azure dome is nine porcelain plates.
18. Or else, to cook all kinds of delicacies in that royal heaven, the green dome (the sky) has made the seven spheres cauldrons in its kitchen.
19. It would be fitting if I likened the mound of pilaf to the heavens; the strands of vermicelli in it are like the Milky Way in that sky.
20. Those two şemses on top of it are the sun and moon risen opposite each other, like Gemini. (A şemse is a sun-shaped ornament.)
21. The me'muniye sweets in that field are like balls; to snatch them old and young have made their hands polo sticks. (The çevgân is the stick used to strike the ball from horseback.)
22. Or else that field has become a battleground, and each of them a cannonball to destroy the fortress of appetite.
23. How am I to describe the colours and kinds of the delicacies; for the composition of a single kind a thousand ingredients are needed.
24. The sugar sherbets have been poured out freely like Selsebil; whoever drinks a sip of them has no need of the water of life.
25. O Lord, what sweet work are those sugar works, which there took on forms and displayed a thousand lovely shapes.
26. The wise shah came to the chessboard and, of the people's sugar works, gave a horse to some and bestowed an elephant on others. ("Ferzāne", wise, evokes the "ferz", the vizier (queen) in chess; the horse (knight) and elephant (bishop) are also chess pieces.)
27. See what power it is: on that nahıl grown on a single tree there are thousands of tulips, blossoms of every kind, a thousand lovely roses. (A nahıl is an ornamented tree carried in wedding processions.)
28. Open the eye that takes warning and contemplate unity in multiplicity; a single truth has gathered all things within itself in many colours and forms.
29. Come and watch the various guises of the boon companions and clowns; see how many games the headless, footless sphere displays.
30. If you could see what each of them does when he takes on a form; many a wise man is amazed at that work through these forms.
31. The racehorses are so nimble that if the rider once slackened the rein, they would make the two worlds one.
32. It would be fitting if the satin of the sky were the prize for the horse that passed the others in the race and won the field; it is no ordinary cloth.
33. There is a proverb: "You are the swift horse of the field, do not fall behind on the field"; you too ride the steed of effort far, strive, do not fall behind on this field. ("Yüğrük" means a swift-running horse.)
34. If you watched the shah's cündîs on the field, some are Kahraman, some Rüstem, some Darius. (A cündî is a horseman who plays at javelin and lance.)
35. All of them fight on the field with weapons and gear and with good horses; though indeed their aim is peace.
36. There is no end to its spectacle; if I described it one by one, even if I wrote a thousand scrolls in verse it would not be finished.
37. Night and day, for many days, there is spectacle, delight, merriment and carousing; how fine the merriment, how fine the carousing, how fine the company, how fine the bounty.
38. When night comes, the whole world is filled with eagerness and light from the fireworks, like the Garden of Refuge. (The text reads "‘ibretü’l-me’vā".)
39. The rockets rose into the air with a roar; it was as if they had hauled a dragon up to heaven on a golden chain.
40. Watch the rockets as they come down from the air; it is as if the Resurrection had come and the stars were spilling onto the ground.
41. When the fireworks master set fire to the horse on the field and made it gallop like lightning, all his work went like fire at that moment.
42. At that moment, drawing his naked weapon, he burned and demolished many a fortress decked with cannon and muskets, as if it were the fortress of the enemies.
43. Burning the priests here and there, the whole place became fire and light; know that the people of Islam were made bright, and the Christian burned with fear.
44. Much din arose in the world from these fireworks; in the midst of it the madman, seized by passion, was left dizzy.
45. Galleys here and there were set against each other, spitting fire; the world became a sea of fire, or a sea made of fire.
46. The wheels turned and once more scattered fire instead of water; there remained a spectacle as fresh as a green rose garden.
47. Watch the fountain there when it is lit, as if in the garden of paradise; it is the very cypress tree that the Lord created out of light.
48. Do not even mention the rooster, we watched it burn turning round and round; tonight many a demon and many an Anka bird turned to light there.
49. If you ask what the reason, the occasion of this gathering is: the greatest prince has fulfilled the sunna of the Prophet.
50. From a ruby spout he has made diamond and ruby flow, so that his value and worth may increase like the pearl of Sinai. (The blood of the circumcision is likened to ruby and diamond.)
51. Or else he has peeled the cane's husk from the sugar cane, so that from the command of circumcision delight may reach the soul, as if eating sugar.
52. He is the king of kings of exalted glory, the sultan of great worth; he who makes the realm and the community mighty, the helper of faith and world.
53. The unique one, His Highness Sultan Selim son of Süleyman Khan, who among shahs is without equal in bounty and generosity.
54. He has the gate of Alexander, the splendour of a lion, the rank of Solomon; the justice of Omar, the character of Muhammad, the conduct of Ali, the face of a saint.
55. Since he has signed his name upon the world with grace and generosity, what need has he of argument and proof in the claim to fortune.
56. You are the shah of such lofty worth that, were the sphere to lay claim to eminence, it would remain low beside your court.
57. Had the rain of generosity not poured from the cloud of your palm, rose and tulip would not grow among thorn and rock in the world.
58. Since you have turned your face to the ascension on the sky of sovereignty, old and young sincerely recite "Sübhânellezî esrâ". (This is the first verse of the sura of the Night Journey, which tells of the Prophet's journey by night.)
59. O shah, when could the foe of the black day ever stand against you; when the world-adorning sun rises, what remains (of the darkness) of the sky. (The sense of the second line is not entirely clear.)
60. True, Hatem used to speak of generosity in the age of munificence; his register too has been rolled up, only his name remains. (Hatem-i Tai is the Arab chief remembered for his generosity.)
61. When this meaning is today as clear as day in you, what a superfluous thought it is to expect generosity from "Zâid". ("Zā’id" means superfluous; there must be an allusion to the name of Ma'n ibn Zaida, renowned for his generosity.)
62. In the time of your justice and fairness the world has found peace; there is neither suspicion of the highwayman's trickery nor fear of the enemies' sedition.
63. My king of kings, in these days of joy, at this time of festivity, the people of the world have gathered, and each has taken a path.
64. Each strives in his own way to display a skill, so that he may receive bounty and put on robes of honour and silk.
65. Your servant Fazlî too has displayed his skill, look upon it; for that is the final aim of such a claim to skill.
66. The source of all of theirs is ignorance, the source of this is merit and learning; all of them are perishable, but this keeps your name alive.
67. My shah, true, he has been honoured by your favour; but how would it be if you doubled it out of generosity.
68. It is itself a skill for the skill-loving shah to look upon his servants; by it the wise man infers his pure reason and understanding.
69. Fazlî, leave off lengthening, the trouble you have given the shah is enough; raise your hands and pray sincerely, that is the most fitting for you.
70. As long as the sun scatters golden banners on the rampart of the spheres, as long as the horizons from head to foot rejoice in the joy of the feast,
71. may each of his days pass in felicity and joy and be a feast; may the Lord keep his red rose ever fresh. ("Sūr" means both wedding feast and city wall, "gül-i sūrī" the red rose.)
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a kaside (qasida) of seventy-one couplets (beyit) and, according to Özkat, Fazlî's longest kaside. The metre is the "mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün" pattern of the hezec family. The rhyme is the sound "-ā" (dünyā, ma‘nīyā, efzā, ṣaḥbā, yārā...); there is no redif (refrain word). Its title is "Ḳaṣīde-i Fażlī Berāy-ı Sūr-ı Sulṭān Murād Ḫān", that is, the kaside Fazlî wrote for the wedding feast of Sultan Murad Khan. Özkat presents the kaside as a sûriyye written for Prince Murad (later Murad III), son of Prince Selim, and addressed to Selim. According to him, the opening section (nesib) of fifty-one couplets describes all the splendour of the festival; the patron is named in couplet 53, the poet praises him up to couplet 65, where he uses his pen name (mahlas), and the kaside ends with a prayer of six couplets.
The text is found only in miscellany no. 1966 of the Revan collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 146a). "cümle[ten]" in couplet 35 is a completion made in the edition. Özkat explains the titles in couplet 52 as "helper of faith and world, he who makes community and state mighty", and notes that the words "sübḥāne'lleẕī esrā" in couplet 58 are the beginning of the sura of the Night Journey.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The nesib of the kaside is the fullest form of the festival descriptions in the twelfth and thirteenth kasides. The order is again clear: the sounds of kettledrum, drum, cymbal and shawm; the pitching of the tents; the banquet; the sugar works; the shows of the boon companions and clowns; the horse race and the horsemen's games; the fireworks at night. Some couplets have been taken almost word for word from the earlier sûriyyes: the bestowing of horse and elephant from the sugar works on the chessboard (couplet 26), the me'muniye sweets as balls and the hands that snatch them as polo sticks (couplet 21), the two şemses on top of the pilaf (couplet 20), the racehorses and the prize of the sky's satin (couplets 31-32), the fountain, the burning of the priests, the fireworks master setting fire to the horse and making it gallop, and the prayer with "gül-i sūrī" in the last couplet. It appears that Fazlî reused these descriptions for different weddings.
There are also details seen for the first time in this kaside. In the kitchen the seven spheres become cauldrons, and the vermicelli strands of the pilaf are likened to the Milky Way (couplets 18-19). A nahıl decked with thousands of tulips and roses is carried; the poet sees in it an instructive example of unity in multiplicity, of a single truth gathering all things within itself in many colours and forms (couplets 27-28). In the night section the fireworks grow more varied: fortresses decked with cannon and muskets are burned and demolished, galleys spit fire at each other, wheels spout fire instead of water, and displays in the shape of a rooster, demons and the Anka bird burn (couplets 42-48). Özkat cites the phrase "yalun yarak" (naked weapon) in couplet 42 as an example of the Old Turkish words that live on in Fazlî's poems.
Özkat also chooses examples of figures of speech from this kaside. Couplet 17 is an example of simile (teşbih): the buns are the sun and moon, the Milky Way the tablecloth, the nine heavens nine porcelain plates. In couplet 8 there is a pun (cinas) between "naḳāre" (kettledrum) and "ne ḳara" (what black): the kettledrums beat themselves, crying "to what black days we have come". In couplet 58 the first verse of the sura of the Night Journey is quoted, and Selim's rise to the sky of sovereignty is likened to the Prophet's ascension. In couplet 33 the proverb "You are the swift horse of the field, do not fall behind on the field" is used. Özkat's list of idioms includes, from this kaside, "zemine zelzele, zamana velvele düşmesi" (an earthquake striking the ground and a tumult the age, couplet 4), "dem vurmak" (to speak of, couplet 6), "sinesini dövmek" (to beat one's breast, couplet 7) and "el ele" (hand in hand, couplet 9).
Towards the end of the kaside there is a short passage of self-praise (fahriye). In the days of festivity the people of the world have gathered, each displaying his own skill to receive bounty and put on a robe of honour; Fazlî too presents his skill, that is, this kaside. The others' skill is passing, while the source of his is "fażl u ma‘ārif" (merit and learning), and it keeps the sultan's name alive (couplets 63-66). The word "fażl" also recalls the poet's pen name.
Historical Context
According to Özkat, the Murad of the kaside is the son born in 1546 to Prince Selim, governor of Manisa, by Nurbanu Sultan, later Murad III. In couplets 49-51 the reason for the feast is given plainly as this prince's circumcision. Fazlî had become Selim's secretary of the council after Prince Mustafa was killed in 1553; the presentation of the kaside to Selim is connected with this service. Neither the kaside nor Özkat states the date and place of the circumcision 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. 209-214, kaside no. 29 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Revan 1966, fol. 146a); also p. 19 (his life), pp. 54-55 (on the kasides), p. 77 (descriptions of weddings), p. 84 (figures of speech), pp. 90-94 (proverbs and idioms) and pp. 105-106 (Old Turkish words), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.
Online sources
