Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Yine güller açılup ḳaldı yirinde dikeni
Bozdı dihḳān-ı felek bāġı ḳurutdı çemeni
Bāda vardı gül ile lāle yirinde yil eser
Rūzgār itdi ḥavāle yine yapraḳ dökeni
Lāle cāmını urup yire getürdi ayaġı
Gördi kim şāh-ı ḫazān geldi bozup encümeni
Berg ü bārını döküp yaḳdı vü yıḳdı bāġı
Sebzeyi bāda virüp ṭopraġa ṣaldı semeni
Yumdı bu derd ile göz bāġ-ı cihāndan nergis
Ḫancere düşdi görüp sūsen o zecr ü miḥeni
Bülbülüñ ṣıḳlıġı diñdi vü ḥużūrı uçdı
Gördi kim gül açılup gözine girdi dikeni
İrişüp faṣl-ı ḫazān ile ta‘ayyün bāġa
Ten-i ‘āşıḳ gibi zerd eyledi rūy-ı çemeni
Gerçi yüz reng ile zeyn itmiş idi anı bahār
Virdi ta‘yīn aña reng ile ḫarīfüñ düzeni
Līk ger ṭoyduñ ise rengi virüp rengin anuñ
Mey-i rengīn ile ḳıl tāze dil ü cān u teni
Yine bir gūne ṣafā irdi bilürseñ dehre
Eyle biñ gūne ṣafā ṭut sözümi esle beni
‘Āleme köhne bahār ile irüp bir ‘ālem
Kim eger tāze bahārı görüp ol ḫoş zemeni
Devr-i ‘adlinde ḫuṣūṣā şeh-i ‘ālī-şānuñ
Çü na‘īm oldı naġam birle cihān cümle ġanī
Ḥażret-i Şāh Selīm ibn-i Süleymān-ı zemān
Ki Süleymān gibi rām itdi niçe Ehremen’i
Tīġı ger rūz-ı veġā ‘arż-ı şecā‘at itse
Ḳahr ile zār u zebūn ide niçe Tehmeten’i
Ḳahramān’ı ide ḳahr u göre Rüstem sitemin
‘Azm-ı rezm itse kemīn bende-i şemşīr-zeni
Şaḥne-i ma‘deletüñ bāġa ṣalupdur bādı
Ḳapduġıçün seḥerī tāc-ı gül ü yāsemeni
Būy-ı ḫulḳuñ ṭutalı dehri düşüp sevdāya
Reşk ile baġrını ḫūn eyledi misk-i Ḫotan’ı
Şecer-i salṭanatuñ bīḫ-i ‘adālet ṣalalı
Ṭutdı ṭūbā gibi āfāḳı ser-ā-ser şeceni
Ḫoş geçer cümle cihān ḫalḳı bugün sāyeñde
Müntehā gördi gören sidreden iy şāh seni
Sen ṭururken ide mi kimse varup ġayrı penāh
Kim eger sāye-i ṭūbā var iken nārveni
Ribḳa-i emrüñi her kim ki bile ḥabl-i metīn
Yiridür gerden-i āfāḳa ṣalarsa reseni
Gerçi kim var ḳuluñ ḳudreti biñ beyt diyem
Vaṣf u medḥüñde açup şevḳ ile şāhum deheni
Līk yoḳ medḥüñe ġāyet ne [di]yem vaḳti durur
Şimdiden girü ġazel ṭarzına çeksem süḫanı
‘Ārıżuñ bāda virür luṭf-ile berg-i semeni
Kākülüñ ḫāke ṣalar ḳahr ile müşg-i Ḫotan’ı
Bāġbānā bize ol ḳadd ü bu ‘ārıż besdür
Oda yaḳ serv-i revānı ṣuya ṣal yāsemeni
Görse nūr-ı Ṣamed’i bilse cemālüñ sırrın
Yıḳa rāhib ṣanemi vü yaḳa müşrik şemeni
Gül-i bī-ḫār iken ol ġonce cihān bāġında
Dikenin gözine ṣoḳ görür iseñ gül dikeni
Ḳoma miskīnleri pā-beste belā dāmında
Külehüñden çıḳar ol kākül-i ‘anber-şikeni
Dāġ-ı ‘ışḳuñla olan lāle gibi rūz-ı ḳıyām
Ḫākdan ḳalḳa ṣarup boynına ḫūnīn kefeni
Beni bu ġam yaḳasın serveri pehlūya çeker
Her ḳabā zīver ü zer gösterüp ol sīm-teni
Ḳoçmasun kimse diyü üstine dir dir ditrer
Nice nāzükdür o sīmīn bedenüñ pīreheni
İşiden cān ile öldür beni sevmezse seni
Diyesin öldürürüm ger beni cāndan seveni
Zülfüñi ayaġa ṣal devr-i şeh-i ‘ādildür
Baṣasın lāyıḳ odur mekr ü fesād u fiteni
Nice vaṣf eyleye vaṣṣāf ‘ulüvv-i şānuñ
Ne felek-ḳadr ki nisbet görinür dūn u denī
Ḥüsn-i ṣūretle olup cāmi‘-i ḥüsn-i sīret
Ḥüsn ü ḫulḳ ile ḳamu ‘ālemüñ olduñ ḥaseni
Rehber-i ehl-i sefer şaḥne-i ‘adlüñ olalı
Görmez illā ki reh-i dārda il rāh-zeni
Pād-şāhum naẓar it luṭf ile Fażlī ḳuluña
Ṣıfat-ı şi‘rüñ olupdur bugün üstād-ı feni
Muntaẓam ḳıldı yine ḳılmaġa pāyuña nis̱ār
Rişte-i naẓm-ı laṭīfe niçe dürr-i ‘Aden’i
Gūş-vār olsa eger gūş-ı şehe lāyıḳdur
Bugün ol dürr-i s̱emīnüñ ki bilinmez s̱emeni
S̱emen ol gevher-i yektāya ḳabūl-i şehdür
Ger ḳabūl ide anı luṭf ile ol şāh-ı ġanī
Baḥr-i naẓm içre nice ola sefīne seyri
Şimdiden girü du‘ā semtine ṭutdum deheni
Nice kim faṣl-ı ḫazān ile irüp dehre ġınā
Pür ide dürlü ni‘am birle zemīn ü zemeni
Ni‘met ü devlet ü ‘izz ü şeref ü ḳudretle
Pād-şāhum ḳıla pāyende Ḫudāvend seni

In English

1. The roses have bloomed and gone once more, and their thorns are left in their place; the gardener of the sphere has ruined the garden and dried up the meadow.

2. Rose and tulip have gone with the wind, winds blow where they stood; time has once again entrusted to it the task of shedding the leaves.

3. Seeing that the shah of autumn had come and broken up the gathering, the tulip dashed its cup to the ground and brought its foot down. ("Ayak" means both cup and foot; the tulip's stem is likened to the foot of a cup.)

4. (The shah of autumn,) shedding its leaves and fruit, burned and ruined the garden; giving the greenery to the wind, he cast the jasmine to the ground.

5. With this pain the narcissus closed its eye on the garden of the world; seeing that torment and affliction, the iris fell upon the dagger.

6. The nightingale's distress has abated, but its peace has flown away too; for it saw that the rose had bloomed and gone and its thorn had pierced its eye.

7. When the season of autumn reached the garden and settled there, it turned the face of the meadow yellow like the body of a lover.

8. True, spring had adorned it with a hundred colours; the order of autumn too gave it a shape with its own colour.

9. But if you are weary of its colour, refresh your heart, soul and body with coloured wine.

10. If you know it, a kind of joy has come to the world once more; make a thousand kinds of joy, take my word, listen to me.

11. With the old spring a world has come to the world, such that (you would be) as if you had seen fresh spring and that pleasant time. (The syntax of the couplet is not entirely clear.)

12. Above all, in the just reign of the shah of lofty glory, when bounty joined with melodies, the whole world became rich.

13. He is His Highness Shah Selim, son of the Solomon of the age, who like Solomon has made many an Ahriman (demon) submit. (The prophet Solomon is told to have ruled over demons.)

14. If his sword displayed valour on the day of battle, it would make many a Tehemten (Rüstem) wretched and helpless with its wrath.

15. If his lowliest sword-wielding servant resolved on battle, he would crush Kahraman, and Rüstem would suffer his cruelty.

16. The watchman of your justice has thrown the wind out of the garden, because at dawn it snatched the crown of the rose and the jasmine. (The autumn wind's stripping of the flowers is likened to a theft.)

17. Since the scent of your character has filled the world, the musk of Khotan has fallen into melancholy and bloodied its breast with envy. (Musk was obtained from the dried blood in the gland of the musk deer.)

18. Since the tree of your sovereignty sent down the root of justice, its branches have covered the horizons from end to end like the Tuba tree. (Tuba is the great tree of paradise.)

19. O shah, today all the people of the world live happily in your shade; whoever has seen you has seen the furthest point beyond the Lote tree. (The Lote tree of the furthest boundary, Sidretü'l-müntehâ, is the tree in the seventh heaven.)

20. While you stand, would anyone go and seek another refuge; who would choose a pomegranate tree while there is the shade of Tuba.

21. Whoever knows the noose of your command as a strong rope, it is fitting if he casts that rope around the neck of the horizons. ("Ḥabl-i metīn", the strong rope, is an expression from the Qur'an.)

22. My shah, your servant indeed has the power to open his mouth eagerly and speak a thousand couplets in describing and praising you.

23. But there is no end to your praise; what shall I say, it is time: from now on let me draw my speech into the manner of the ghazal.

24. Your cheek graciously gives the jasmine petal to the wind; your forelock wrathfully casts the musk of Khotan to the dust.

25. O gardener, that stature and this cheek are enough for us; throw the swaying cypress into the fire, cast the jasmine into the water.

26. If the monk saw the light of the Eternal (God) and knew the secret of your beauty, he would destroy his idol, and the polytheist would burn his idol.

27. Since that bud is a thornless rose in the garden of the world, if you see the thorn of the rose, stick its thorn into its own eye.

28. Do not leave the wretched with feet bound in the snare of calamity; take that ambergris-scented lock out of your cap.

29. On the day of Resurrection those who bear the wound of your love will rise from the earth like the tulip, wrapped in bloody shrouds about their necks.

30. Showing the ornaments and gold of every robe, that silver-bodied one seizes me by the collar of this grief and draws me to his side. (The syntax of the couplet is not entirely clear.)

31. How delicate is the shirt of that silver body, that it trembles all over him lest anyone embrace him.

32. When you hear with your soul one who says "kill me if he does not love you", you say "I kill whoever loves me from the soul". (The syntax of this couplet describing the beloved's cruelty is obscure.)

33. Let your locks fall to your feet, it is the age of the just shah; trickery, mischief and sedition deserve to be trodden underfoot.

34. How could the panegyrist describe the loftiness of your glory; what heavenly worth you have, beside which everything appears low and base.

35. With your beautiful form you have united a beautiful character; in beauty and character you have become the fairest of the whole world.

36. Since the watchman of your justice became the guide of travellers, the people see no highwayman except on the road to the gallows.

37. My padishah, look graciously upon your servant Fazlî; today he has become the master of this art in the qualities of poetry.

38. To scatter at your feet he has once more strung many pearls of Aden on the thread of fine verse.

39. That precious pearl, whose price is not known today, would be worthy of the shah's ear if it became an earring.

40. The price of that unique jewel is the shah's acceptance, if only that rich shah graciously accepts it.

41. How could the ship sail further on the sea of verse; from now on I have turned my mouth towards prayer.

42. As long as plenty comes to the world with the season of autumn and fills earth and time with all kinds of bounty,

43. my padishah, may God make you everlasting with bounty, fortune, glory, honour and power.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of forty-three couplets (beyit). The metre is the "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün" pattern of the remel family. The rhyme is the sound "-eni" (dikeni, çemeni, dökeni, encümeni, semeni...); there is no redif (refrain word). Its title is "Ḳaṣīde-i Fażlī Berāy-ı Sultān Selīm Ḫān". According to Özkat, the kaside is a "hazâniyye", that is, a kaside on autumn, written for Prince Selim. In the opening section (nesib) of eleven couplets autumn is described; the patron is named in couplet 13, the poet praises him up to couplet 37, where he uses his pen name (mahlas), and the kaside ends with a prayer of six couplets. In the middle of the section of praise there is a tegazzül, an interlude in the manner of a ghazal, which the poet himself announces in couplet 23 (couplets 24-33).

The text is found only in miscellany no. 1966 of the Revan collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 150a). The word "ibn-i" in couplet 13 is "bin" in the manuscript; Özkat notes that it must be "ibn-i" for the metre. "[di]yem" in couplet 23 is a completion made in the edition.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening section is the reverse of Fazlî's kasides of spring and Nevruz. Here the season comes as a destroyer: the gardener of the sphere ruins the garden, rose and tulip go with the wind, the shah of autumn breaks up the gathering. The flowers react to this ruin like people: the tulip dashes its cup to the ground, the narcissus closes its eye, the iris falls on the dagger, the nightingale's peace flies away. In couplet 3 the word "ayak" is used in the senses of both cup and foot. In couplet 7 the yellowing of the meadow is likened to the yellow body of a lover. In couplets 9 and 10 the poet turns from sorrow to joy: whoever is weary of autumn's colour should refresh his heart with coloured wine. Özkat cites the verb "esle-" in couplet 10, meaning "to listen", as an example of the Old Turkish words that live on in Fazlî's poems. The idioms "yerinde yeller esmek" (to have winds blow where something stood) in couplet 2 and "söz tutmak" (to take someone's word) in couplet 10 are also in Özkat's list.

In the transition to the praise, the images of autumn are tied to the theme of justice. In couplet 16 Selim's watchman of justice has driven the wind out of the garden, because at dawn the wind snatched the crown of the rose and the jasmine; thus the ruin of autumn becomes a crime of theft, and the prince's justice its punishment. In couplet 13 Selim, in keeping with the name of his father Süleyman, is named as one who, like the prophet Solomon, rules over demons; in couplets 14-15 the Shahnameh heroes Tehemten and Kahraman are powerless before him. In couplets 18-20 the tree of sovereignty is likened to Tuba in paradise; in couplet 19 the name "Sidretü'l-müntehâ" is played on: whoever has seen the prince has seen the furthest point beyond the Lote tree.

In couplet 23 the poet says that there is no end to the praise and draws his speech "into the manner of the ghazal". In this tegazzül section the classic picture of the beloved is drawn: the cheek puts the jasmine petal to shame, the forelock the musk of Khotan; the monk would destroy his idol if he knew the secret of the beloved's beauty; lovers will rise from the earth at the Resurrection like the tulip, in bloody shrouds. In couplet 31 the beloved's shirt "trembles all over him" lest anyone embrace him; Özkat includes this idiom, "üstüne titremek", in his list. The section closes skilfully in couplet 33: the beloved's locks should be let fall underfoot, for in the age of the just shah trickery, mischief and sedition deserve to be trodden underfoot. That the lock is named together with sedition is a well-known motif of divan poetry; the poet makes it the means of turning back to the praise. In couplets 37-40 Fazlî presents himself as a master of the art of poetry, and his kaside as a pearl whose price is not known, worthy of being an earring for the shah's ear.

Historical Context

The kaside was presented to Prince Selim. According to Özkat, after Prince Mustafa was killed in 1553 Fazlî became Selim's secretary of the council and was with him in Manisa, Konya and Kütahya. In which year's autumn the kaside was written is not known.

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. 214-217, kaside no. 30 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Revan 1966, fol. 150a); also p. 19 (his life), p. 55 (on the kasides), p. 93 (idioms) and p. 105 (Old Turkish words), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources