Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilātün Fe‘ilün
Ḥamdülillāh ki bulup ferr ü sa‘ādet eyyām
Burc-i iḳbāle rücū‘ itdi yine bedr-i temām
‘Āleme irdi şeref buldı cihān ẕevḳ ü ṣafā
Ḳıldı ḫūrşīd şeref evcini gūyā ki maḳām
Māh-ı ‘adl itdi ṭulū‘ oldı cihān nūrānī
Kevkeb-i ẓulm ṭolandı oluben ref‘-i ẓulām
Oldı āsūde ḥużūr ile ḳamu şeyḫ ile şāb
İrdi maḳṣūda sürūr ile ḳamu ḫāṣ ile ‘ām
Muntaẓam olmaġa ‘adl ile umūr-ı cumhūr
Virdi bir ‘ādile Ḥaḳ ṣadr-ı vezāretde ḳıyām
Buldı evvelki maḳāmın yine bir mīr-i kerīm
V’ey ne buldı yirini didi ḫavāṣ ile ‘avām
Rehaḳü’l-bāṭıl olup oldı ‘ıyān cā’ü’l-ḥaḳ
Ḥaḳ bu kim buldı yirin Ḥaḳ irişüp dehre niẓām
Ā‘ni pāşā-yı mu‘aẓẓam ser-i erbāb-ı himem
Kerem ü cūd ile ser-defter-i mecmū‘-ı kirām
Āṣaf-ı munṣif ü destūr-ı ‘adālet-düstūr
عمد الدولة والدين ظهير الاسلام
Reading: ‘Amedü'd-devlete ve'd-dīn-i ẓahīrü'l-İslām. The reading is from Özkat's footnote (p. 221); it also fits the pattern of the metre.
Ḥażret-i Mīr-i Sikender-derece Sun‘ullāh
İftiḫār-ı ümerā-yı küberā ẕuhr-ı ‘ıẓām
Muṣṭafā Ḫān’a vezīr oldı yine devletle
‘Adl ü dād ile bugün virmege dünyāya niẓām
Bir kerem kānı vü luṭf issidür ol ki oldı bugün
‘Adl ü dād u kerem ü cūd ile meşhūr-ı enām
Maḳdem-i pākı cihān ḫalḳını teşrīf itdi
Oldı āsūde yine memleket-i Rūm temām
Maḳdemi maḳṣad-ı aḳṣā idi bī-kāmlara
Minnet Allāh’a ki bulduḳ ḳademinden yine kām
İy kerem kānı yine sāye ṣalup devletle
Oldı teşrīf-i selāmuñla cihān dār-ı selām
Sensin ol munṣif ü ‘ādil ki zemānuñda senüñ
‘Adl ü inṣāfuñ ile buldı zemāne ārām
Ḥüsn-i tedbīrüñe vā-beste umūr-ı cumhūr
Emr ü fermānuña maḫṣūṣ mühimmāt-ı enām
İdüp aḥkāmuñı ḳānūn-ı ‘adāletle ḳavī
Buldı tedbīrüñ ile ḳaṣr-ı vezāret iḥkām
‘Adl ü dāduñla saña cümle cihān ḫalḳı muḥibb
Luṭf u cūduñla saña pīr ü cüvān oldı ġulām
Nāmesin ṭayy ide gūş itse saḫāda nāmuñ
Gerçi kim Ḥātem-i Ṭayy oldı seḫā ile be-nām
Bir ma‘nā virdi ḳażā emrüñe ẓann eylemezem
Ḳıla rāyuña muḫālif ḥareket heft-ecrām
Ka‘be-i kūyuñı ṭavf eylemege niyyet idüp
Her seḥer ṭā‘at içün ṣubḥ bürinür iḥrām
Ṭīb-i eflāḳuñ ile oldı mu‘aṭṭar āfāḳ
Gül gibi eyledi pür cümle cihān ḫalḳı meşāmm
Şerm-i rāyuñ ile ruḫ ‘ayn olur çün dil nūn
Bār-ı ḳahruñ ile dil ḳāf olur çün ten lām
Şāh-ı Rūm’a çü bugün ṣāḥib-i dīvān olduñ
Rūm u Şām’a yiridür eylesek irsāl aḥkām
Bende Fażlī ki çerāġuñdur eyā şem‘-i kerem
Baḫtı şem‘i uyanup şevḳle dir ṣubḥ ile şām
Ḥamdülillāh ki yine başuma gün ṭoġdı bugün
Ṭāli‘üm gögi açıldı [ki] olup def‘-i ġamām
Sāyesinde geçelüm ḫoş yine ṣaldı sāye
Serv-i iḳbāl ḳılup gülşen-i devletde ḫırām
Umaram dikmelerine irişe neşv ü nemā
Olalar tāze vü ter bāġ-ı ‘aṭāsında müdām
Aç elüñ eyle du‘ā çünki du‘ādur maḳṣūd
İtme taṣdī‘-i ‘iẓām eyleme taṭvīl-i kelām
Ḥaḳ Te‘ālā şeref ü devletin efzūn itsün
Nice kim devr ide ‘ālemde şühūr u a‘vām
Luṭf u cūd ile olup ḥadve-i erbāb-ı kerem
Ḥaşre dek mesned-i ‘izzetde ola ṣadr-ı kirām
In English
1. Praise be to God that the days have found splendour and happiness; the full moon has returned once more to the sign of good fortune.
2. Honour has reached the world, the world has found delight and joy; it is as if the sun had taken as its station the summit of its sign of exaltation, where it is held to be strongest.
3. The moon of justice has risen, the world is filled with light; as the darkness lifted, the star of oppression was eclipsed.
4. Old and young alike have found ease in tranquillity; the elect and the common alike have reached their wish with gladness.
5. So that the affairs of the people might be ordered with justice, God has given a just man a place in the seat of the vizierate.
6. A generous lord has regained his former station; the elect and the common alike said, "Ah, how fitly he has found his place."
7. The saying "Falsehood has vanished, truth has come" has come true and become plain; in truth, God's help arrived, order came to the world, and right found its place.
8. That is, the exalted pasha who is the head of all men of high endeavour; the one written at the head of the register of all the generous for liberality and bounty.
9. A fair-minded Âsaf, a vizier who has made justice his rule; the pillar of the state and the faith, the support (backer) of Islam. (Âsaf is the vizier of the prophet Solomon and is named in divan poetry as the ideal vizier. Özkat gives the meaning of the Arabic line as "the guarantee of the faith and the state, with the appearance of Islam".)
10. His Excellency Mîr Sun'ullah, of the rank of Alexander; the pride of the great lords, the support of the eminent.
11. Today, with fortune and felicity, he has again become vizier to Mustafa Han, to bring order to the world with justice and equity.
12. He is a mine of generosity and a man of grace, who today has become famous among all people for his justice, equity, kindness and liberality.
13. His pure arrival has honoured the people of the world; the land of Rum has once again found complete peace.
14. His coming was the highest wish of those who had not attained their desire; thanks be to God that through his auspicious step we have again attained our wish.
15. O mine of generosity, with fortune you have again cast your shade (taken us under your protection); through the honour of your greeting the world has become the abode of peace, that is, paradise.
16. You are that fair and just man in whose time, through your justice and fairness, the age has found repose.
17. The affairs of the people are bound to your good counsel; the weighty matters of mankind belong to your command and decree.
18. You have made your rulings strong with the law of justice; the palace of the vizierate has gained firmness through your counsel.
19. Because of your justice and equity all the people of the world love you; because of your grace and liberality old and young have become your servants.
20. Although Hâtem-i Tâî won fame for generosity, were he to hear your name in generosity he would fold up his own register. (Hâtem is an Arab lord famous for his generosity; the word "ṭayy" means both "folding, closing" and the name of Hâtem's tribe.)
21. Fate has given your command such meaning and force that I do not think the seven planets would move against your judgement.
22. Intending to circle the Kaaba of your door, the morning puts on the pilgrim's garment (ihram) every dawn for worship. (The white light of dawn is likened to the white ihram of the pilgrims.)
23. With the fragrance of your heavens (perhaps "of your character") the horizons have become perfumed; all the people of the world have filled their nostrils with it as with the scent of the rose.
24. Through shame before your judgement and reason the face becomes like the letter ‘ayn, the heart like the letter nûn; under the weight of your wrath the heart becomes like the letter kâf, the body like the letter lâm. (When the letters ‘ayn, kâf and lâm in the couplet are put together, they form the word ‘aḳl, "reason".)
25. Since today you have become master of the divan (vizier) to the king of Rum, it is fitting that we send decrees to Rum and to Damascus.
26. O candle of generosity, the candle of fortune of this servant Fazlî, who is your çerāġ (both your lamp and your apprentice), has woken and flared up; morning and evening he says with longing:
27. Praise be to God, today the sun has risen over my head again; the cloud has scattered and the sky of my fortune has cleared.
28. The cypress of fortune, swaying in the rose garden of prosperity, has cast its shade again; let us pass the time pleasantly in its shade.
29. I hope that growth and increase reach the saplings he has planted, that is, those he has raised; may they stay ever fresh and green in the garden of his bounty.
30. Open your hands and pray, for prayer is the purpose; do not give the great a headache, do not lengthen your words.
31. As long as the months and years turn in the world, may God Most High increase his honour and fortune.
32. Becoming, through grace and liberality, the leader of the men of generosity, may he sit until the Day of Judgement on the seat of honour, at the head of the generous. (The word "ḥadve" in the edition is obscure; it has been translated in the sense of "ḳudve", example and leader.)
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a kaside (qasida) of thirty-two couplets, written in the "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün" pattern of the remel family of aruz (quantitative metre). The kaside is a long verse form written in praise of a great person, in which, after the opening couplet, the second line of every couplet ends in the same rhyme. The rhyme of this kaside is the sound "-ām": eyyām, temām, maḳām, ẓulām, ‘ām, ḳıyām; Mustafa Özkat counts it among the kasides with rich rhyme. In the classical kaside the praise is preceded by a "nesib" section consisting of a description of spring, winter or a feast; as Özkat notes, this kaside has no nesib. The poem opens directly with an expression of thanks and joy; the name of the person praised is mentioned in the tenth couplet and his office in the eleventh. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the twenty-sixth couplet, and the kaside ends with a section of prayer.
Özkat publishes the poem as the thirty-second kaside of the divan from the miscellany numbered Âşir Efendi 314 in the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 113b). The second line of the ninth couplet is in Arabic and is printed in Arabic script in the edition. In the original text this line has been copied letter by letter from the printed page of the edition; its reading is taken from Özkat's footnote. The meaning Özkat gives is a free explanation; that the word "‘amed" in the line means "pillar" in the dictionary, that "ẓahīr" means "back, supporter", and that the line recalls the Arabic title formulas given to viziers is our own observation. The rendering into modern language is based on these word meanings.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The first seven couplets of the kaside celebrate the return of the person praised to his office with the heavenly bodies. The full moon returns to the sign of good fortune, the sun settles in its sign of exaltation, the moon of justice rises and the star of oppression is eclipsed. These comparisons present the vizier's return to office as the restoration of order in the universe. The words "cā'ü'l-ḥaḳ" and "bāṭıl" in the seventh couplet recall the Qur'anic verse "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished". In the verse the verb meaning "vanished" is "zeheḳa"; that the reading "Rehaḳü" in the edition should be compared with this word, the two letters being distinguished in writing only by a single dot, is our own observation. The text has not been altered.
The section of praise treats the vizier's justice, generosity and counsel. There are allusions to Âsaf, vizier of the prophet Solomon, in the ninth couplet, to Alexander in the eleventh, and to Hâtem-i Tâî, known for his generosity, in the twentieth. In the twentieth couplet a pun (cinas) is made between "ṭayy ide" (should fold, close) and "Ḥātem-i Ṭayy". The twenty-second couplet is the one Özkat gives among his examples of hüsn-i ta'lîl (fanciful aetiology): the poet explains the whiteness of morning as a pilgrim putting on the ihram, intending to circle the vizier's door like the Kaaba. The twenty-fourth couplet is a game of letters. As Özkat notes, when the letters ‘ayn, kâf and lâm named in the couplet are placed side by side, the word "reason" is read; the poet thus expresses the vizier's wisdom through the shapes of letters. That the bent and curved shapes of the letters describe the face, heart and body bowing before the vizier's majesty is our own inference.
In the twenty-sixth couplet the word "çerāġ" means both lamp and apprentice, that is, someone raised in another's service; addressing the vizier as "candle of generosity", the poet presents himself as his lamp and his apprentice. This double entendre (tevriye) is our own observation. Reading the phrase "ṭīb-i eflāḳuñ" (the fragrance of your heavens) in the twenty-third couplet as "ṭīb-i aḫlāḳuñ" (the fragrance of your character) makes the sense clearer; this too is a conjecture. In the last section of the kaside the poet addresses himself, "Open your hands, pray, do not lengthen your words", and passes to the prayer. Özkat also cites idioms from this kaside, such as "başına gün doğmak" (the sun rising over one's head), "sâye salmak" (to cast one's shade) and "el açmak" (to open one's hands), as examples of Fazlî's language.
Historical Context
According to Özkat, this kaside was written for Sun'ullah, one of the viziers of Şehzade Mustafa. Among the kasides Fazlî presented to statesmen, Özkat names him "Vizier Sun'ullah Pasha"; Özkat states plainly that he could find no information on the life of the person praised. The kaside itself gives some clues: since the sixth couplet says that he found "his former station again" and the eleventh says "Muṣṭafā Ḫān'a vezīr oldı yine", Sun'ullah had been away from office for a time and then became Mustafa's vizier again. That the phrase "Şāh-ı Rūm" in the twenty-fifth couplet refers to Şehzade Mustafa is our own inference. Fazlî served as Şehzade Mustafa's divan secretary in Amasya from 1543 to 1553; it is very likely that the kaside was presented at the Amasya court in these years, but its exact date is not known.
When Sun'ullah Beg's son Mahmud died in 955 (1548), Fazlî also wrote three chronograms and a nine-stanza müseddes elegy for the young man. Sun'ullah's family thus appears in the divan as one of the circles to which the most poems were presented after Şehzade Mustafa himself; this assessment is our own.
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. 221-223, kaside no. 32 (Süleymaniye Library, Âşir Efendi 314, fol. 113b); also p. 9 (divan secretaryship), pp. 48 and 55-56 (on the kaside), pp. 59-60 (chronograms for Sun'ullah's son), p. 68 (rhyme), pp. 84 and 86 (figures of speech), pp. 90-93 (idioms), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.
- Hasan Aksoy, "Kara Fazlî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 24, Istanbul 2001, pp. 360-361, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kara-fazli.
Online sources
