Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Berāhine buña cāzim degül mi ‘aḳl-ı selīm
Ki ‘ilm ü fażl iledür serd-i vācibü’l-ta‘ẓīm
Zihī kemāl-i şeref ehl-i ‘ilme dünyāda
Ki nāmını göre lāyıḳ aña Ḫudā-yı ‘alīm
‘Uyūn-ı ‘aḳlı ḳılan nūr-ı ‘ilm ile rūşen
Olur ḥaḳāyıḳ-ı eşyā’ı hep baṣīr ü fehīm
Şīven-i cehl ile olur kişi denī vü ḫasīs
Kemāl ü ‘ilm iledür ādemī şeref ü ‘aẓīm
Yetīm odur ki ola ‘ilm ü fażldan maḥrūm
Dimeñ ki bī-peder olan cihānda ola yetīm
Düriş ki şerbet-i ‘ilm ile olasın sālim
Ṣaḳın ṣaḳın maraż-ı cehl birle ḳalma saḳīm
Cihānda olmadı kes bī-kemāl bildük çün
Ol imdi kesb-i kemāl ile vācibü’l-tekrīm
Çün oldı ‘ilm-i farīża budur ḥadīs̱-i ṣaḥīḥ
Ṣaḳın ki cehl ile terk idüp anı olma as̱īm
Egerçi ‘ilm-i mükerrem durur ‘ale’l-ıṭlāḳ
‘Ale’l-ḥuṣūṣ ki ‘ilm-i şerīf diyen ḳavīm
Ne devlet ola ‘aceb bundan ilerü kişiye
Ki ola ‘ālim-i sırr-ı kelām-ı Ḥayy ü Ḳadīm
Zihī kerāmet ü ‘izzet bu ‘ilme kim oldı
Anuñla ‘ālim olan müstaḥiḳḳ-i bāġ-ı na‘īm
Cihānda ‘ālim ü ‘āmil o ‘ilm ile el’ān
‘Aceb kim ola diriseñ baña o şān-ı kerīm
Ferīd-i dehr ü vaḥīd-i zemāne a‘lem-i nās
K’odur fünūn-ı feżāyilde mis̱l ü şibhi ‘adīm
Cihānda ‘ilm sürūrı Efendi Ḫᵛāce-i Şān
K’odur mevāli-i ‘aṣr içre vācibü’l-ḳadīm
Kemāl-i keşf ile bāṭında mürşid-i kāmil
Fünūn-ı fażl ile ẓāhirde ḫod imām-ı ‘aẓīm
Fünūn-ı ḥikmet ile ẕū-fünūn-ı ‘ālemdür
Revādur olsa tilāmīẕi ṣad hezār ḥakīm
Mesīḥ-i vaḳtdür el-ḥaḳ ki nuṭḳ-ı cān-baḫşı
Ta‘alluḳ eylese ger ḥayy ola ‘iẓām-ı remīm
Odur bugün ‘alem-i ‘ilm ile cihānda ‘alem
‘Aceb mi a‘lem-i ‘ālim olursa ger o ‘alīm
‘Ulüvv-i rif‘atı bābında çerḫ-i dūn dūnī
Seḫā vü himmeti bābında kān u baḥr-ı le’īm
Ḫazān irişmeye mümtedd ola cihānda bahār
Eger ki perverişi andan ögrenürse nesīm
Eger ki rāyına teşbīh iderse kendin elif
Ḫam ola ḳaddi cihānda anuñ çü ḫalḳa-i cīm
Sen ol kerīmsin el-ḥaḳ ki saña ḥāṣıldur
‘Ulūm-ı nāfı‘a vü ḫulḳ-ı nīk ü luṭf-ı ‘amīm
Ġubār-ı rāhuñ ile ‘ayn-ı āfitāb-ı keḥīl
Cebīn-i māh-ı felek dāġ-ı mihrüñ ile vesīm
Tederrüse sen Ebü’l-‘ilme Bū ‘Alī gelse
Revādur aña çü ṭıfl ebced eyleseñ ta‘līm
Nesīm-i luṭfuñ eger nefḥ-i rūḥ eylemese
Revā olurdı dimek Meryem-i cihāna ‘aḳīm
Nesīm-i luṭfuñ eger dūzaḫ üzre ḳılsa güzer
‘Adīl-i nūr-ı na‘īm ola nār-ı dār-ı caḥīm
Ṭapuña ḥilye-i ‘ilm ile ḥulle-i ‘ilmi
Müyesser eylemiş ol Ḥażret-i ‘alīm ü selīm
Ne medḥ idem seni ben kim yazılmaya tā ḥaşr
Eger ki ṣafḥa-i eflāke eylesem terḳīm
Olınmaya ser-i mū deñlü şerḥ-i evṣāfuñ
Tenümde her ser-i mū ḥaşr olınca olsa kelīm
Murād-ı Fażlī mürīd ü muḥibbüñ olmaḳdur
Elinde tuḥfesi ancaḳ irādet ü teslīm
Cenābuña n’ola ‘arż itse ma‘rifet dürrin
Cevāhiri dür olan ḳadr ü cevheri çü fehīm
Egerçi ṭab‘ı ża‘īf oldı līk ḥāṣıldur
Sözinde ma‘nā-yı bārīk birle lafẓ-ı cīm
Niçe ki eşref-i nās ola ‘ilm ile ‘ulemā
Niçe [ki] fażl ile ḫalḳ ola vācibü’l-ta‘ẓīm
Hemīşe ṣadr-ı kirām ol olup sa‘ādetle
Serīr-i ‘izzet ü ṣadr-ı riyāset üzre muḳīm
Müyesser ide müyessir budur murādum kim
Cihānda ni‘met-i ‘uẓmā vü āḫiretde na‘īm

In English

1. Does sound reason not firmly believe these proofs, that one becomes worthy of reverence only through knowledge and merit.

2. What perfect honour it is for the people of knowledge in the world, that the All-Knowing God deems their name worthy of Himself. ("‘Ālim", scholar, is from the same root as God's attribute "‘Alīm", All-Knowing.)

3. Whoever lights the eyes of reason with the light of knowledge sees and understands all the truths of things.

4. Through the manner of ignorance a man becomes low and base; through perfection and knowledge a human being becomes honoured and great.

5. The orphan is he who is deprived of knowledge and merit; do not call him an orphan who has no father in the world.

6. Strive to be healthy through the sherbet of knowledge; beware, beware of remaining sick with the disease of ignorance.

7. Since we know that no one without perfection has found worth in the world, now you too become worthy of honour by acquiring perfection.

8. Since knowledge is an obligation, and this is a sound hadith, beware of abandoning it through ignorance and becoming a sinner. (There is a pointer to the hadith "Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim".)

9. True, knowledge is precious in every respect; but above all the knowledge called "noble knowledge" is firm and strong.

10. What greater fortune could there be for a man than to be one who knows the secret of the word of the Living and Eternal God.

11. What grace and glory have been given to this knowledge, that whoever is learned in it has become worthy of the garden of paradise.

12. If you ask me, "Who in the world now is that man of noble glory who is both learned and practising in this knowledge",

13. (he is) the unique one of the age, the only one of the time, the most learned of men; in the sciences of merit he has no like or equal.

14. The joy of knowledge in the world is Efendi Hᵛâce-i Şân, who among the great scholars of the age is the most worthy of reverence.

15. Inwardly he is a perfect spiritual guide through the perfection of mystical unveiling; outwardly he is a great imam through the sciences of merit.

16. Through the sciences of wisdom he is the most learned of the world; it would be fitting if a hundred thousand sages were his students.

17. Truly he is the Messiah of the age; if his life-giving speech turned to rotten bones, they would come to life. (Jesus is told to have raised the dead.)

18. Today in the world he has become a banner through the banner of knowledge; is it any wonder if that learned man is the most learned of the learned.

19. Beside his eminence the low sphere is low; beside his generosity and aspiration both mine and sea are miserly.

20. If the breeze learned from him how to nurture and raise, spring would last long in the world and autumn would never come.

21. If the alif tried to liken itself to his thought, its stature would bend in the world like the curve of the letter jim. (The letter alif is a straight stroke, the letter jim a curved one.)

22. Truly you are that generous one in whom useful sciences, good character and grace extended to all are gathered.

23. The eye of the sun is lined with kohl from the dust of your road, and the brow of the moon in the sky is branded with the mark of your love.

24. If Abu Ali (Avicenna), the father of knowledge, came to study with you, it would be fitting if you taught him the alphabet like a child.

25. Had the breeze of your grace not breathed the spirit, it would be fitting to call the Mary of the world barren. (There is an allusion to the breathing of the spirit into Mary and the birth of Jesus.)

26. If the breeze of your grace passed over hell, the fire of the abode of hell would become equal to the light of the bliss of paradise.

27. The All-Knowing and Flawless God has granted your threshold the ornament of knowledge and the robe of knowledge.

28. How am I to praise you, when even if I wrote on the page of the heavens it would not be finished until the Day of Resurrection.

29. Even if every hair-tip of my body became a speaking tongue until the Resurrection, not a hair-tip of your qualities could be told.

30. Fazlî's desire is to be your disciple and your lover; the only gift in his hand is will and surrender.

31. Is it any wonder if, like an understanding man of worth and substance whose jewels are pearls, he offers the pearl of mystical knowledge to your presence.

32. True, his nature has grown weak, but there is a subtle meaning and a fitting word in his speech. (The meaning of the phrase "lafẓ-ı cīm" at the end of the line is not clear.)

33. As long as scholars are the noblest of men through knowledge, as long as the people are worthy of reverence through merit,

34. may he ever be, with felicity, the head of the generous, and remain on the throne of glory and the seat of leadership.

35. My desire is this: that the One who makes things easy (God) grant him great bounty in this world and the bliss of paradise in the next.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of praise of thirty-five couplets (beyit) and the last of Fazlî's kasides in Özkat's edition. The metre is the "mefā‘ilün fe‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün" pattern of the müctes family. The rhyme is the sound "-īm" (selīm, ta‘ẓīm, ‘alīm, fehīm, ‘aẓīm, yetīm...); there is no redif (refrain word). It has no title. The first eleven couplets form an opening section (nesib) on the value of knowledge; in couplet 12 the poet asks "who is the master of this knowledge" and passes to the praise, and the patron is named in couplet 14 as "Efendi Ḫᵛāce-i Şān". The pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 30; 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. 121a). A hadith connected with the eighth couplet is written in the margin of the manuscript; Özkat translates it as "the orphan is the orphan of knowledge and good conduct". "[ki]" in couplet 33 is a completion made in the edition.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The nesib of the kaside is a praise of knowledge. Fazlî describes knowledge as a light, a sherbet, an honour, and counts ignorance a disease and a baseness. Özkat mentions couplets 4 and 5 in two places as showing the value Fazlî gave to knowledge: a man becomes base through ignorance and honoured through knowledge; the true orphan is not the fatherless but the one deprived of knowledge and merit. The frequent use of the words "knowledge" and "fażl" (merit) in these couplets is also connected with the poet's pen name. Couplet 8 points to the hadith "Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim"; in couplet 10 knowing the secret of God's word is shown to be the highest knowledge.

In the section of praise the figure of derivation (iştikak) is prominent: in couplet 18 the words "‘alem" (banner), "‘ilm" (knowledge), "a‘lem" (most learned), "‘ālim" (learned) and "‘alīm" (knowing), derived from the same root, are used together. The patron is master of both the outward and the inward sciences: inwardly a perfect spiritual guide through mystical unveiling, outwardly a great imam (couplet 15). In couplet 17, in saying that his speech would bring rotten bones to life, there is an allusion to Jesus, and in couplet 25 to the breathing of the spirit into Mary. Couplet 21 uses an image of letters: even the straight alif, if it tried to liken itself to his thought, would bend like the letter jim. Teaching Avicenna the alphabet like a child before him, in couplet 24, is a hyperbole showing the greatness of the patron's learning.

Couplet 30 is the key to the kaside. Here Fazlî says that he wishes to be the patron's "disciple and lover" and that the only gift in his hand is "will and surrender". The words "murād" (desire), "mürīd" (disciple) and "irādet" (will) come from the same root and are terms of Sufism describing the bond between sheikh and disciple. This couplet shows plainly that the kaside was presented to the sheikh of a Sufi order. In couplet 32 the poet says that his nature has grown weak; this suggests that the kaside was written in the poet's later years.

Historical Context

According to Özkat, the Hᵛâce-i Şân praised in the kaside as a great scholar and mystic must be Sheikh Zarîfî Hasan Efendi, a member of the Gülşenî branch of the Halveti order and the architect of Fazlî's inner world. It is known that Kara Fazlî inclined to Sufism and became attached to Hasan Zarîfî Efendi, one of the Gülşenî sheikhs. According to the information Özkat gives, Zarîfî Hasan Efendi was born in Siroz (Serres) in 882 (1477); at first a student of Kemalpaşazade, he became attached to Sheikh Pîrî Efendi, met İbrahim Gülşenî in Cairo and joined his circle, and on returning to Istanbul became head of a lodge in Rumelihisarı. When İbrahim Gülşenî came to Istanbul in 935 (1528/29), he chose him as his deputy (halife). He died in 977 (1569/70) or 984 (1576), and his tomb is in Rumelihisarı. This identification is a conjecture; the sheikh's real name does not appear in the kaside.

Bibliography

Online sources