Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ūlü Mefā‘īlü Mefā‘īlü Fe‘ūlün

İy ẕāt-ı şerīfüñ sebeb-i fıṭrat-ādem
V’ey Ka‘be yüzüñ ḳıble-i ser-cümle-i ‘ālem
Ḫāk-ı der-i luṭfuñla ḳamu dīde mukaḥḥal
Dāġ-ı ġam-ı ‘ışḳuñla ḳamu çihre müvessem
Ẕātuñla idüp faḫr senüñ cümle nebīler
İy milk-i nübüvvetde olan şāh-ı mükerrem
Her mücrime kim sen idesin luṭf u ‘ināyet
Cismine ḥarām ola anuñ nār-ı cehennem
Menzil-gehi olmazdı anuñ ṭārem-i çārum
Olmasa saña ümmet eger ‘Īsi-yi Meryem
Bir ẕerre cemālüñden eger düşmese pertev
Olmazdı żiyā-baḫş-ı cihān neyyīr-i a‘ẓam
Kendüye senüñ sünnetüñi farż ide her kim
Dünyāda vü ‘uḳbāda daḫı görmeye ol ġam
Bū Cehl saña eylemedüğiyçün itā‘at
Bu cehl iki ‘ālemde anı eyledi mülzem
Derdüñ gibi dil-ḫastelere yoḳ daḫı dermān
Zaḫmuñ gibi mecrūḥlara hem daḫı merhem
Luṭfuñ yeli terbiyyet eger eylemeyeydi
Gül-zār-ı cihān olmaz idi gül gibi ḫürrem
Anuñ tenine ola ḥarām āteş-i dūzaḫ
Kim olsa ḥarīm-i ḥarem-i luṭfuña maḥrem
Sensin bugün ol server-i a‘lā ki ider faḫr
Ḳapuñda ḳul olmaġ ile şāhān-ı mükerrem
Fażlī’ye umaram ki şefā‘at ire senden
Şol demde ki maḥşer ola mīzān ḳurula hem
Uzatma kelāmuñı yeter muḫtaṣar eyle
Olmaz ki anuñ medḥine pāyān bula ādem
Ḫatm eyle sözüñ eyleyüben cān u göñülden
Ṣad-bār selām āline aṣḥābına her-dem

In English

1. O Prophet, whose noble person was the cause of Adam's creation; O you whose face, like the Kaaba, is the direction of prayer for all the world.

2. Every eye is lined with kohl from the dust of the door of your grace; every face is branded with the wound of grief for love of you.

3. O generous king of the realm of prophethood, all the prophets take pride in your person.

4. For every sinner to whom you show grace and favour, the fire of hell becomes forbidden to his body.

5. Had Jesus son of Mary not been of your community, the fourth heaven would not have been his abode. (Jesus is believed to have been raised to the fourth heaven.)

6. Had not a mote of light fallen from your beauty, the greatest source of light, the sun, would not have bestowed light upon the world.

7. Whoever takes your custom (sunna) as a duty upon himself will see no grief either in this world or in the hereafter.

8. Because Abu Jahl did not obey you, this ignorance condemned him in both worlds. (The line plays on "Bū Cehl", Abu Jahl, and "bu cehl", this ignorance.)

9. For the heartsick there is no remedy like the pain of you, for the wounded no salve like the wound you give.

10. Had the breeze of your grace not nurtured it, the rose garden of the world would not have been as joyful as a rose.

11. May the fire of hell be forbidden to the body of whoever becomes an intimate of the sanctuary of your grace.

12. Today you are that lofty leader at whose door noble kings take pride in being servants.

13. I hope that intercession will reach Fazlî from you on that day when the Last Judgement is held and the scales are set up.

14. Do not prolong your words, cut them short, for no man can reach the end of his praise.

15. End your words with heart and soul by sending greetings a hundred times, forever, to his family and companions.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kaside (qasida) of fifteen couplets (beyit). The metre is the "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün" pattern of the hezec family; the rhyme is the sound "-em": ‘ālem, müvessem, mükerrem, cehennem, Meryem, a‘ẓam and the same sound in the following couplets. The pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 13. Its title is "Na‘t-ı diger ‘aleyhi's-selām", that is, "another na't for the Prophet". According to Mustafa Özkat, this second na't too has no introductory section (nesib), and the poet passes directly to praise. To whom and when it was presented is not known; as a religious kaside it was not presented to a particular person.

Özkat publishes the kaside from miscellany no. 1966 of the Revan collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 138b); no other copy of the poem is known. The word "menzil-gehi" in the fifth couplet is mistakenly written in the manuscript in a way that could be read "menzil-heki".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first couplet of the kaside rests on the belief that the existence of the Prophet is the cause of creation: Adam was created for his sake, and his face, like the Kaaba, is the direction of prayer for the whole world. The comparison between the face and the Kaaba carries into the na't a motif also used in divan poetry for the face of the beloved. In the second couplet the words "mukaḥḥal" (lined with kohl) and "müvessem" (branded) bind the two lines together: every eye has made the dust of his door its kohl, every face is branded with the wound of love for him. Özkat records the phrase "der-i luṭf" in this couplet as an example of idioms meaning "the door of kindness".

Özkat notes that among the other prophets Fazlî most often names Jesus, Jacob and Joseph in his poems, and uses them as elements of comparison mainly through their miracles; he gives the fifth couplet of this kaside as an example: had Jesus not been of the Prophet's community, he could not have risen to the fourth heaven. In the sixth couplet the light of the sun is attributed to a mote falling from the Prophet's beauty; this is a hüsn-i talil, a poetic cause assigned to a natural phenomenon. In the eighth couplet there is a skilful pun (cinas) between "Bū Cehl" (Abu Jahl) and "bu cehl" (this ignorance): what condemned Abu Jahl, who did not obey the Prophet, in both worlds is the ignorance in his very name.

In the ninth couplet an antithesis is built between pain and remedy, wound and salve: the pain of the Prophet is a remedy, the wound he gives is a salve. In the fourth and eleventh couplets the same thought is repeated twice, in the words that the fire of hell will be forbidden to those who receive his grace. Özkat counts the expression "ḳul olmak" (to become a servant) in couplet 12 among the poet's idioms. The kaside closes with the poet telling himself in couplet 14 to cut his words short and with greetings to the Prophet's family and companions in couplet 15; this arrangement is the traditional ending of the na't.

Bibliography

Online sources