Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Mefā‘ilün Fe‘ilātün Mefā‘ilün Fe‘ilün
Ḥarām olur şütür-i cāne çünki ḥücre-i ten
Bu köhne ḥücreyi ḳılma şütür gibi mesken
Bu ḥücreden çoḳ olup ‘ışḳ üştürine süvār
Şütür revān u degül ḥücre çünki cāy-ı vaṭan
Çeker çü ḥücre-i gövdesini ecel şütüri
Bu ḥücrede şütürüñ baġlama degül me’men
Mezār ḥücresin añ besleme tenüñ çü şütür
Ki ḥücre tīre vü teng ü şütürdür ābisten
Pür oldı ḥücre-i ḳalbüñ hevā-yı esb ü şütür
Şütür misin ne çekersin bu ḥücre bārını sen
Şütür gibi şuña baġlandı ḥücre-i dehre
Degül o maḥrem-i ḥücre beterdür üştürden
Döner aña k’üreye bām-ı ḥücrede üştür
Bu ḥücreden şütür-i mihr ü luṭf ümīdin iden
Baña ne üştür-i gerdūn gerek ne ḥücre-i ḫāk
Çü baġladum şütür-i ‘ışḳa raḫt-ı ḥücreyi ben
Pey it hevā şütürin nefs ḥücresin oda yaḳ
Ki mestdür şütür ü ḥücre cāy-ı şūr u fiten
Ṣaḳın ki ḥücre-i dilden çıḳar ṣafā şütüri
Ki ḥücre ḫālī şütür mest ü düzd-i pīrāhen
Bu ḥücre bārın igen urma üştür-i cāne
Ki raḫt-ı ḥücre girān ü şütür ża‘īf beden
Ṭurur mı ḥücre-i taḳvāda hīç üştür-i nefs
Ki ḥücre bār u şütür mest ü pāre-kerde resen
Meger mehāre çeke ḥücresinde hem-çü şütür
Muḳīm-i ḥücre-i Ka‘be şütür-süvār-ı Yemen
Şütür şütür keremi ḥücre ḥücre irdi anuñ
Pür eyledi şütür ü ḥücresini ḫalḳ-ı zemen
Ne vaṣf idem şütür ü ḥücresin ki olmışdur
O ḥücrenüñ çü şütür-mesti ḫalḳ-ı rab‘ u dimen
Olur mı maḥremi ol ḥücrenüñ her üştür-i dil
Ki ḥücre pāk u şütür hem-çü ḫar mülevves̱ ten
Ṭaġıtdı ḥücresin ü ṣaldı üştürin ki ola
Ḳarīn o ḥücre-i ḫaṣṣa şütür-süvār-ı ḳıran
Şütür-dilān iremez ḥücresine gezse eger
Cihānı hem-çü şütür ḥücre ḥücre ‘āmmeten
İrişdi ḥücresine çün Burāḳ hem-çü şütür
Bu ḥücreden şütüri ṭaşra oldı sāye-figen
Bir anda ḳıldı ṭoḳuz ḥücreden şütür birden
Ki ḥücre teng ü şütür hem-çü bād-pā tevsen
Bu ḥücrede meh ü mihr anuñ üştüri izidür
Derūn-ı ḥücrede oldı çün üştüri pā[y]-zen
Ne ḥücreye ki ḳadem baṣsa yümn ile şütüri
Pey-i şütürden olur ḥücre-i ġayret gülşen
Ne ḥücreye ki ḳadem baṣsa üştüri pür olur
Ḳamu şütür ne şütür cümle ḥücre müşk-i Ḫoten
Tek eylesün şütüri meyl-i ḥücreme ḳılayın
Derūn-ı ḥücremi ḫār-ı şütürle pür sūzen
Çekerse ḥücresi semtine raḫtum üştür-i mevt
Şütür Burāḳ ola ḥücre cinān u ḥulle kefen
Ne raḫt-ı ḥücre ne bār-ı şütür gerek besdür
Pelās-ı ḥücre vü cell-i şütür çü pīrāhen
Olup durur şütür ü ḥücresin ṣıyānet içün
Sütūn-ı ḥücre çü tīr ü pey-i şütür çü mecenn
Eriye ger şütür ü ḥücresin añup idem āh
Olursa ḥücre derā-yı şütür gibi āhen
Şu resmedür şütür-i ḳadri kim bu nüh ḥücre
Ne ḥücre zeng-i şütür olsa ger aña emken
Naṣīb olup şütür-i ḥücre-keş eger bir gün
Çekerse ḥücresi semtine üştürüm ẕū’l-men
Maḥaffe püşt-i şütürde olursa ḥücrem olur
Çü ser ü pā-yı şütür ḥücre hem-çü ṣaḥn-ı çemen
O ḥücrede şütür üzre ger eyleyem nāle
Bu ḥücre güm güm ötüp eyleye şütür şīven
Kelīm olup şütür üstinde ḥücrede ḥādī
Şütür çü Ṭūr ola ḥücre çü Vādi-i Eymen
O ḥücrede şütür üzre dür ola çeşmüme reml
Be-ḥaḳḳ-ı ḥücre vü üştür beriyye baḥr-i ‘Aden
O baḥr-i remle sefer ḳılsa ḥücre-keş şütürüm
Ola çü fülk baña ḥücre vü şütür yelken
Ne ḥücreden ne şütürden ḫabīr olam oluben
O ḥücrede çü şütür mest şevḳ-i bī-meyden
O ḥücre-keş şütür üstinde bāġ-ı cennetden
Açıla çeşm-i şütür gibi ḥücreme revzen
Ne ḥücre vü ne şütür Ḥaḳ bilür ki baña olur
O ḥücre ḫuld-i nişān u şütür Burāḳ-ı sünen
Şütür gibi yüz urup ḥücre bābına çün olam
O ḥücrede şütür-i mest gibi bāz-meken
O ḥücrede şütür-i cānı itseler ḳurbān
Be-ḥaḳḳ-ı ḥücre şütür gibi çekmeyem gerden
Ṭavāf idüp ṭaraf-ı ḥücre-i şütür mānend
Ḳılam çü mest-i şütür raḳṣ gird-i ḥücrede ben
Ne ḥücrede ne şütürde sen olmasañ baña yār
O ḥücre baña olur çāh u ol şütür ören
Çü ġayr ola baña hem ḥücre hem mehār-ı şütür
Şütür çü kūh-ı belā ola ḥücre Beyt-i Ḥazen
Nice çekem şütür-i na‘tı ḥücre-i naẓma
Ki ḥücre teng ü şütür kūh-veş ‘aẓīm beden
Ne vaṣf idem şütür ü ḥücresini iy Fażlī
Verā-yı ‘arş aña ḥücre [vü] Refref üştür iken
O ḥücre vü şütürüñ ‘ışḳına hemān ol biñ
Ḫamūş olam çü şütür açmayam çü ḥücre dehen
Bülenddür bu şütür ḥücre gerçi pest olur
O ḥücre vü şütürüñ vaṣf u midḥatında süḫen
Ne ḥücredür bu ki ger olsa biñ şütür olımaz
Dür-i s̱emīn ne şütür bil hezār ḥücre s̱emen
Olınmaya şütür ü ḥücreme benüm ḳıymet
Şütür ḫazīne-keş ü ḥücreler olup maḫzen
Benüm benüm bu şütür ḥücre ḥürmeti şimdi
Şütür-süvār-ı ma‘ānī muḳīm-i ḥücre-i fen
Ma‘āni üştürini ḥücreme ḳaṭār ḳaṭār
Çeküp benüm bu şütür ḥücre ile mīr-i süḫen
Şütür ḳadar hünerüm ‘ankebūt-ı ḥücre degül
Olana hem-çü şütür ḥücre gīr-i sū’iẓẓan
Görimeye şütür ü ḥücremi ḥasūd benüm
Ḳalursa şaḥm-ı şütür bula ḥücresin rūşen
Görürse ger bu şütür ḥücreyi ḥasūd-ı ‘anūd
Çü ḥücre teng-i dil ü çün şütür olur kef-zen
İrişmese şütür ü ḥücreñ iy Resūl-i Ḫudā
Meded baña bu şütür ḥücre bulmaz-idi düzen
Hemīşe tā şütür ü ḥücreñ ideler tavṣīf
Şütür-dilān zemīn ḥücre-dār cümle zemen
Çü ḥücre vü şütürüñ vaṣfıdur müşerref ide
Bu ḥücre vü şütüri iltifāt-ı ehl-i faṭan
In English
1. Since the cell of the body is forbidden to the camel of the soul, do not make this old cell your dwelling like a camel. (The soul is likened to a camel that must set out on the road, the body to a room that holds it back.)
2. Many have left this cell mounted on the camel of love; for the camel is a traveller, and the cell is not one's homeland.
3. Since the camel of death drags away the cell of the body, it is not safe to tether your camel in this cell.
4. Remember the cell of the grave, do not fatten your body like a camel; for that cell is dark and narrow, and the camel is laden.
5. The cell of your heart is full of longing for horse and camel, that is, of greed for possessions; are you a camel, that you carry the load of this cell?
6. He who is tethered like a camel to the cell of the world is no intimate of that cell; he is worse than a camel.
7. Whoever hopes for the camel of love and kindness from this cell is like one who looks for a camel on the roof of the cell. (The line is obscure; it appears to point to expecting the impossible.)
8. I need neither the camel of the sky nor the cell of earth, for I have loaded the goods of the cell onto the camel of love.
9. Hamstring the camel of desire, set fire to the cell of the self; for the camel is drunk, and the cell is a place of quarrel and strife.
10. Beware, the camel of joy leaves the cell of the heart; for the cell is empty, the camel drunk and a thief of shirts.
11. Do not lay too much of this cell's load on the camel of the soul; for the goods of the cell are heavy and the camel's body is weak.
12. Does the camel of the self ever stay still in the cell of piety? The cell is a burden, the camel drunk, and the halter torn to pieces.
13. Only if the dweller in the cell of the Kaaba, the camel rider of Yemen, that is, the Prophet, leads it like a camel by its halter to his own cell will it grow calm.
14. His bounty arrived camel by camel, cell by cell; it filled both the camel and the cell of the people of the age.
15. How shall I describe his camel and his cell, when the people of the tents and the dwellings have become drunk, like camels, with that cell?
16. Can every camel of a heart become an intimate of that cell? For the cell is pure, and the camel's body is filthy like a donkey's.
17. He scattered his cell and let loose his camel so that he might be a camel rider who keeps company with that elect cell. (The couplet is obscure; the lover who leaves his worldly cell and camel to keep company with the Prophet's cell may be meant.)
18. Those with camel-like hearts cannot reach his cell, even if they roam the whole world cell by cell like camels.
19. When Burak came like a camel to his cell, his mount cast a shadow beyond the cell of this world. (The night of the Ascension is alluded to; Burak is the mount the Prophet rode that night.)
20. In a moment he passed with his mount through the nine cells, that is, the nine heavens, all at once; for the cell was narrow, and his mount was like a wind-footed horse.
21. In this cell, that is, the sky, the moon and the sun are the hoofprints of his mount, for his mount set foot within the cell.
22. Whatever cell his mount blessedly sets foot in becomes, from the camel's footprint, a rose garden to be envied.
23. Whatever cell his mount sets foot in, the whole camel, no, not the camel, the whole cell is filled with the musk of Khotan. (Khotan is a city of Central Asia famed for its musk.)
24. Let his camel but once turn towards my cell, and I will fill the inside of my cell, needle by needle, with camel thorn. (Camel thorn is the fodder camels love.)
25. If the camel of death drags my belongings towards his cell, the camel becomes Burak, the cell paradise and the shroud a robe of paradise.
26. I need neither the goods of a cell nor the load of a camel; the rug of the cell and the camel's saddle cloth suffice me as a shirt.
27. To guard his camel and his cell, the post of the cell has become like an arrow and the camel's footprint like a shield.
28. If I sighed remembering his camel and his cell, the cell and the camel would melt, even if they were of iron like a camel bell.
29. Such is the camel of his worth that these nine cells, that is, the nine heavens, could not even be a cell for it; they might at most become a camel bell. (The couplet is obscure; the meaning has been conjectured in this direction.)
30. If one day a cell-bearing camel is granted me and God, Lord of Grace, draws my camel towards his cell,
31. If the litter on the camel's back becomes my cell, then every part of the camel from head to foot becomes for me a courtyard of green meadow. (The litter, mahfe, is a small room-like carriage set on a camel's back, in which travellers ride.)
32. If I moaned in that cell on the camel's back, this cell would resound and the camel would cry out.
33. If I were a camel driver like Moses in that cell on the camel's back, the camel would be Mount Sinai and the cell the valley of Eymen. (Moses heard the voice of God in the valley of Eymen beside Mount Sinai.)
34. In that cell on the camel's back the sand of the desert becomes pearls to my eye; by the right of cell and camel, the desert becomes the sea of Aden, famed for its pearls.
35. Were my cell-bearing camel to journey through that sea of sand, the cell would be a ship to me and the camel its sail.
36. In that cell, drunk like a camel with a longing that needs no wine, I would have no awareness of cell or camel.
37. On that cell-bearing camel a window would open to my cell from the garden of paradise, like the camel's eye.
38. God knows that cell and camel would be no ordinary cell and camel to me; that cell would be the token of paradise and the camel Burak. (The phrase "Burāḳ-ı sünen" is not entirely clear.)
39. When I rub my face like a camel at the door of that cell, may I be like a drunken camel in that cell. (The phrase "bāz-meken" in the second line is not clear.)
40. Were they to sacrifice the camel of my soul in that cell, by the right of the cell I would not pull my neck away like a camel, that is, I would not resist.
41. I would circle the cell like a camel and play, turning round the cell like a drunken camel.
42. O beloved, if you were not my companion in that cell and on that camel, the cell would be a well to me and the camel a ruin.
43. If both the cell and the camel's halter were strange to me, the camel would be a mountain of affliction and the cell the house of sorrow. (The house of sorrow is the name of the house in which Jacob wept for Joseph.)
44. How shall I draw the camel of the na't into the cell of verse, when the cell is narrow and the camel's body as large as a mountain?
45. Fazlî, how shall I describe his camel and his cell, when the realm beyond the Throne of God is his cell and Refref his camel? (Refref is the mount believed to have carried the Prophet during the Ascension.)
46. For love of that cell and camel let me fall silent at once like a camel and not open my mouth like a cell.
47. This camel and cell, that is, this poem, is lofty; yet in the description and praise of that cell and camel speech falls low.
48. What kind of cell is this, whose worth not even a thousand camel loads could equal? Know the precious pearl to be worth not one camel load but a thousand cellfuls.
49. No price can be put on my camel and my cell; the camel carries treasure, and the cells become treasuries.
50. Now the honour of this camel and cell is mine, mine; I am the camel rider of meanings and the dweller in the cell of art.
51. It is I who draw the camels of meaning into my cell caravan by caravan, and who am the lord of speech with this camel and cell.
52. My skill is as great as a camel, not like the spider in the cell; this I say to one who, camel-like, harbours suspicion towards the cell. (The couplet is obscure; the meaning has been conjectured in this direction.)
53. Let the envious not see my camel and my cell; if any camel fat is left, let him light his cell with it. (The couplet is obscure; the second line may allude to a lamp burning camel fat.)
54. If the stubborn envier sees this camel and cell, his heart grows narrow like a cell and he foams at the mouth like a camel.
55. O Messenger of God, had your camel and your cell not come to my aid, help, this camel and cell, that is, this kaside, would not have found its order.
56. As long as they describe your camel and your cell forever, may those with camel-like hearts make the earth and all time their cell. (The second line is obscure.)
57. May the favour of the people of intelligence honour this cell and camel, which is the description of your cell and your camel.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a kaside (qasida) of fifty-seven couplets (beyit). The metre is the "mefā‘ilün fe‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün" pattern of the müctes family; the rhyme is the sound "-en": ten, mesken, vaṭan, me'men, ābisten and the same sound in the following couplets. The pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 45. Its title is "Ḳaṣīde-i Şütür ü Ḥücre-i Fażlī fī na‘ti'n-Nebī ṣalla'llāhu ‘aleyhi ve sellem", Fazlî's kaside of the camel and the cell in praise of the Prophet. According to Mustafa Özkat, this is Fazlî's third na't. Every line of the kaside contains the words "şütür" (camel) and "ḥücre" (cell, room); these two words are kept up throughout the poem as a repetition as binding as a rhyme. 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 as the fifth kaside of the divan. The poem is found without a title in miscellany no. 314 of the Âşir Efendi collection of the Süleymaniye Library (fol. 81a) and with its title in miscellany no. 1966 of the Revan collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 140b). Couplet 22 is missing from the Revan copy; Özkat notes that the metre of its second line is faulty. The suffixes in square brackets in couplets 21 and 45 are completions made in the edition.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
Özkat says that in this kaside, which lends itself to commentary and was written with mystical ideas, concepts such as the soul, death, desire, love, the sky, passion, joy and Burak are likened from various angles to the camel, and concepts such as the body, the trunk, the grave, the heart, the world, the roof, the earth, belongings, the self, the heart and the shroud to the cell, and that in this way the idea of escaping from the world of multiplicity and attaining unity is worked out. The first twelve couplets of the kaside are in this tone of counsel: the body is a narrow cell for the camel of the soul, the camel of death will drag it away, the cell of the grave is dark, the camel of desire must be hamstrung and the cell of the self burned. The fifth couplet says that the cell of the heart is filled "with longing for horse and camel"; Özkat quotes this couplet and the fourth as examples of the poet's verbal craftsmanship.
From couplet 13 onwards the camel and the cell are linked to the Prophet, and the poem turns into a na't. The Prophet is "the dweller in the cell of the Kaaba"; his cell is pure, and no coarse heart can reach it. Couplets 19-23 tell of the Ascension: Burak comes to his cell, he passes in a moment through nine cells, that is, the nine heavens, and the moon and the sun become the hoofprints of his mount. In couplet 25 death too is met with the same images: if the camel of death drags the poet's belongings towards his cell, the camel becomes Burak, the cell paradise and the shroud a robe of paradise. In couplets 30-43 the poet imagines travelling to the Prophet's cell in a litter on a camel's back; the desert becomes the sea of Aden, the litter a ship and the camel its sail. Özkat gives the word "ören" (ruin) in couplet 42 as an example of old Turkish words that continued to live in the poet's language.
The language of the kaside is deliberately demanding. Using the same two words in every line for fifty-seven couplets has made the syntax of some couplets obscure; in the rendering of these couplets the uncertainty has been indicated separately. Couplets 44-54 are a fahriye: the poet describes the difficulty of fitting the camel of the na't into the cell of verse, then praises himself as "the camel rider of meanings" and "the lord of speech", and says that the envious will grow narrow of heart on seeing this camel and cell. In the last three couplets the kaside itself is called "this camel and cell", and it is said to have found its order through the Prophet's help.
Özkat notes that in the Revan miscellany containing the kaside, Fazlî's kaside is followed immediately by kasides in the same manner by Âgehî (d. 1577) and Kâmî (d. 1579); Âgehî's has 33 couplets and Kâmî's 30. The miscellany does not state which is a nazire (response poem) to which; but Özkat, on the grounds that Fazlî's kaside is recorded before the others and is longer, thinks that it is the original and the others are nazires.
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. 134-138, kaside no. 5 (Süleymaniye Library, Âşir Efendi 314, fol. 81a; Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Revan 1966, fol. 140b); also p. 49 (on the kasides), p. 70 (verbal craftsmanship), pp. 101-102 (nazires) and pp. 105-106 (old Turkish words), 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
