Kara Fazlî, Kıt'a 3: Health Becomes You, My Sultan

Kara Fazlî's kıt'a wishing health to a sick youth with the refrain "yaraşur sulṭānum", possibly written, Özkat suggests, during Prince Mehmed's last illness.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḥamdü-lillāh ki Ḫudā ḳıldı müyesser ḥüccet
Sālim ol saña selāmet yaraşur sulṭānum

Bī-ḥużūr olma cihānda elem-i ‘ārifeden
Rūḥsın rūḥa çü rāḥat yaraşur sulṭānum

Sensin el-ḥaḳ kerem ü ‘izz ü şeref bürhānı
Saña her vech ile ṣıḥḥat yaraşur sulṭānum

Sen saḳīm olma çü iḳbāl ü şeref nüsḫasısın
Senüñ a‘dā’ña saḳāmet yaraşur sulṭānum

Teb ü tāb ile ne lāzım bedenüñ ola ża‘īf
Nev-cüvānsın saña ḳuvvet yaraşur sulṭānum

Luṭf ile ṭur yıḳa rū tīr-i vebālini gider
Ṣadra geç saña ṣadāret yaraşur sulṭānum

Gice gündüz bu durur saña du‘āmuz ṣaġ ol
Ṣaġlıḳ saña be-ġāyet yaraşur sulṭānum

Ḥaḳ ‘ināyet ide bir daḫı saḳīm olmayasın
Ḥażret-i Ḥaḳḳ’a ‘ināyet yaraşur sulṭānum

Ola Fażlī’nüñ umarum ki du‘āsı maḳbūl
Ki du‘āsına icābet yaraşur sulṭānum

In English

1. Praise be to God that the Lord has granted a means; be well, for well-being becomes you, my sultan. (The word "ḥüccet" in the first line means proof or document; what it refers to here is not clear, and it may be understood as a sign or means of recovery.)

2. Do not be troubled in the world by the pain of this affliction; you are the soul, and repose becomes the soul, my sultan. (The word "‘ārife" in the text is obscure in this context; the sense suggests the reading "‘āriże", an ailment that befalls a person. This is a conjecture.)

3. You are truly the proof of generosity, honour and nobility; health in every respect becomes you, my sultan.

4. Since you are the very copy of good fortune and nobility, do not be ill; illness becomes your enemies, my sultan.

5. What need is there for your body to grow weak from fever and heat? You are a fresh youth; strength becomes you, my sultan.

6. Graciously rise, wash your face, drive away the arrow of affliction; take the seat of honour, for the highest office becomes you, my sultan. (The structure of the first line is obscure; "yıḳa rū" has been understood here as "wash your face".)

7. Night and day this is our prayer for you: be well; health becomes you exceedingly, my sultan.

8. May God grant His help, so that you may never be ill again; to grant help and favour becomes the Lord, my sultan.

9. I hope Fazlî's prayer will be accepted, for it becomes his prayer to be answered, my sultan.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a kıt'a (fragment) of nine couplets (beyit). The second lines of all the couplets have the redif (refrain word) "yaraşur sulṭānum" (becomes you, my sultan); the rhymes are words ending in -et and -at such as selāmet, rāḥat, ṣıḥḥat, saḳāmet, ḳuvvet and ṣadāret. Özkat counts it among the kıt'as whose redif is a phrase. The metre is "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün" of the remel family. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The kıt'a is found only in the Fazlî divan section of the miscellany in the Hazine collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (fol. 230a).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The kıt'a is a get-well wish and a prayer for healing addressed to a great personage lying ill. Each couplet tells him that something becomes him: well-being, repose, health, strength, high office. Illness becomes only his enemies. In the fourth couplet "saḳīm" (ill) and "saḳāmet" (illness) come from the same root. The word "nüsḫa" is used in the sense of copy or exemplar; since the word also means amulet and prescription, a second sense can be felt in the context of illness, and this interpretation is our own. In the sixth couplet "ṣadr" (seat of honour) and "ṣadāret" (highest office) come from the same root. In the eighth couplet the word "‘ināyet" (help, favour) is repeated in both lines and gives weight to the prayer. The address "sulṭānum" in the redif carries love and respect together throughout the poem.

Historical Context

The name of the person addressed in the kıt'a is not given. Özkat states, on the strength of the title "sultan", that it was written for a high personage, and, from the phrase "nev-cüvānsın" (you are a fresh youth) in the fifth couplet, that it is very probably addressed to Prince (Şehzade) Mehmed, who died young, during his illness. According to Özkat, Fazlî was the divan secretary of Süleyman the Magnificent's son Mehmed while the prince was governor of the sancak of Manisa. The prince was appointed to Manisa in 949 (1542) and died young on 8 Şaban 950 (6 November 1543); Özkat gives smallpox as the cause of death. Fazlî was deeply grieved by this death and wrote elegies for the prince. If Özkat's conjecture is correct, the kıt'a must have been written in 1543 in Manisa; this conclusion is our own inference, and there is no definite record in the source.

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. 376-377, kıt'a no. 3 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 230a); also p. 6 (Prince Mehmed's circle), pp. 17-19 (Fazlî's post as divan secretary), p. 65 (on the kıt'as) and p. 69 (redif), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources