Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilün
Ḳanı ol devlet-i Dārā ḳanı Sāmāniyye
Ḳanı ol devlet-i Cemşīd ḳanı Sāsāniyye
Ḳanı ol devlet-i Żaḥḥāk ḳanı Ḫāḳāniyye
Ḳanı Tübba‘ ḳanı Mebba‘ (?) ḳanı Süfyāniyye
İdelim bunda ṣafālar bu cihān fāniyye
Gel e şāhım idelim ‘azm-i Süleymāniyye
Gel e ey ṭıfl-ı laṭīf ü ḥased-efzā-yı melek
Gel e ey dürr-i laṭīf-i ṣadef-i çarḫ-ı felek
Saña bu şehr-i Sitanbūlı gerekdir gezmek
Ṣaġ u ṣol ‘āşıḳ-ı āvāreleri seyr iderek
Ṣalınup şīve vü nāz ile Vefāyı gezerek
Gel e şāhım idelim ‘azm-i Süleymāniyye
Ne belāsın seniñ içün ne bu vā-veylālar
Geldi ādem olanıñ başına hep sevdālar
Ṭoldı dīvāne-i ‘aşḳıñla bütün dünyālar
Ṣıġamaz oldı tīmār-ḫānelere şeydālar
Gör güzel gözleriñ ile ne bu istiġnālar
Gel e şāhım idelim ‘azm-i Süleymāniyye
Anda vardır ẓurefā mecma‘ı bir ḫūb çarşu
Oṭurup anda biraz eglenelim ey meh-rū
İçelim ḳahve gümüş nārgileden tenbākū
Bulunur ḫiẕmete lāyıḳ niçe şūḫ-ı dil-cū
Hele Allāh[ı] severseñ dime ṣaḳın şu bu
Gel e şāhım idelim ‘azm-i Süleymāniyye
Sū-be-sū geşt idelim lücce-i ‘ummānı gör
Vāżıḥıñ çeşmine beñzer mi şādırvānı gör
Ḳameriyye_altını gez ravża-i Rıżvānı gör
Türbe-i Ḥażret-i Sulṭān Süleymānı gör
Bī-beḳādır bu felek gerdiş-i devrānı gör
Gel e şāhım idelim ‘azm-i Süleymāniyye
In English
1. Where is the state of Darius, where are the Samanids; where is the state of Jamshid, where are the Sasanians; where is the state of Zahhak, where are the Khaqanids; where is Tubba‘, where Mebba‘ (reading uncertain), where are the Sufyanids. This world is perishable; let us enjoy ourselves here. Come, my king, let us set out for the Süleymaniye.
2. Come, O delicate child who makes the angels envious; come, O fine pearl in the shell of the wheel of heaven. You ought to tour this city of Istanbul, watching the wandering lovers on the right and the left, strolling through Vefa with coquetry and grace. Come, my king, let us set out for the Süleymaniye.
3. What a calamity you are, what are all these laments for you; love's passions have always come upon anyone worthy of the name. The whole world is full of madmen of your love; the love-crazed no longer fit into the asylums. Look, with your beautiful eyes, what is all this aloofness. Come, my king, let us set out for the Süleymaniye.
4. There is a fine market there where the wits gather. O moon-face, let us sit there and amuse ourselves a while; let us drink coffee and smoke tobacco from a silver nargile. Many charming young men fit for service are found there. For God's sake, do not say this or that. Come, my king, let us set out for the Süleymaniye.
5. Let us wander everywhere; see the depth of the ocean; see whether the fountain resembles Vâzıh's eye. Walk beneath the arbour (kameriye), see the garden of Paradise; see the tomb of His Majesty Sultan Süleyman. This firmament does not last; see the turning of time. Come, my king, let us set out for the Süleymaniye.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
This is the fourth poem in the musammat section of the Dîvânçe. It has five six-line stanzas in the remel pattern "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". The first five lines of each stanza rhyme with one another; the sixth, "Gel e şāhım idelim ‘azm-i Süleymāniyye" (Come, my king, let us set out for the Süleymaniye), is repeated unchanged in every stanza. The form looks like a müseddes with a refrain. Babaarslan does not name the form of this musammat separately; the name is ours. For "Tubba‘" in the first stanza Babaarslan notes that it is the people said in verse 37 of the sura al-Dukhan to have been destroyed; the following word "Mebba‘" is given with a question mark in the edition.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The poem opens with a series of "where is" questions listing the transience of ancient states: Darius, the Samanids, Jamshid, the Sasanians, Zahhak, the Khaqanids, Tubba‘, the Sufyanids. The series recalls that the world is perishable and becomes the reason for the invitation that follows: since the world is passing, let us enjoy ourselves. The later stanzas are the stops of an excursion in Istanbul. The beloved is taken through Vefa; in the market where the wits gather there is coffee and tobacco from a silver nargile; the fountain and the arbour are seen; finally the tomb of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent is visited. In the last stanza the tomb and the words "this firmament does not last" stand side by side, and the poem returns to the idea of transience with which it began. The line "see whether the fountain resembles Vâzıh's eye" in the fifth stanza is a hyperbole comparing the poet's weeping eye to the flowing waters of the fountain.
Historical Context
The places of the poem are the Süleymaniye Mosque and its surroundings: the Vefa quarter, the mosque's fountain and Süleyman's tomb. Özçakmak writes that Vâzıh completed his higher education in Istanbul in the Süleymaniye madrasas in 1200 (1785-86). Babaarslan also relates that the poet spent some time in Istanbul for his studies and learned Latin there from a man called Isa of Galata. It is plausible that the poem was written in these student years, but this is a conjecture; the manuscript gives no date. The poem also offers a small picture of the daily life of late eighteenth-century Istanbul, its coffee, nargile and promenades, seen through the eyes of a madrasa student from Amasya.
Bibliography
Academic studies
- Giyasi Babaarslan, "Amasyalı Vâzıh ve Dîvânçesi", Akademik Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi, 5(4), 2021, pp. 1922-1984 (text of the poem: p. 1971; Mustafa Vâzıh, Dîvânçe, Ankara University, Department of Manuscripts, Mustafa Con A 495/III, fol. 71b-72a). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/akaded/article/993264
- Giyasi Babaarslan, "Amasyalı Vâzıh ve Dîvânçesi", Akademik Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi, 5(4), 2021, pp. 1924-1930 (life and description of the Dîvânçe). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/akaded/article/993264
- Fatma Özçakmak, "Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi ve Dîvânçe'si", Kesit Akademi Dergisi, 7(26), 2021, pp. 255-278, pp. 259-260.
Online sources
