Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Fe‘ûlün

Telef kılma be-ğâyet sakla malı
Ki zîrâ malı gâyet saklamalı
Kemâl ü fazl olupdur şimdi makbul
Kemâlin dahi mal oldı me'âli

In English

1. Do not squander your wealth; keep it well; for wealth must be kept very well.

2. What is now esteemed seems to be perfection and learning; but the meaning of perfection, too, has in the end become wealth. The couplet can also be understood thus: what is valued today is perfection and learning, but even within the word "kemâl" (perfection) there is "mâl" (wealth).

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

In this two-couplet Turkish kıt‘a (short poem) the second and fourth lines rhyme; since the first line ends on the same sound, the piece opens with a matla. The rhyme rests on the sound "-alı" in the words "malı, saklamalı, me'âli". The metre is the hezec pattern "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün fe‘ûlün" of aruz (quantitative metre); some syllables require imale (metrical lengthening). The metre is not stated in the source, and the identification is ours. Hüsameddin quotes the kıt‘a in a footnote on the copies of the Nigâristân, saying "this kıt‘a of his is famous"; in which work and when it was written is not stated. The text here is his quotation; the spellings "be-ğâyet" in the first line and "gâyet" in the second have also been kept as they are.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The whole force of the kıt‘a lies in its wordplay. In the first couplet "sakla malı" and "saklamalı" are two different expressions built from the same sounds; one is the command "keep your wealth", the other a judgement meaning "it must be kept". Using words pronounced alike but different in meaning side by side is the figure called cinas (paronomasia), and because here it is formed by joining two words it is called cinas-ı mürekkep (compound paronomasia). This play of sounds turns the advice into a saying that sticks in the ear.

The second couplet turns the advice into satire. "Kemâl ü fazl", maturity and learning, seem now to be held in esteem; but the last line reverses this praise: the "me'âli" of perfection, that is, its meaning and outcome, has also become wealth. The wordplay continues here too: the last syllables of the word "kemâl" are "mâl"; by saying that wealth lies hidden even within perfection, the poet mocks an age in which learning is now measured by fortune. On this interpretation the advice "keep your wealth" in the first couplet is less a sincere counsel than a bitter irony. A link with the poet's own byname "Kemal" may also be considered; this last interpretation is ours and is not in the source.

Historical Context

To whom and on what occasion the kıt‘a was spoken is not known. Hüsameddin mentions it as one of Kemalpaşazâde's famous sayings. Kemalpaşazâde's life included periods of poverty and dismissal as well as years spent in great wealth and honour; Hüsameddin writes that he fell into poverty in Amasya after his father's death and then rose again through the sultan's gifts. Whether the kıt‘a is connected with one of these periods cannot be documented.

Bibliography

Online sources