Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün

Vaktâki ufuklar güneşe cilveler itdi
Her çehreyi bir renk ile ağlargüler itdi
Yüz virdi nebâtâta seher güller açıldı
İmdi kanını akşama pejmürde ter itdi
Bir lutf ile ağûşa alub okşadı öpdü
Nevzâdını ağzında erir bir şeker itdi
Bir lahza göz açdırdı mevâlîd-i hayâta
Söndürdü ebed hasret-i nûr-ı nazar itdi
Bî-tâb düşen dîdelere hâb-ı siyâhı
A’yâna sevâd-ı şebi kuhlü’l-basar itdi
Ferdâdaki bin fitne temâşâsına ya’nî
Tâ dün geceden tehyi’e-i mâ-hazar itdi
Hilkat ana tevdî’ ideli nûr ile nârı
Dünyâ yüzüni ma’reke-i hayr u şer itdi
Terkîb-i mizâc itmeye kimyâger-i hestî
Dâ’im o büyük potadan ahz-ı cemr itdi
Bir mâyi’-i nârı ile pürtâs-ı cehennem
Döndükçe hümeyyâsını gû-jâj itdi
Âteş suya menba’ su dahi akl u hayâta
Yâ Rabb bu havârık beni âsîme ser itdi
Hâk oldu hevâ oldu, su oldu yine sönmez
Âteş ki Hüdâ hilkate asl-ı güher itdi
Âteş ne dimek!Hırkat-i kûyuna ki her dem
Pervâne-i zerrât ana tahrîk-i per itdi
Çakmakda sükûn buldu cümûdiyyede dondu
Bir sadmeye ta’lîk ile izmâr-ı fer itdi
Kânûn-ı kadîm oldu tesâdümle şerârât
Dest-i kader akvâmı hadîd ü hacer itdi
Hodkâm ü harîs âteş-i hassâs-ı hayâtın
Tâb-ı lehebin şem’-i dimâg-ı beşer itdi
Üstündekini bâd-ı hevâ beslemiyor hâk
Bir nâna bedel cümlemizi rençber itdi
Hâkin mi, hevânın mı, suyun mu bu kesâfet
Ebri gözüne perde-i şems ü kamer itdi
Göklerdeki encüm gibi yerlerdeki akvâm
Nevbetle tulû’ eyledi neşr-i şerer itdi
İskender ü Dârâları dârât ile geçdi
Devrân izini sildi, adîmü’l-eser itdi
Her hey’et-i kavmiyye birer fitne ocağı
Yandıkca içinden dışı neşr-i şerer itdi.
Ey vâhid-i Mutlak bu nasıl çifteli âlem
Ya zevc ile ya zıd ile arz-ı sûr itdi
Âdem ile iblîs ve Mûsa ile Fir’avn
Ahmed ile Ebû Cehl mukâbil güzer itdi.
Her zindeye bir düşmen-i cân oldu musallat
Her neşveyi bir vak’a humâr-ı keder itdi.
Başdan başa târîh-i beşer kanlı hikâyât
Dünyâya gelen hûn ile nakş-sîr itdi.
Canlandı hayâlimde yine mâzî-i mürde
Vahşet ki dirildi medeniyyet sefer itdi
Hep aynı adüvv aynı sebeb aynı vukû’ât
Meydân-ı tekerrürde yine kerr ü fer itdi
Söylenmeyi ister ki gönül hâle münâsib
Mâzî-i karîbe biraz atf-ı nazar itdi
Moskof iki yüz on senede ref‘-i ser itdi
Osmanlı aleyhinde hemân fitneler itdi
Dünyâyı kokutmakdı tabî’atleri zâten
Petro, Katerin dûd-ı kazzdan beter itdi
Ey baltasını taşa vuran Baltacı Paşa!
Sen kesmediğin şâhı felek bir şecer itdi
Zakkûm-ı zemîn oldu zılâlinde kalanlar
Dünyâda iken zevk-i azâb-ı sekar itdi
Hürriyyet-i ebnâ-yı beşer keyfine kurbân
Akvâmı sitibdâdına fermân-ber itdi
El atdı cenûba kocaman dübb-i şimâlî
Şarka baş urub garbı dahi yâ güzer itdi
Bahr-ı Azağı yutdu Kerec kal’asın aldı
Ordusunı müstevlî-i mülk-i Teter itdi
İndi kara günler gibi tâ Bahr-i siyâha
Emvâc-ı fesâdâtını ilkâ-yı berr itdi
Kazdığı çehe düşdi Çehistân ü Lehistân
Hokand u Buhârâyı çeküb der-kemer itdi
Kafkası aşub Tiflîse müflis gibi kondı
Tebrîzi de âzürde-i tiğ ü teber etdi
Dikdi çıkası gözlerini millet ü mülke
Gasb itmek içün fırsata nasb-ı nazar itdi
Kuvvetlenecek olsa biraz bünye-i devlet
Kan dökmek için fitnesini nîşter itdi
Ma’lûl iken emrâz-ı fesâdât ile mülkü
Islâh-ı re’âyâyı bize derd-i ser itdi
Islâha kıyâm eyledik iptâline kalkdı
İptâlini men’ eyledik ikâ’-ı şerr itdi
Ebnâsın esâretde ezerken o riyâkâr
Kendin üvegi evlâdımız’öz peder itdi
Efkâr-ı umûmîyeyi tezvîr ile tağlît
Da’vâsını mesmû’a-i herr mü’temer itdi
Fir’avn ile Nemrûda dokuz taş çıkaran çâr
Bir lu’b ile lâhîlere arz-ı hüner itdi
Bir kavmi ki bizden ayırub dâme düşürdü
Varlıklarını lokma-i şâm ü seher itdi
Ağreb ki bu ahvâlî görüp yâhud okurken
Görmem ki selefden halef ahz-ı ‘iber itdi
Gâfil medeniyyet seni kaç kerre bu Moskof
İğfâl ile takrîb-i kenârı hatar itdi
Evvelce Napolyonlar akın eyledi Rusa
Şimdiyse Fransızlar ana sevk-i zer itdi
Beyhûde değilmiş Bonapartın hücumâtı
Dünyâyı Kazak kaplamasından hazer itdi
Moskof ezelî düşmânımızdır, biliriz hep
İngiltere bilmem ki nemizden zarar itdi
Hindi, Adeni, Basrayı, Kıbrıs ile Mısrı
Gasb eyledi Balkanları zîr ü zeber itdi.
İslâma adâvetde Kazakdan geri kalmaz
Sudanda Müselmânlara Gîliz neler itdi
Tilki kafadâr oldu bugün dübb-i kebîre
Milyonla benî âdemi hetk ü heder itdi
Hem kuvveti var hem de cühûdâne nifâkı
“el-Hâ’inu hâ’if” revişinde siper itdi
Moskofları ezdirdi Japon kavmine evvel
Sonra ikisin müttefik-i yek-diger itdi
Her kavmin alır kânını ırk-ı tama’ından
Fussâd-ı zebân ü kalemin nîşter itdi
Hep İngilizin nef’ine bâdî-i nemâdır
Bir kavm ki kan dökdü veya sarf ü zer itdi
Yek-digere ezdirdi kadîmi rükebâsın
A’dâsını âmâline hâdim nefer itdi
Çay taşı ile çay kuşu vurmak ana mahsûs
İblîsi bu vâdîde meğer râhber itdi
Tezvîrinin esrârını keşf itmedi kimse
Allâh meger selb-i ukûl-i beşer itdi
Tezvîri Mûsânna’ ki siyâsetle riyâyı
Mezc eyledi kör gözlere kühl-i basar itdi
Mevcûd-ı muhayyeldür ecânib nazarında
Her İngilizin zihnine bu nükte yer itdi
Hod-kâm ü harîs İngilizin nef-‘i hasîsi
Âsâyiş-i dünyâyı hebâ vü heder itdi
Bir zelzele-i hırs ü tahakküm ki cihânı
Oynatdı yerinden haşr-ender-haşretdi
Bir fitne-i uzmâ-yı cihân-sûz ki yek-ser
Ma‘mûreleri gark-ı lehîb ü şerer itdi
On milyonu geçdi, ölen eşhâs tüvânâ
On misli avâ’il de sefâletde yer itdi
Ey adl-i ilâhî yetiş imdâdına halkın
Öldür şu büyük kâtili artık yeter itdi
Ey hırs u hased menba’ı bârid Biritanya
Hilkât ne zamân tesviye-i bahr ü berr itdi
Şeytân gibi habs itdi seni bahr-i muhîte
Bir zümre-i sengîn-dile bi’se’l-makarr itdi
Sisler içine gömdü dumanlar ile boğdu
Tütsü virilen tilki ininden beter itdi
Bin fitneye mâl itdiğin ol mevki-i mağrûr
Zilletle sukût eylediğinden haber itdi
Mısrın koçanı kaldı harîsin boğazında
Hindin kara sevdâsı ta’âmın büber itdi
Yâ Râbb ne tenezzül-! o gurûr u azametle
Kâtiller ile şirkete tenzîl-i ser itdi
Yelkenleri indirdi suya, düşdü telâşa
Balkanlara dek sayha-i eyne’l-meferr itdi
İmdâd diye her kapınun çâkini çaldı
Allâh onu sâ’il gibi bir der-beder itdi
Hakk bâtıla çaldı galebe! Hazret-i Allâh
Her yerde birin mazhar-ı feyz-i zafer itdi!
Ey sarsar-ı pür-gayz-ı ta’assub ne esersin
Envârına karşı seni Hakk bî-eser itdi
Bir püfle sönen İngiliz ikbâli mi İslâm?
İslâmı Hüdâ haşre kadar şûle-ver itdi.

In English

1. When the horizons displayed their coquetry to the sun, it made every face weep and laugh at once with a colour.

2. At dawn it showed favour to the plants and the roses opened; now it has poured its blood over the evening like a dishevelled sweat (the red of sunset).

3. With kindness it took its newborn in its arms, caressed and kissed it, and made it a sugar that melts in the mouth.

4. For a moment it let the newborn of life open their eyes; then it put out the light and left them forever longing for the light of sight.

5. To the eyes that had grown weary it gave black sleep, and to the eyes (a'yân) it gave the darkness of night as kohl.

6. That is, to watch the thousand strifes of tomorrow, it laid out what was at hand (the table) from the night before.

7. Ever since creation entrusted it with light and fire, it has made the face of the world a battlefield of good and evil.

8. To compound the temperaments, the alchemist of existence has always taken live coals from that great crucible (the sun).

9. As the cup of hell, full of a fiery liquid, turned, it made its fever ... (The last word of the second line, "gû-jâj", is not intelligible in the edition; the couplet could not be fully worked out.)

10. Fire is the source of water, and water the source of reason and life; O Lord, these marvels have made my head spin.

11. It became earth, it became air, it became water, and still it is not extinguished: that fire which God made the essential substance of creation.

12. What is fire indeed! The particles, like moths, beat their wings at every moment towards its burning quarter.

13. (Fire) found rest in the flint and froze in solidity; tying its brightness to a blow, it hid it.

14. That collision gives off sparks became an ancient law; the hand of fate made the nations steel and flint.

15. The selfish, greedy and sensitive fire of life made the gleam of its flame the candle of the human brain.

16. The earth does not feed those upon it for nothing, on air; in exchange for a loaf of bread it has made us all labourers.

17. Is this density the earth's, the air's or the water's (no one knows); it made the cloud a curtain over the sun and moon before its eyes.

18. Like the stars in the heavens, the nations on earth rose in turn and scattered sparks.

19. The Alexanders and the Dariuses passed by in pomp; time wiped out their traces and left them without a trace.

20. Every national community is a hearth of strife; as it burned within, it scattered sparks outside.

21. O Absolute One (God), what a world of pairs is this; (everything) has shown its form either with its mate or with its opposite.

22. Adam and Iblis, Moses and Pharaoh, Ahmed (the Prophet Muhammad) and Abu Jahl passed by facing one another.

23. Upon every living being an enemy of its life was set loose; every joy was turned by some event into the hangover of grief.

24. The history of mankind is bloody tales from beginning to end; whoever came into the world embroidered it with blood.

25. The dead past came to life again in my imagination; savagery rose again, and civilisation set out on campaign. ("Sefer etmek" means both to depart and to go to war; the line can be read in two ways.)

26. Always the same enemy, the same cause, the same events; on the field of repetition it attacked and withdrew again.

27. Because the heart wished to say words fitting the situation, it cast a glance at the recent past.

28. Two hundred and ten years ago the Muscovite (Russia) raised its head; at once it stirred up strife against the Ottomans.

29. To make the world stink was their nature anyway; Peter and Catherine made it worse than "dûd-ı kazz" (the meaning could not be fully worked out; it may be the smoke of raw silk).

30. O Baltacı Pasha, who struck his axe against a stone! The branch you did not cut (şâh: both branch and shah, that is, the tsar) fate made into a tree.

31. For those who stayed in its shade (that tree) became the zakkum of the earth; while still in this world they tasted the torment of hell.

32. The freedom of mankind was sacrificed to its whim; it made the nations subjects bowing to its despotism.

33. The huge northern bear reached out its hand to the south; it pushed its head into the east and trampled the west as well (the reading "yâ güzer" is conjectural).

34. It swallowed the Sea of Azov and took the fortress of Kerch; it made its army the conqueror of the land of the Tatars.

35. Like black days it came down to the Black Sea; it drove the waves of its mischief onto the land.

36. Into the pit (çah) it dug fell Çehistan and Lehistan (Poland); it drew Kokand and Bukhara in and tucked them into its belt (bound them to itself).

37. Crossing the Caucasus it settled on Tiflis like a bankrupt; Tabriz too it wounded with sword and axe.

38. It fixed its eyes, may they be put out, on our nation and our land; it watched for an opportunity to seize them.

39. Whenever the body of the state was about to grow a little stronger, it made its mischief a lancet to shed blood.

40. While the country was sick with the diseases of sedition, it made the reform of the subjects a headache for us.

41. We set out to reform, and it rose to undo it; we prevented its undoing, and it stirred up evil.

42. While that hypocrite crushed his own children in captivity, he made himself the true father of our stepchildren. (The couplet can be understood in this way; the reference is to Russia's posing as protector of the Ottoman Christian subjects.)

43. Deceiving public opinion with lies, it made its cause heard at every congress.

44. The tsar, who outdid Pharaoh and Nimrod (dokuz taş çıkarmak, to beat at the game of nine stones), showed his skill to the players with a game.

45. A people it separated from us and drew into its trap, it made their existence a morsel for evening and morning.

46. The strangest thing is that, while seeing or reading of these events, I do not see the later generations take warning from the earlier.

47. O heedless civilisation, how many times has this Muscovite deceived you and brought you to the edge of danger.

48. Formerly the Napoleons raided Russia; now the French have sent it gold.

49. Bonaparte's attacks were not in vain after all; he guarded the world against being overrun by the Cossack.

50. The Muscovite is our eternal enemy, we all know; but what harm England has suffered from us, I do not know.

51. It seized India, Aden, Basra, Cyprus and Egypt; it turned the Balkans upside down.

52. In enmity to Islam it does not lag behind the Cossack; what the Englishman did to the Muslims in the Sudan.

53. Today the fox has become the boon companion of the great bear; it has torn apart and wasted millions of human beings.

54. It has both strength and "cühûdâne" (Jew-like; used in the poem, as a prejudiced expression of the period, in the sense of crafty) hypocrisy; in the manner of the saying "the traitor is a coward" it made (others) its shield.

55. First it had the Muscovites crushed by the Japanese people; then it made the two allies of each other.

56. It draws the blood of every nation from the vein of its greed; it made the bloodletters of tongue and pen its lancet.

57. If a nation shed blood or spent gold, it is always a cause of growth for the benefit of the Englishman.

58. It had its old rivals crush one another; it made its enemies soldiers serving its ambitions.

59. To shoot the river bird with the river stone (to hunt a place with that place's own means) is its speciality; it seems it took Satan as its guide on this road.

60. No one discovered the secrets of its scheming; it seems God had taken away the minds of men.

61. Its scheming is so artful that it mixed politics with hypocrisy and made kohl for blind eyes.

62. In its eyes foreigners are imaginary beings; this witticism settled in the mind of every Englishman.

63. The base interest of the selfish and greedy Englishman has wasted the peace of the world.

64. Such an earthquake of greed and domination that it shook the world from its place and raised doomsday upon doomsday.

65. Such a great world-burning strife that it drowned all the inhabited places in flame and sparks from end to end.

66. The strong and able men who died have passed ten million; ten times as many families have fallen into misery.

67. O divine justice, come to the help of the people; kill this great murderer, what he has done is enough.

68. O cold Britain, source of greed and envy; when creation set land and sea in order (see what it made of you):

69. It imprisoned you, like Satan, in the ocean; it made you an evil abode for a stony-hearted crowd (bi'se'l-karâr: how evil a resting place).

70. It buried you in fogs and choked you with smoke; it made you worse than a fox's den smoked out.

71. That proud station for which you sacrificed a thousand strifes has brought the news of your fall in disgrace.

72. The cob of Egypt (Mısır: both Egypt and maize) has stuck in the throat of the greedy one; the black passion for India has turned its food into pepper.

73. O Lord, what a descent! With all that pride and grandeur it bowed its head to partnership with murderers.

74. It lowered its sails into the water and fell into a panic; as far as the Balkans it cried out "where is the place to flee".

75. Crying for help it knocked on every door; God made it a vagrant going from door to door like a beggar.

76. Truth has prevailed over falsehood! His Majesty God has made one in every place the recipient of the bounty of victory.

77. O wrathful gale of fanaticism, why do you blow; against (Islam's) lights God has made you powerless.

78. Is Islam the fortune of the English, to be put out with a puff? God has made Islam blaze bright until the Day of Resurrection.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This poem, entitled "Harb-i Umûmî" (The General War, that is, the First World War), is a kaside (qasida) of 78 couplets. It is written in the hezec metre in the pattern "mef'ûlü mefâ'îlü mefâ'îlü fe'ûlün"; the identification of the metre is ours. Its redif (refrain word) is "itdi" (it did, it made), and its rhyme is the sound "-er": words such as cilveler, güler, ter, şeker, nazar, basar, şer, şerer, eser, sefer, zarar and zafer end in it. In the classical kaside the pen name (mahlas) usually appears in a couplet near the end; in this kaside there is no pen name, and in Hüsameddin's record the poem closes with the signature "Mu'allim Cûdî". The descriptive section that precedes the praise in the kaside tradition is replaced here by a long introduction looking at the universe and at history, and the place of the praise is taken by a satire of war and a prayer.

The kaside can be read in three parts. The first twenty-six couplets describe the law of the universe and of history: the rising and setting of the sun, the place of fire among the four elements, the spark struck from the collision of flint and steel, the rising and fading of nations like stars, and the existence of everything with its opposite, from Adam and Iblis to Moses and Pharaoh. In the twenty-seventh couplet the poet says he wishes to "cast a glance at the recent past", and the second part begins; this part describes first Russia's and then England's attitude towards the Ottoman state and the Islamic world. The last part recalls the more than ten million dead, appeals to divine justice and ends with the belief that Islam will not be extinguished.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The most striking feature of the kaside is the introduction that describes war as if it were a law of nature. Fire here is the "asl-ı güher", the essential substance, of creation; it becomes earth, air and water but is never extinguished. In the fourteenth couplet this thought is linked to history: that collision gives off sparks is an ancient law, and the hand of fate has made the nations "hadîd ü hacer", steel and flint. War is thus seen as a collision ingrained in the nature of mankind. The line "Vahşet ki dirildi medeniyyet sefer itdi" in the twenty-fifth couplet also sums up this pessimistic view; since "sefer etmek" means both to depart and to go to war, it says either that civilisation has vanished or that it has itself gone to war.

In the political part Cûdî turns to animal images. Russia is called "dübb-i şimâlî" and "dübb-i kebîr", names that recall both the bear, the symbol of Russia, and the constellation of the Great Bear in the sky. England is the fox, and the poet depicts it shut up among fogs on an island worse than a fox's den smoked out. Wordplay is also abundant: descending to the Black Sea "like black days", settling on Tiflis "like a bankrupt" (müflis), Çehistan falling into the "pit" (çah) Russia dug, and the "cob" of Mısır (both Egypt and maize) sticking in the throat are among them. In the thirtieth couplet, the "şâh" that Baltacı Pasha "did not cut" means both a branch and a ruler. Here the Prut campaign is alluded to. According to the entry in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, in July 1711 Baltacı Mehmed Pasha made a treaty with Tsar Peter I, whom he had surrounded on the banks of the Prut, and when the tsar, having saved his army, failed to keep his promises, the pasha was criticised in Istanbul and dismissed. The poet says that the uncut branch grew into a tree and became zakkum (the bitter tree of hell) for those in its shade.

The language of the kaside also carries the heavy propaganda atmosphere of the war years. The enemies are called "murderer", "hypocrite" and "follower of Satan"; in the fifty-fourth couplet the word "cühûdâne" (Jew-like), a prejudiced expression of the period, is used to describe England's craftiness. These expressions have been left unchanged in the text as historical evidence of the day the poem was written, and their meaning is stated plainly in the translation. In a few couplets the reading in the edition is corrupt: the words "gû-jâj" in the ninth couplet, "dûd-ı kazz" in the twenty-ninth and "yâ güzer" in the thirty-third are among them. In these places the meaning is given conjecturally and marked as such.

Historical Context

The kaside was written in response to Hüsameddin's request for a poem from Cûdî. Hüsameddin publishes it in full in the eighth volume of his Amasya Tarihi, at the end of the poet's biography, and places Cûdî's own dedication at its head: "Amasya Müverrihi muhterem hem-şehrim Asrî mahlas Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Efendi'ye hediyye-i kalemiyye-i Cûdî", that is, "a gift from the pen of Cûdî to the historian of Amasya, my esteemed fellow townsman Hüseyin Hüsameddin Efendi, whose pen name is Asrî". Beneath the text stands the note "Fî 23 Şubat sene 1330 Ayastefanos Mu'allim Cûdî". The Rumi date 23 Şubat 1330 corresponds to 8 March 1915; Ayastefanos is the old name of Yeşilköy, where the poet lived in his years of retirement. The poem was written a few months after the Ottoman state entered the war. The sixty-sixth couplet, which says that the dead have passed ten million, should be read less as a statement of the actual losses up to that day than as an exaggeration expressing horror at the scale of the war; this assessment is ours.

Hüsameddin's record shows that the poem was taken from a copy written in Cûdî's own hand. The kaside is therefore a witness independent of the poet's only known divan manuscript, and the theses do not say whether it appears in the divan. For the poet's connection with Amasya and his friendship with Hüsameddin see the article Muallim İbrâhim Cûdî of Merzifon, and for the article in which the kaside is mentioned together with the losses of Amasya's soldiers see Martyrs from Amasya at Gallipoli.

Bibliography

Online sources