Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Feʿilātün feʿilātün feʿilātün feʿilün

Göriñiz pāki-i taḳvāsını zenbīlliniñ
Müsned-i şerʿide gūyā idi bir ʿarş-ı berīn
Heves-i nefse tenezzül mi ider ʿulviyyet
Hūve berrun mine’l-ebrāri lefī ʿillīyyīn
Seyr idüñ bir de ṣalīb ordusu yestehleyeni
“Bir ʿArab dökdi Mesīhi” diye ol kiẕb-i āyīn
Şeyḫü’l-İslāma baḳıñ Şeyḫü’l-Naṣārāya baḳıñ
Biri ṭāvūs-ı cenān digeri kelb-i siccīn
Birisi ḫādim-i ḥaḳḳ digeri maḥkūm-ı hevā
Birisi merd-i mükerrem biri şeytān-ı laʿīn
Biri ʿulviyyete bürhān biri pestīye delīl
Biri ṭūbā-i semā digeri zaḳḳūm-ı zemīn
Berr-i ṣıdḳa baḳıñız kiẕb-i kefūra bakıñız
Ey naṣārā idüp inṣāf oluñız ʿibret-bīn

In English

1. Behold the purity of the piety of Zenbilli; in the seat of the sacred law he was like a lofty throne.

2. Does loftiness stoop to the desire of the self? (Arabic) He is one of the righteous; the place of the righteous is in Illiyyûn.

3. And look at the one who stirred up the crusading army, that lying celebrant who said "An Arab shed the Messiah's blood". (The last word of the first line could not be read with certainty.)

4. Look at the Shaykh al-Islam, look at the shaykh of the Christians: one is a peacock of Paradise, the other a dog of Sijjîn.

5. One is a servant of God, the other a prisoner of desire; one a noble man, the other an accursed devil.

6. One is proof of loftiness, the other evidence of baseness; one the Tûbâ tree of heaven, the other the zaqqûm of the earth.

7. Behold the goodness of truthfulness, behold the lie of the ingrate; O Christians, be fair and take heed.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Setting two religious leaders against each other, this seven-couplet kıta (short poem without an opening rhymed couplet) bears the title "İbret-i Mestûre", a lesson set down in lines. On one side stands Zenbilli Ali Efendi, one of the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islams; in the first couplet the purity of his piety is praised and he is likened to a lofty throne in the seat of the sacred law. The Arabic line of the second couplet recalls the Qur'anic verse "The record of the righteous is in Illiyyûn" (al-Mutaffifîn 83:18). On the other side stands a churchman who stirred up the crusading army and lied, saying "an Arab shed the Messiah's blood".

The fourth, fifth and sixth couplets list contrasts one after another: the Shaykh al-Islam is a peacock of Paradise, the shaykh of the Christians a dog of Sijjîn; one is God's servant, the other a prisoner of desire; one the Tûbâ tree of heaven, the other the zaqqûm of the earth. Sijjîn and Illiyyûn are named in the same sura as the places where the records of the wicked and the righteous are kept; the poet applies this Qur'anic contrast to two persons. The copyist's note "biri insan" (one is a man) beside the fifth couplet shows another wording of the line.

Like the divan's other polemical texts, the kıta uses harsh language, and in the last couplet it addresses the Christians directly, asking for fairness and heed. The event the poem was written about and the identity of the person said to have stirred up the crusading army are not stated in the text; the word "mestûre" in the title, written, set down in lines, suggests that it is offered as a lesson of history to be read.

Bibliography

  • Havva Tok Yıldız, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [1b-43a], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, p. 89 (poem no. 63; manuscript fol. ). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116853.pdf

Online sources