Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Fāʿilātün fāʿilātün fāʿilātün fāʿilün
Ey olan meydān-ı cevlān raḥmet ü raḥmān saña
Ḫāk-i pāy olmuş ḳuvā-yı ʿālem-i imkān saña
ʿArş ḳalbiñden tecellī itdi sırr-ı istivā
Küḥl-i ʿayn oldı sevād-ı leyle-i seyrān saña
Sen ḥużūr-ı ʿizzete girdikde naʿlinüñ alup
Bāġrına baṣmış gezer derbān olup devrān saña
Yirde gökde bilmeyen yoḳ seyyidü’l-ʿālem seni
Āsumānīler yire inse olur mihmān saña
Bir münezzeh bābdan düşmüş diyār-ı ġurbete
Nüzhetiñ gördükde cān atmış hemān kurʾān saña
Ḥüccet-i ḫatm-i nübüvvetdir vücūduñ kim ḥudā
Ẓahrıñı taḫtīm ile virmiş seni bürhān saña
Yā Resūlallāh sen bildirdiñ Allāhı bize
Cān fedāyım ey velī-niʿmet-i īmān saña
Sen gibi ʿālā-yı insāniyyet itmiş var mıdır
Olsa minnetdār lāyıḳ zümre-i insān saña
Sen Ḥabīb-ullāhsıñ sevmez ʿadüvvullāh olan
Çūnki Allāh adamısıñ ḫaṣm olur şeyṭān saña
Mefḫar-ı nevʿ-i benī ādemsiñ ammā ādeme
Buġż ider insān ḳıyāfetli nice ḥayvān saña
Münkiriñ idrāk-ı ḥaḳḳ itmez ki derk itsün seni
Ḥaḳḳı ḥaḳḳıyla bilen derḥāl ider īmān saña
Mehhili’l-küffāre emhilhüm rūveyden yā Resūl
Emrini virmişdi evvel ḥażret-i Ḳurʾān saña
Kesmedik kāfirleri menʿ itdigiñçün şerʿ ile
Şimdi şükrāne bedel itmekteler ḳüfrān saña
Hep ekāmil hep melāʾik rabb-i ʿālem dostdur
Ġam degil düşmen olursa leşker-i şeyṭān saña
ʿĀcizim taḳdīrden ʿiṣyānımı iḫsānıñı
Cürmde ḥadd yoḳ baña elṭāfda pāyān saña
Nāmım İbrāhīmdir ʿafveyle ceddiñ ʿaşḳına
Olmuş ey sulṭān Şefīʿuʾl-müẕnibīn ünvān saña
In English
1. O you for whom mercy and the presence of the Merciful are a field to ride in; the powers of the world of contingent things have become the dust of your feet.
2. The secret of God's settling upon the Throne shone forth from your heart; the darkness of the night journey (the Ascension) became kohl for your eyes.
3. When you entered the presence of glory, the turning heavens took up your sandals and, pressing them to their breast, go about as your doorkeeper. (According to the copyist's note one sandal is the moon and the other the sun.)
4. O lord of the world, there is none on earth or in heaven who does not know you; were the dwellers of the sky to come down to earth, they would be your guests.
5. The Qur'an fell from an exalted, pure gate into the land of exile; on seeing your purity it at once longed for you.
6. Your being is the proof that prophethood has been sealed; God, setting a seal upon your back, made you your own proof.
7. O Messenger of God, it was you who made God known to us; O benefactor who gave us faith, my life is yours.
8. Is there anyone who has exalted humanity as you have? It would be fitting for the whole of mankind to be grateful to you.
9. You are the Beloved of God; whoever is God's enemy does not love you. Because you are God's man, Satan becomes your foe.
10. You are the pride of the race of Adam's sons; yet many a beast in human guise bears you hatred.
11. The denier does not perceive God, so how should he understand you? Whoever knows God truly believes in you at once.
12. O Messenger, the Qur'an had earlier given you the command: "Give the unbelievers respite, grant them respite a little while."
13. Because you forbade it by the law, we did not put the unbelievers to the sword; now, instead of thanks, they show you ingratitude.
14. The most perfect of men, all the angels and the Lord of the worlds are your friends; it is no grief if Satan's army is your enemy.
15. I cannot measure either my rebellion or your bounty; there is no limit to sin in me, nor end to favours in you.
16. My name is İbrahim; forgive me for the love of your forefather (Abraham). O sultan, the title "intercessor for sinners" has been given to you.
Literary and Historical Commentary
A Na't that Speaks its Name
In this sixteen-couplet na't (poem in praise of the Prophet) Cûdî does not use his pen name; in the last couplet he mentions his own name: "Nâmım İbrâhîmdir", my name is İbrahim. The choice is not accidental. The prophet Abraham is the forefather from whom the Prophet's line descends; the poet makes this shared name a means of intercession and asks for forgiveness "for the love of your forefather". Written in the four-foot pattern of remel, the na't speaks to the Prophet directly from beginning to end through its redif (refrain word) "sana" (to you), while the rhymes Rahmân, imkân, devrân, mihmân, Kur'ân, bürhân and îmân gather this address into the sound "-ân".
The first couplets tell of the night of the Ascension. The secret of God's settling upon the Throne shining forth from the Prophet's heart, the darkness of the night journey becoming kohl for the eyes, and above all the scene in the third couplet are the liveliest images of this part: as the Prophet enters the presence of glory he takes off his sandals, and the heavens press them to their breast and go about like a doorkeeper. The copyist's marginal note "one is the moon, the other the sun" asks that these sandals be read as the two great lights of the sky. The fifth couplet personifies the Qur'an as a traveller who has fallen from an exalted gate into exile and seeks a pure heart.
A Harder Voice
After the ninth couplet the tone of the poem changes. The phrase "many a beast in human guise", the citation in its Arabic original of the verse "give the unbelievers respite" (al-Târiq 86:17), and the thirteenth couplet, which says that the unbelievers were not put to the sword because the law forbade it and that they answer this with ingratitude instead of thanks, give the na't a polemical air. Against which events or which people these couplets were spoken cannot be learned from the poem; the fact that the divan is undated also makes it hard to establish a context. In the end the poet returns to his own state: both his sin and the Prophet's favour are boundless, and he addresses him with the title "Şefîü'l-müznibîn", intercessor for sinners.
Bibliography
- Havva Tok Yıldız, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [1b-43a], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, pp. 17-18 (poem no. 5; manuscript fol. 3b-4a). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116853.pdf
Online sources
