Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlü Mefâ‘îlü Fa‘ûlün

İrdi yine ṣubḥuñ nefesinden dem-i ‘Īsâ
Ḳıldı ḳamu ḫoş ‘aẓm-i remîm olmışı iḥyâ
Ṣaçdı yine la‘l üstine şeb-nem dür-i şeh-vâr
Gülşende bugün luṭf ile bu bâd-ı Mesîḥâ
Her levḥa-i berg üzre nice dürlü ḳalemler
Yazdı yüri ḳıl ḳudret-i Naḳḳâş'ı temâşâ
Luṭfı es̱erinden bugün ol Rabb-i Kerîm'üñ
Oldı bu cihân bâġı ḳamu cennet-i me’vâ
Pâk eyledi ferrâş-ı ṣabâ rûy-ı cihânı
Getürdi bahâr ebr gözinden aña çün mâ
Her gûşede bir serv-i sehî âb-ı revândur
Kim rûḥ-ı revâna virür ol câm-ı muṣaffâ
Çün vaḳt-i bahâr oldı vü hengâm-ı çemendür
Bu demde gülistândan ıraġ olmaya aṣlâ
Gül mevsimidür çünki bugün ṣaḥn-ı çemende
Ney gibi fiġân eylegil ey bülbül-i şeydâ
‘Ayş it demidür bezm-i çemende güle ḳarşu
Fevt itme ṣaḳın furṣatı bu dem dime lâ lâ
Gül ruḫları yâdına bugün cânı revân it
Tîz açıla şâyed bulamazsuñ anı ferdâ
Beñzer ki gülistâna yine sâye ṣalupdur
Bir ruḫları gül ġonca-dehen ḳâmeti bâlâ
Ḫoş gör bu demi kim virür ol rûḥa fütûḥı
Bir ẕerre demâġuñda ḳomaz ‘illet-i sevdâ
Kim devr-i şehen-şâh-ı cihân Aḥmed-i Ḫân'dur
Dâl oldı anuñ devleti ismine müsemmâ
Gülzâr cemâliyle meger buldı leṭâfet
K'oldı çemen eṭrâfı yine ḫûb muṭarrâ
Mis̱lüñ gibi ey şâh-ı zamân rûy-ı cihâna
Bu devr-i felek bir daḫi göstermedi ḳaṭ‘â
Ḫâk-i rehüñe ḳılmaġa îs̱âr şükûfe
Sebz üzre ḳodı sîm ü zer esbâb müheyyâ
Rezmüñe muḳâbil ṭuramaz Sâm u Nerîmân
Rüstem olamaz erlük içinde saña hem-tâ
Uzatsa dilin devletüñüñ şem‘ine düşmen
Cân virmege pervâne-ṣıfat geldi ne pervâ
Bâlâ ḳadüñi gördi meger ṭarf-ı çemende
Ḥayretde ṭurur serv ü ṣanavber daḫi yek-pâ
Sen serv-i revân pâyına yüz sürmek içündür
Bustânda revân her yaña mâ olduġı icrâ
Bitmedi ḫaṭuñ gibi gülistânda benefşe
Çeşmüñ gibi yâ nergis eyâ gözleri şehlâ
Ḫaṭṭuña benefş öyküneli çeşmüñe nergis
Oldı bularuñ biri siyeh-rû biri a‘mâ
Bitmedi daḫi bitmeyiser bâġ-ı cihânda
Bir sencileyin ruḫları gül lebleri ḥamrâ
Bir daḫi naẓar eylemeye rûy-ı cinâna
Her kim ḳıla sen ruḫları zîbâyı temâşâ
Gül ruḫlaruñı gördi çü hengâm-ı çemende
Dil bülbüli bu şi‘ri hemân eyledi inşâ
Ey ṭal‘atı ḫurşîd eyâ ḥüsn ile ġarrâ
‘Īd ayı gibi ḳaşlaruñ oldı çü hüveydâ
Sen ḳaşı kemân ġamzesi oḫ çeşmi ḥarâmî
Bir tîr ile ḳıldı dil ü cân mülkini yaġmâ
Hey râżıyuz ol ġamzelere ḳanımuz içsün
Râḥatlar ola rûḥına ‘âfiyye vü ṣaḥḥâ
Dil murġını bir bend ile ḫoş dâma düşürdi
Cân boynına zülfüñ ṣalalı ḥalḳa-i sevdâ
Ḫurşîd-i cihân tâb virür gerçi degüldür
Āyîne-i ḥüsnüñ gibi ey mâh-ı mücellâ
Çıḳsun hele biñ miḥnet ile cânı cihânda
Her kim ki senüñ yoluña cân virmeye cânâ
Ḫaddüñi görüp ḳorḳaram âh itmege nâ-gâh
Āhumla yana dâ’ire-i çarḫ-ı mu‘allâ
Olduḳça bahâr ile müzeyyen ḳamu ‘âlem
Ṭurduḳça zemîn ile zamân ḳubbe-i mînâ
Ter tâze vü sebz ola şehâ bâġ-ı cemâlüñ
‘Ömrüñi mezîd eylesün ol Ḥayy ü Tüvânâ
Bu mâh-ı ṣıyâm ile bu ‘îd ayı ḥaḳıçün
Biñ ‘öẕr ile ṭapuñdan ider anı temennâ
Bu baḫtı siyeh Mihrî'ye şâhâ naẓar it kim
İksîr ide ḫâk eyledi devrân anı zîrâ
Medḥ itmege ḥüsnüñi gülistân-ı çemende
Bir bülbül-i ḫoş-ṭab‘ durur bu daḫi gûyâ
Bustân-ı ḫadüñ leblerüñüñ ġoncalarından
Dil bülbülini redd ide maḥrûm ide ḥâşâ
‘Īdüñi mübârek ḳıla ‘ömrüñi ziyâde
İḳbâl ü sa‘âdetde maḳâmuñ ola a‘lâ

In English

1. With the breath of morning the breath of Jesus has come again; it has beautifully revived all the bones that had rotted to dust. (The morning wind is likened to the breath of Jesus, who raised the dead; nature, which lay as if dead through the winter, comes to life again.)

2. Today in the rose garden, through the grace of this wind with the breath of the Messiah, the dew has again scattered royal pearls over the ruby. (Red rose petals are likened to the ruby, and the dewdrops on them to large pearls.)

3. On every leaf-tablet it wrote writing with pens of many kinds; go and behold the power of that Painter. (The veins and colours of the leaves are seen as writing and ornament drawn by the pen of God, the great Painter.)

4. By the work of the grace of that Generous Lord, this garden of the world has today become, from end to end, the Garden of Refuge (Jannat al-Ma'wā).

5. The breeze of the west wind, like a farrash (a servant who sweeps and spreads carpets), has cleansed the face of the world; for spring brought it water from the eye of the cloud. (Spring rain is described as the work of a servant who washes and sweeps the earth.)

6. In every corner there is a tall cypress and a flowing stream; that stream offers the pure cup to the flowing soul (the human spirit).

7. Since it is the time of spring and the season of the meadow, one should never be far from the rose garden at this hour.

8. Since today is the season of the rose in the courtyard of the meadow, O frenzied nightingale, lament and cry out like a reed flute.

9. It is the time to make merry and take pleasure before the rose in the gathering of the meadow; take care not to let this chance slip, and do not say "no, no" to this moment.

10. Today, in memory of those with rose-like cheeks, give your life; the rose opens quickly (and passes), and tomorrow perhaps you will not find it.

11. It seems that once again someone with a rose-like cheek, a bud-like mouth and a tall figure has cast a shadow over the rose garden.

12. Enjoy this moment; for it gives the soul an opening and relief, and leaves not a grain of the sickness of melancholy in the mind. ("Sevda" means both the sadness caused by black bile and love.)

13. For now is the era of Ahmed Khan, the king of kings of the world; his fortune has come to show the meaning of his name. (Ahmed means "much praised"; the prince's fortune and brilliance suit the meaning of his name. The word "Dâl" also recalls the letter dâl, the last letter of the name Ahmed; the couplet may in this respect carry a word play too.)

14. The rose garden has evidently gained delicacy from the beauty of his face, for the edges of the meadow have been freshened and made lovely again.

15. O sultan of the age, this turning heaven has never again shown the face of the world one like you.

16. To scatter on the dust of your path, the blossoms have laid out silver and gold on the green. (White and yellow flowers are likened to silver and gold coins scattered on the road of great men.)

17. Sâm and Nerîmân cannot stand before you in your battle; even Rüstem cannot be your equal in valour. (Sâm, Nerîmân and Rüstem are famous heroes of the Persian epics, especially the Shahnameh.)

18. If an enemy stretched out his tongue to the candle of your state, it would be as if he had come, like a moth, to give his life without fear. (The flame of a candle is called its "tongue"; the moth that reaches for the flame burns. An enemy who reaches for the state likewise runs to his own death.)

19. The cypress and the pine at the edge of the meadow must have seen your tall stature, for they stand on one leg in amazement. (The upright trunks of the cypress and pine are likened to someone frozen in wonder, standing on one foot.)

20. The water in the orchard runs off in every direction in order to rub its face on the feet of a cypress like you who walks with a swaying gait.

21. O you with languid eyes, in the rose garden no violet has grown like your down (the fine hairs on the face), nor narcissus like your eye.

22. Since the violet came to emulate your down and the narcissus your eye, one of them has become black-faced and the other blind. (The dark colour of the violet is read as the blackness of shame and the drooping look of the narcissus as blindness; the poet presents them as the punishment for emulating the beloved.)

23. In the garden of the world there has not yet grown another like you, with rose cheeks and red lips, and there will not grow one hereafter.

24. Whoever gazes on your beautiful face will not wish again to look upon the face of paradise.

25. When the nightingale of the heart saw your rose cheeks in the season of the meadow, it at once recited this poem. (The couplets from here on are like a ghazal set within the kaside.)

26. O you whose face is the sun, O radiant in beauty; your eyebrows appeared like the crescent of the festival.

27. Your eyebrow is a bow, your glance an arrow, your eye a haramî (a highway robber); with a single arrow it plundered the realm of heart and soul.

28. We are content that those glances drink our blood; may their souls find rest, may it do them good and bring them health. (The lover whose blood is drunk answers the glances that kill him with the wish "bon appétit" said at the end of a meal.)

29. Since your curl put the ring of melancholy around the neck of the soul, it has caught the bird of the heart nicely in the trap with a single bond.

30. O polished moon, although the sun of the world gives light, it is not like the mirror of your beauty.

31. O beloved, whoever does not give his life on your road, let him give his life in this world with a thousand torments.

32. Seeing your cheek, I fear to sigh suddenly, lest the circle of the exalted heavens burn with my sigh. (A lover's sigh is fiery; one sigh can set the sky alight.)

33. As long as the whole world is adorned with spring, as long as the vault of heaven stands with earth and time,

34. O sovereign, may the garden of your beauty be fresh and green; may God, the Living and Powerful, increase your life.

35. By the right of this month of fasting and this crescent of the festival, (the poet) asks this of your gate with a thousand apologies.

36. O sovereign, look upon this ill-starred Mihrî so that you may change her (to gold) like an elixir; for time has turned her to dust. (The alchemists' elixir turns earth into gold; the prince's glance is likened to this elixir.)

37. To praise your beauty in the rose garden of the meadow, this one (Mihrî) too is, as it were, a sweet-voiced nightingale of good nature.

38. God forbid that the orchard of your cheek should turn away the nightingale of the heart from the buds of your lips and leave it deprived.

39. May (God) make your festival blessed and lengthen your life; may your station be the highest in good fortune and felicity.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The fifth kaside of the Divan of Mihrî Hatun has 39 couplets and is written in the aruz pattern "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fa‘ûlün". It has no redif; in all couplets the rhyme rests on a long "â" sound: iḥyâ, Mesîḥâ, temâşâ, me’vâ, şeydâ, ferdâ, Tüvânâ, a‘lâ. The kaside is a long verse form written in divan poetry to praise a great person, to pray for him and often to make a request. The two lines of the first couplet rhyme with each other, and in the following couplets only the second lines continue this rhyme. In the edition the poem bears the heading "Ḳaṣîde-i Sulṭân Aḥmed" and is found in all four manuscripts; in the Ankara National Library copy the heading is "Kaṣîde-i S̱âlis̱", that is, "Third Kaside".

The sections of the kaside are clearly distinguished. The first twelve couplets form the nesib, the introductory part of the kaside, and their subject is spring. The thirteenth couplet is the transitional couplet in which the name of the person to be praised is given: "Kim devr-i şehen-şâh-ı cihân Aḥmed-i Ḫân'dur". The section of praise follows between couplets 14 and 24. In the twenty-fifth couplet the poet announces that the nightingale of the heart has recited a poem, and from couplet 26 to couplet 32 she places what is in effect a separate ghazal inside the kaside. Both lines of the first couplet of this inner ghazal rhyme (ġarrâ / hüveydâ), so that the kaside takes a new breath with a second matla‘. The last seven couplets are given to prayer. The pen name Mihrî appears in couplet 36 and joins couplets that praise her own poem and ask for a gift.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The nesib opens by likening a spring morning to a breath that raises the dead. "Dem-i ‘Īsâ" is an allusion (telmih) to the breath of Jesus that revived the dead; the phrase "‘aẓm-i remîm", rotted bone, also reaches toward the Qur'anic question "Who will give life to bones when they have rotted?" (Yâ-Sîn 36:78-79). Because the words Jesus, Messiah, breath, to revive and bone are chosen from the same field of meaning, a clear tenasüp is formed within the couplet. In the following couplets spring works like a court order in which each part awaits service from another: the dew scatters pearls on the rose petals, God writes ornament with a pen on the leaf-tablets, the west wind becomes a farrash and sweeps the earth, and the cloud carries water. The garden is thus made ready for the assembly of the prince who will be praised later in the kaside.

The familiar conceits of divan poetry appear throughout the kaside. Rose and nightingale (couplets 8, 25, 37 and 38), candle and moth (18), the cypress-like stature (19, 20), the violet and the down on the face, the narcissus and the eye (21-22), the bow-like eyebrow and arrow-like glance (27), and the trap-like curl (29) are the main ones. The twenty-second couplet is a fine example of hüsn-i ta‘lîl: the real reason that the violet is dark in colour and the narcissus is called "blind" is, according to the poet, that these two flowers tried to emulate the beloved's down and eye. In the eighteenth couplet the expression "to stretch out the tongue" is used as a double entendre, since "tongue" is also the name for the flame of a candle, and an enemy who stretches his tongue toward the candle of the state, like a moth approaching the flame, burns himself. "Sevdâ" in the twelfth couplet likewise covers both the sadness caused by black bile and love. In the seventeenth couplet the Shahnameh heroes Sâm, Nerîmân and Rüstem are named to exalt the prince's valour.

The liveliest place in the kaside is the ghazal section placed within it. Here the person praised is described like a beloved: his eyebrows resemble the festival crescent, and his glances drink the lover's blood. In the twenty-eighth couplet the lover says she is content with these glances and, as they drink her blood, says "bon appétit" to them. The addition of an everyday courtesy to a heavy love scene gives the couplet a light touch of jest. Such ghazal sections, treating the person praised as a beloved, are common in the tradition of the kaside; in Mihrî's poem this section is also tied to the occasion of the kaside through the image of the festival crescent.

In the prayer section Mihrî turns to her own situation. In the thirty-sixth couplet she calls herself "baḫtı siyeh", ill-starred, and likens the prince's glance to the alchemical elixir that turns earth to gold. Only such a glance can make precious the poet whom time has turned to dust. In the following couplet, the 37th, she presents herself as a sweet-voiced nightingale praising the prince's beauty. Thus the nightingale at the beginning of the kaside becomes the poet herself at the end. It is noted that Mihrî does not use a florid language in her kasides, and that in each she prays for the life and fortune of the person she praises and asks for his favour. In giving this general judgement, Sabiha Gemici cites the 36th couplet and the last couplet of this kaside as examples.

Historical Context

For whom the kaside was presented is clear from both the heading and the text. The heading in the edition is "Ḳaṣîde-i Sulṭân Aḥmed", and couplet 13 gives the name "Aḥmed-i Ḫân". This Ahmed is Prince Ahmed, son of Bayezid II. When his father took the throne in 1481, Ahmed became governor of the sanjak of Amasya and remained there until 1512, about thirty-one years. Mihrî Hatun was among the poets who took part in the literary assemblies of the Amasya palace in these years. According to Mehmet Arslan, 10 of the 17 kasides in the divan were presented to Prince Ahmed, and nearly all of them were written as greetings for the festivals of Ramadan or Sacrifice. Abdülkadir Karahan likewise notes that almost all the kasides were presented to Ahmed on the occasion of festival greetings.

This kaside too is a greeting for the festival of Ramadan. The phrase "Bu mâh-ı ṣıyâm ile bu ‘îd ayı ḥaḳıçün" in the thirty-fifth couplet shows that the poem was written in the days when the month of fasting was ending and the festival crescent appeared. The likening of the beloved's eyebrows to the festival crescent in the twenty-sixth couplet and the prayer "‘Īdüñi mübârek ḳıla" in the last couplet tie in with the same occasion. There is no record of the year in which the kaside was presented. Since festivals tied to the Hijri calendar fall slightly earlier each year, it is not known whether the festival really coincided with the spring months; the description of spring in the nesib may also be a requirement of the kaside tradition. That the prince is addressed as "şehen-şâh-ı cihân" and "şâh-ı zamân" accords with the habit of kaside language of observing no measure in praise, and does not mean that Ahmed was sultan. Couplet 13 begins "Kimdür bu" in the Istanbul University copy; Sabiha Gemici also gives the couplet with the reading "Kimdür ol". This reading recalls the line "Kimdür ol Sulṭân Aḥmed ibni Sulṭân Bâyezîd" in the terci‘-i bend, in which the prince's name is presented in a question-and-answer pattern.

The request for favour in the thirty-sixth couplet also shows that Mihrî was a court poet who wrote her poems within the circle of a patron. Sehî Bey records that she gave Prince Ahmed many kasides and ghazals. The gratuity registers (in‘âmât defterleri) of Bayezid II also contain gifts made to Mihrî in return for kasides she sent. Whether a gift was made in return for this kaside is not mentioned in the sources.

Bibliography

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