Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Fâ‘ilâtü Mefâ‘îlü Fâ‘ilün

Vaḳt-i bahâr irüp ḳomadı dilde ẕerre ġam
Bu demde ġam kimesneye lâyıḳ olur mı hem
Nergis gözini süzdi görüp çeşm-i nâzını
Gül ruḫlarını oḫşadı nesrîn ü lâle hem
Oldı çemen ‘arûsına bâd-ı ṣabâ ḳarîn
Gördi yüzin şükûfe ṣaçar üstine direm
Dil-dâr la‘li yâdına gül-gûn mey içmege
Ḫoşdur bu demde al elüñe sâḳi câm-ı Cem
Gel ḳarşusına câm-ı ṣabûḥı sen eyle nûş
Ṣıġma deriye ġonca gibi gül açıl bu dem
Gül ruḫlaruñı gördi meger gülşen içre kim
Ṣaḥn-ı çemende ṭutdı hemân ‘andelîb dem
Ḥüsnüñ berâtın iltdi ṣabâ gülsitâna çün
Gördi tebessüm eyledi her ġonca açdı fem
Zülfüñ cihân demâġına ḫoş bûy-ı cân virür
Depretdügince bâd-ı ṣabâ anı ṣubḥ-dem
Beñzer cemâli bâġını keşf itdi şehriyâr
Gül gibi güldi ṣûret-i nevrûz-ı muḥterem
Ya‘nî cihâna cân olan ol Ḫân Aḥmed'üñ
‘Adlini ẕikr ider melek evc-i felekde hem
Ger baḥr-i luṭfuñuñ ire bir ḳaṭresi revân
Bula vücûd mu‘tekif-i gûşe-i ‘adem
Bulur ḥayât-ı tâze vü ter sebze-zâr olur
Ey serv-i nâz her yere baṣsañ ne dem ḳadem
Taṣvîrini cemâlüñüñ ey âfitâb-ı ḥüsn
Rûz-ı ezelde yazdı göñül levḥine ḳalem
Şâhâ hevâ-yı zülfüñe s̱âbit-ḳadem ṭurup
Mihrüñ deminde Mihrî virür ṣubḥ gibi dem
Sensin çerâġ-ı rûşeni ṣubḥ-ı sa‘âdetüñ
Ey menba‘-ı seḫâvet ü ey ma‘den-i kerem
‘Īdüñ mübârek olsun eyâ ḫusrev-i zamân
İḳbâl ü devletüñ günine irmesün elem
Olduḳça pür kevâkib ile âsumân şehâ
Sen ‘âlem içre devlet ile olasın ‘alem

In English

1. The season of spring has come and left not a speck of sorrow in the heart; and anyway, does sorrow suit anyone at such a time?

2. The narcissus, seeing your coquettish eye, narrowed its own; the wild rose (nesrin) and the tulip tried to resemble your rose cheeks. (In old Turkish "oḫşamak" means both "to caress" and "to resemble"; the couplet can also be read as "they caressed your rose cheeks".)

3. The east wind became companion to the bride of the meadow; seeing her face, the blossoms scatter silver dirhams over her, like the coins scattered over a bride's head. (White petals are likened to the silver coins scattered over a bride.)

4. To drink rose-coloured wine in memory of the beloved's ruby lip is pleasant at this moment; O cupbearer, take the cup of Jam in your hand. (Jam is the ruler who, in Persian legend, is believed to have discovered wine.)

5. Come, drink the morning wine before her; like the bud that cannot fit in its skin for joy, open like a rose at this moment.

6. The nightingale must have seen your rose cheeks in the garden, for in the courtyard of the meadow it at once began to sing and strike up its tune.

7. When the east wind took the berat (decree) of your beauty to the rose garden, every bud saw it, smiled and opened its mouth.

8. Whenever the east wind stirs your curl at dawn, your curl brings the nose of the world a sweet scent that gives life.

9. It seems the ruler has revealed the garden of his beauty; the face of venerable Nevruz too laughed like a rose.

10. That is, the justice of that Khan Ahmed, who is the soul of the world, is mentioned even by the angels at the highest point of the heavens.

11. If a single drop from the sea of your grace came flowing, even one who has retired into the corner of nonexistence would find being.

12. O coquettish cypress, whenever and wherever you set foot, that place finds fresh life and turns into a green meadow.

13. O sun of beauty, on the day of pre-eternity the pen of destiny wrote the picture of your beauty on the tablet of the heart.

14. My sovereign, standing firm in the passion for your curl, Mihrî breathes forth like the dawn at the moment the sun rises. ("Mihr" means both sun and affection and also evokes the poet's pen name; "the dawn breathing" means the daybreak.)

15. You are the bright lamp of the morning of felicity, O spring of generosity, O mine of kindness and bounty.

16. O ruler of the age, may your festival be blessed; may no sorrow reach the day of your good fortune and state.

17. My sovereign, as long as the sky is full of stars, may you rise in this world with your state like a banner.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This kaside of seventeen couplets is written in the aruz pattern "Mef‘ûlü Fâ‘ilâtü Mefâ‘îlü Fâ‘ilün" of the muzari bahr. The poem has no redif; the couplets rhyme only on the sound "-em" (ġam, hem, direm, Cem, dem, fem, muḥterem, ‘adem, ḳadem, ḳalem, kerem, elem, ‘alem). The familiar order of the kaside form can be followed clearly here: the poem opens with a description of spring, then moves on to the person praised, the poet's name is mentioned, and it reaches prayer with a festival greeting. In Abdulrazzaq's thesis couplets 1-9 are treated as the introduction devoted to nature description (teşbib), couplets 9-14 as the praise (methiye), couplet 14 as the "taç beyit", and couplet 17 as the prayer section. The heading in the edition is "Ḳaṣîde-i Sulṭân Aḥmed"; in the M copy it appears as "Ḳaṣîde-i Sâdis" (sixth kaside), and in the Ü copy simply as "Velehu" (again his).

The transition from introduction to praise is short and skilfully made. In couplet 9 the word "şehriyâr" appears for the first time, and the opening garden of spring is tied to the ruler's beauty; couplet 10 begins with "Ya‘nî" (that is) and says that this ruler is Khan Ahmed. Thus the joy of spring described in the first eight couplets with rose, narcissus, nightingale and east wind is read, looking back, as a joy born of the prince's existence.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The spring scene in the introduction is woven from the familiar conceits of divan poetry. The narcissus, seeing the beloved's eye, narrows its own; the bud smiles and opens its mouth; the nightingale begins to sing on seeing a rose cheek; the east wind stirs the curl and spreads its scent through the world. All these natural events are tied to the beloved's beauty; Abdulrazzaq shows that in these couplets personification (teşhis) and hüsn-i talil are used together. The image in couplet 3 is especially vivid: the meadow is a bride, the east wind her husband, and the white petals the silver dirhams scattered over the bride's head. In couplet 7 the east wind's carrying the "berat" of beauty to the rose garden is an image taken from the world of palace correspondence: the berat is the sultan's decree documenting an office or a privilege, and the buds' opening is tied to their reading this decree and rejoicing.

Couplets 4 and 5 are an invitation to the drinking gathering of the spring season. The cupbearer is called on to take the cup of Jam in hand, and the listener to drink the morning wine (ṣabûḥ) and open like a bud. In his article on the influence of the Shahnameh on the Divan of Mihrî, Mahmut Başaran treats couplet 4 and notes that Jam is not mentioned as the inventor of wine in the Shahnameh, whereas in divan poetry he sits in this role at the head of the pleasure gatherings.

The repetition of the rhyme word "dem" in different senses is the most striking sound play of the kaside. In couplet 5 it appears as "bu dem" (this moment), in couplet 6 as "dem tutmak" (the nightingale's beginning its song), in couplet 8 as "ṣubḥ-dem" (dawn), and in couplet 14 as "dem virmek" (to breathe forth). Couplet 14, the "taç beyit", is the peak of this play: in the line "Mihrüñ deminde Mihrî virür ṣubḥ gibi dem" "mihr" (sun, affection) and the poet's pen name "Mihrî" stand side by side, as do "dem" and "dem". The poet says that as the dawn breathes out and grows white at the moment the sun rises, so she breathes out through the prince's affection. In the last couplet there is also a pun between "‘âlem" (world) and "‘alem" (banner, flag).

In the section of praise the prince is mentioned for his justice (10), his generosity (11, 15), and the abundance that makes the place he steps on green (12). In couplet 11 the idea that a single drop from the sea of grace gives being even to one who has withdrawn into the corner of nonexistence is, as Abdulrazzaq notes, a hyperbole that draws on the Sufi language of being and nonexistence. In couplet 13 the pen of destiny's writing the picture of the beloved on the tablet of the heart on the day of pre-eternity carries the poet's devotion back to before creation.

Historical Context

The memduh of the kaside is Prince Ahmed, named in couplet 10. Ahmed, son of Bayezid II, became sanjak governor of Amasya when his father took the throne in 1481 and remained in that city until 1512. According to Arslan, Ahmed gathered poets and artists around him, and Mihrî was one of the known members of these assemblies. Arslan notes that of the seventeen kasides in the divan ten were presented to this prince and that nearly all of them were written as greetings for the festivals of Ramadan or Sacrifice; the entry in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi also relates that Sehî Beg says Mihrî gave Prince Ahmed many kasides and ghazals, and that Abdülkadir Karahan notes the kasides were presented especially on the occasion of festival greetings.

This kaside is a clear example of the greeting kasides in question: the words "‘Īdüñ mübârek olsun" (may your festival be blessed) in couplet 16 show that the poem was written as a festival gift. Whether the festival is that of Ramadan or of Sacrifice cannot be told from the text. The description of spring and the mention of Nevruz in couplet 9 suggest that it was written in a year when the festival fell in the spring months, but the exact date is not known. Abdulrazzaq describes Mihrî's kasides in general as having the character of methiye, ıydiyye (festival kaside) and nevruziye; in this poem the three features are found together.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Mehmet Arslan (ed.), Mihrî Hâtun Dîvânı, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları (Kültür Eserleri Dizisi 576), 2018, pp. 34-35, Kaside 9 ("Ḳaṣîde-i Sulṭân Aḥmed"); introduction, pp. 5-6. ekitap.ktb.gov.tr

Academic studies

  • Tıba Akram Abdulrazzaq, Mihri Hatun'un Kasidelerinin Muhtevası ve Şerhi, master's thesis, Karabük University, 2022, section "Dokuzuncu Kaside" and "Sonuç". acikerisim.karabuk.edu.tr
  • Mahmut Başaran, "Şehnâme'nin Mihrî Hatun Dîvânı'na Etkileri", Avrasya Beşeri Bilim Araştırmaları Dergisi 3/1 (2023), pp. 116-132.

Books

Online sources