Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün

Sen ey şâh-ı risâlet cümleden ḫilḳatde aḳdemsiñ
Velî âḫir olup irsâl haḳīḳatde mukaddemsiñ
Ẓuhûr-ı nûr-ı ẕâtıñ ẓulmeti mahv etdi ‘âlemden
Şeb-i târîk-i dehr içre olup mâh-ı muḥarremsiñ
Sana maḫṣûṣ kemâl-i lütf-i Ḥaḳ var sırr-ı ẕâtıñda
Ne bir baḥr-i kerem lütf-i Ḫudâ ẕât-ı mükerremsiñ
Delîl-i ḥüccet-i burhân yeter erbâb-ı inṣâfa
Sen aḫbâr-ı Cenâb-ı Ḥaḳ-lan a‘ẓam-ı mu‘aẓẓamsıñ
Bu ednâ ümmetiñ Mir’ât-nümâ senden ne isterse
‘İnâyet ḳıl saña ma‘lûm sen ol esrâra a‘lemsiñ

In English

1. O king of prophethood, in creation you came before all; though you were sent last, in reality you stand first.

2. The appearance of the light of your essence wiped darkness from the world; in the dark night of time you became the new moon of Muharrem.

3. In the secret of your essence lies the perfection of God's grace reserved for you; what a sea of generosity, what grace of God, what an honoured being you are.

4. It is enough as evidence, proof and demonstration for people of fairness: by the tidings of God you are the greatest of the great.

5. Whatever this Mir'ât-nümâ, the lowliest of your community, asks of you, grant it; you know, for you are the one who knows those secrets best.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Created First, Sent Last

The first of the book's nine na'ts gathers the thought of the section on the Reality of Muhammad into five couplets. The two lines of the opening couplet rest on a contrast: the Prophet Muhammad is first of all in creation and last in being sent as a prophet. The rhyme of “aḳdem” and “muḳaddem” carries this play of first and last at the level of sound as well. The refrain “-sıñ” (you are) binds every couplet into a direct address to the Prophet as “you”; the metre is the hezec of four “Mefâîlün” feet.

In the second couplet the Prophet's light is likened to the “mâh-ı muḥarrem”, the moon of Muharrem rising in a dark night. Muharrem is the first month of the hijri year; like the new moon of the new year, it can be read as the beginning of a new age. In the fourth couplet the words “delîl, ḥüccet, burhân”, evidence, proof and demonstration, piled one upon another, bring the language of rational argument into the language of praise and say that the address is directed to “people of fairness”.

In the makta, the couplet with the pen name, the poet introduces himself as “ednâ ümmet”, the lowliest of the community, and does not state his request openly; by saying that the Prophet already knows what he wants, he leaves the petition to the secret. This humility also matches what the poet says about himself in the account of his life at the end of the book.

Bibliography

Online sources