Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün

Cemâlin âfitâb pertev-i nûr Ḫudâsıñ sen
Şumûs ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ cihañda ẓâhir mehliḳāsıñ sen
Vücûd-ı ẕevâtıñı mevlâ yaratdı menba‘il-esrâr
Haḳīḳat maḥzeni esrâr-ı ẕât-ı kibriyâ señsin
Saña lüṭf-ı Ḫudâdır kim olupsuñ eşref-i eşyâ
Seni aḥsen ḳılıp Ḥaḳ pâdişâh enbiyâsıñ sen
Ser-efrâz-ı risâletsiñ olupsun seyyid ‘âlem
Saña tâbi‘ olup ‘âlem Ḫudâ’ya reh-nümâsıñ sen
Lisân-ı ḥâliyle taṣdîḳ edipdir ẕâtıñı yer gök
Bilir elbette Ḥaḳ’dan raḥmet ‘arż u semâsıñ sen
Kemâl üzre bilmekden seni ‘âciz olup ‘âlem
Kelâmu’llâh’da medḥ etdi seni ḥaḳ müctebâsıñ sen
Seniñ fażl u kemâlâtıñ kem âlât ile fehm olmaz
‘Uḳûl irmez ki idrâkdan müberrâ müntehâsıñ sen
Ḳuluñ Mir’ât-nümâ’yı eyleme mehcûr-ı şefâ‘atden
Saña muḥtâc olupdur eşfa‘ rûz-ı cezâsıñ sen

In English

1. Your beauty is the sun, you are the radiance of God's light; you are moon-faced, appearing in the world like the suns of God's essence.

2. The Lord created the world of beings as the source of secrets; you are the treasury of reality, the secrets of the Majestic essence.

3. That you are the noblest of all things is God's grace to you; God made you the finest, you are the sovereign of the prophets.

4. You are the exalted head of prophethood and became the lord of the world; the world has followed you, you are the guide to God.

5. Earth and heaven have confirmed your essence in the language of their state; surely they know you are a mercy from God to earth and sky.

6. The world cannot know you in your perfection; the word of God has praised you, you are God's chosen one.

7. Your virtue and perfections cannot be grasped with deficient tools; minds cannot reach you, for you are an end beyond understanding.

8. Do not deprive your servant Mir'ât-nümâ of intercession; he has come to need you, you are the greatest intercessor on the Day of Judgement.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Pun on “Kem Âlât”

When Şensöz wants to show that the work sometimes takes on a “heavy and ornate” language, he takes his example from the first three couplets of this na't. Its eight couplets are in the hezec of four “Mefâîlün” feet, with a refrain ending in “sen”, “sıñ sen”, you are. Indeed the second couplet is laden with compounds such as “menba‘ü'l-esrâr”, “maḥzen-i esrâr” and “esrâr-ı ẕât-ı kibriyâ”, and the lines fit the metre only with difficulty.

The knot of the na't lies in the seventh couplet. In the line “Seniñ fażl u kemâlâtıñ kem âlât ile fehm olmaz” there is a pun between “kemâlât”, perfections, and “kem âlât”, deficient tools: the Prophet's perfections cannot be grasped with the deficient tools of the mind. The second line of the same couplet calls the Prophet a “müntehâ”, a final point beyond understanding. This play repeats on a small scale the distinction the book draws between reason and the knowledge of the path.

The fifth couplet says that earth and heaven confirm the Prophet through “lisân-ı ḥâl”, the language of state that speaks without words. This expression joins with the word “raḥmet”, mercy, which recalls the verse “We sent you only as a mercy to the worlds”. At the close comes, once more, the wish for intercession that binds the book's na'ts together.

Bibliography

Online sources