Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

‘Īd-i ekberdür cemālüñ muṭlaḳ ey şems-i ḍuḥā
Yüzüñi görüp bugün ḳurbān olursam zī ṣafā
Ḥalḳa-i zülfüñe dil el ṣunduġı her yañadan
Ḳıble-i erbāb-ı ḥācetdür cemālüñ Ḫüsrevā
Ḳaşlaruñ miḥrabı içre olduġıçün kūşe-gīr
Secde-i şükr üzredür her sā‘at ol zülf-i dü-tā
Dil niḳāb-ı zülfüñ ile ḫaddüñi görüp didi
Ḳara aṭlas ṣanki beytu’l-lāha olmışdur ḳabā
Ṭavf-ı kūyuñ ḥasretiyle cān viren ‘uşşāḳuñuñ
Seb‘a-i seyyāre ḫāk-i ḳabrin ider ider tūtyā
Ġam beyābānında her dem seyl olur ḳanlu yaşum
Bulmaġa ḫār-ı muġaylān-ı ġamuñ neşv ü nemā
Ḳanlu yaşumla ḳapuñda çihremi gören didi
Navdān-ı zer durur beytu’l-lāh üzre gūyiyā
Ḳaṣd idüp kūyuñda n’eyler göñlüme ḫūnī gözüñ
Ḫod bilür murġ-ı Ḥarem ḳanını dökmekdür ḫatā
Ṭut ki hicrān-ı ġamuñdur menzil-i bād-ı semūm
Yüz çevirmek reh-revān-ı ‘ışḳuñ olur mı revā
Noḳṭa-i ḫaṭṭ-ı Ḥarem midür beñüñ yā Rab ‘aceb
Yā ḫod ol seng-i siyeh midür k’ururlar yüz aña
Mescid ü büt-ḫāneden miḥrāb ḳaşuñdur murād
Ka‘be ḥaḳḳıçün budur ṭoġru söz inan sen baña
Āteş-i ‘ışḳ ile yanduġı maḥalleñde göñül
Key ‘acebdür Ka‘beye varan ḫo yanmazdı oda
Bir büt-i muġ-beççe fikrin ḳomadı bende göñül
Şevḳ-ı rūz-ı ‘īd-i vaṣl-ı ḥażret-i ẓıll-i Ḫudā
Mihr-i çarḫ-ı salṭanat ya‘nī ki sulṭān Bāyezīd
Her kişiye Ka‘be-i ‘ulyā ḳapusıdur recā
Ol şeh-i ‘ālem-penāh u şāh-ı heft-iḳlīm ile
Şeş cihetden rub‘-ı meskūna irer biñ biñ ṣafā
Ḫalḳ-ı ‘ālem birle ervāḥ u melāyik fevc fevc
Yetişür kūyın ziyāret ḳılmaġa ṣubḥ u mesā
Yazmaġa her dem ṭarīḳ-i ḥacc-ı kūyın rūzgār
Levḥ-i çarḫa mühre-i ḫurşīd ile virür cilā
Dil ṣabāḥ-ı ‘īd-i vaṣla ey şeh-i dünyā vü dīn
İrdi mihr-i ṭal‘atuñ birle yine şükr-i Ḫudā
Nūrdan iḥrām ile her laḥẓa gerd-i kūyuñı
Degzinür ser-pā bürehne şöyle ḫurşīd-i semā
Her bir at izi ki kūyuñda ṭolar bārān ile
Fī’l-mes̱el ma‘nīde çāh-ı zemzem oldur Ḫüsrevā
Ḳıble-i erbāb-ı ḥācāt olmaġın ‘ālī ḳapuñ
Yüz sürer her dem ġanī vü müflis ü şāh u gedā
Ṭavf-ı kūyuñ şevḳına zeyn itdi şöyle maḥmilin
Ḳāfile-sālār-ı encüm ya‘nī kim bedr-i dücā
Reh-revān-ı kūyuñuñ ednāsı mīr-i ḳāfile
Bir ġulām-ı kemterüñdür Mıṣr u Şāma pādşā
Yol degüldür terk idüp gitmek ḥarīm-i Mekkeyi
Yoḫsa sulṭān-ı Ḥarem yüz süregelürdi saña
Rīk-i Mekke seng-diller göñlidür kūyuñda kim
Āstānuña yüz urmışlardur olup ḫāk-i pā
Her ḳaçan kim fikr-i ḥacc idem revān bī-çāre dil
Yönelür biñ şevḳ ile fī’l-ḥāl işigüñden yaña
Yir ü gök pürdür tamām āvāze-i lebbeyk ile
Ḫᵛān-ı feyże luṭfuñ idelden cihān ḫalḳın ṣalā
Ka‘be ḫalḳ-ı ‘āleme şöyle ziyāret-geh iken
Ger güci yitse gelürdi ṭavf-ı kūyuñdan yaña
Her ṭarafdan şāhlar terk-i diyār idüp gelür
Ka‘be-i kūyuñda olmaġa mücāvir sālhā
Biñ s̱evāb-ı ḥacc u ‘umre yazılur dīvānuma
Bir kez olursa müyesser kūyuña irmek şehā
Ṣuffa-i çarḫ üzre rāy-ı pāk-i ‘ālem-tābuña
Girde-bāliş vaż‘ olupdur ṣanki ḫurşīd-i semā
Nāfe-i şaḫṣ-ı zemīn olduġıçün ḫāk-i derüñ
Nükhetiyle pürdür anuñ Çīn ü Bulġār u Ḥıṭā
Rub‘-ı meskūn içre ‘ālī āstānuñdur hemīn
Ḳıble-gāh-ı ins ü cān u sāḥat-i ‘izz ü ‘alā
Sehv ile añdum maḥalleñde hilāl ebrūları
Ḥācet olmaz ḫod bilürdüm Ka‘bede ḳıble-nümā
Oldısa beytü’l-‘alā dergāhuña erzāndur
Aṭlas-ı zer-beft-i gerdūn sāye-bān-ı kibriyā
Gerçi tenhā Ka‘be nesl-i ādeme maḫṣūṣdur
Ḳıble-gāh-ı ins ü cān olmışdur işigüñ şehā
Oldı dergāh-ı refī‘uñ rub‘-ı meskūna sebeb
Hestī-i ma‘mūre-i ‘ālem nite k’ümmü’l-ḳurā
Her dem iñlerdüm ceres gibi hezārān derd ile
Şimdi ḥācīlar gibi derd-i dile buldum devā
Ṣubḥ-dem görüp cemālüñ Ka‘besin didi Münīr
İrdi hengām-ı seḥer ya‘nī göñül vaḳt-i du‘ā
Reh-revān-ı Ka‘be-i ‘ulyā özendükçe müdām
Olduġınca ārzū ḥuccāca nūr-ı Muṣṭafā
Ḳıble-gāh-ı ‘ālem olsun tā ebed ‘ālī ḳapuñ
Her ṭarafdan şāhlar yüz süregelsün Ḫüsrevā

In English

1. O sun of the forenoon, your beauty is beyond doubt the greatest festival; if today I see your face and become a sacrifice, what a delight. ("‘Īd-i ekber" means, in the dictionary sense, "the greatest festival"; "ḳurbān olmak" means to give oneself up, and beside the word festival it also calls to mind the Festival of Sacrifice. "Şems-i ḍuḥā" is the sun of the forenoon.)

2. O sovereign, because the heart stretches out its hand from every side to the ring of your locks, your beauty is the qibla of those who come with a need. (In the Vienna copy the word order is "el ṣunduġı dil"; the meaning does not change.)

3. Because those doubled locks have withdrawn into seclusion within the prayer niche of your brows, they are every hour in the prostration of thanksgiving. (The lock curving down from the forehead towards the brow is likened to a worshipper bowed in prostration in the prayer niche.)

4. The heart, seeing your cheek beneath the veil of your locks, said: it is as if a robe of black satin had been put on the House of God. (The cheek is likened to the Kaaba and the black lock falling over it to the black covering of the Kaaba.)

5. The seven planets make eye-salve of the grave dust of your lovers, who gave up their lives longing to circle round your quarter. (The words "ider ider" in the line are written twice in the edition.)

6. In the desert of grief my bloody tears turn to a flood at every moment, so that the desert thorn of grief for you may grow and flourish. ("Ḫār-ı muġaylān" is, in the dictionary sense, a thorny tree that grows in the desert.)

7. Whoever saw at your door my face, yellowed and streaked with bloody tears, said: it is as if there were a golden spout on top of the House of God. ("Navdān" is, in the dictionary sense, a spout or gutter; the golden spout on the roof of the Kaaba is meant. The lover's yellow face is likened to this spout and the bloody tears running down it to the water flowing from the spout.)

8. What does your blood-shedding eye intend against my heart in your quarter? It knows full well that to shed the blood of a bird of the sacred precinct is a crime. (Hunting is forbidden in the sacred precinct (Harem) around the Kaaba; the heart in the beloved's quarter is likened to a bird living in that precinct.)

9. Suppose that grief at separation from you is the halting place of the scorching desert wind; is it right for the travellers on the road of love to turn their faces away?

10. O Lord, how strange: is your beauty spot the dot on the line of the sacred precinct, or is it that black stone on which people rub their faces? (The black stone is the Hacerü'l-esved (Black Stone) at the corner of the Kaaba. "Ḫaṭ" means line, script and also the down on the cheek; the beauty spot on the cheek is likened to a dot on that line.)

11. In the mosque as in the idol-temple, the aim is the prayer niche of your brow; by the truth of the Kaaba, this is the honest word, believe me.

12. It is a great wonder that the heart burns with the fire of love in your quarter; whoever reached the Kaaba would not burn in fire. (The couplet rests on the idea that the pilgrim who reaches the Kaaba is saved from the fire of hell; the heart, however, is burning in the quarter it takes for the Kaaba.)

13. O heart, longing for the festival day of union with His Majesty, the shadow of God on earth, has left no room in me for thoughts of a tavern-boy beauty. ("Muġ-beççe" is, in the dictionary sense, a Magian boy, a tavern boy; "ẓıll-i Ḫudā", the shadow of God, is an epithet given to rulers. The couplet makes the passage from the beloved to the ruler.)

14. He is the sun of the sky of sovereignty, that is, Sultan Bayezid; everyone's hope is his gate, like the sublime Kaaba.

15. Thanks to that shah who is the refuge of the world and the king of the seven climes, thousands upon thousands of delights reach the inhabited quarter of the world from the six directions. ("Rub‘-ı meskūn" is, in the old geography, the inhabited quarter of the earth; the numbers seven, six and four are used together in the couplet.)

16. Together with the people of the world, spirits and angels hasten morning and evening in throngs to visit his gate.

17. So as to write out without end the pilgrim road that leads to his gate, time burnishes the tablet of the sky with the polishing stone of the sun. ("Mühre" is, in the dictionary sense, the polishing stone used to burnish paper; the round sun is likened to this stone.)

18. O shah of the world and of the faith, with the sun of your countenance the heart has once again reached the morning of the festival of union; thanks be to God. (The Vienna copy has "vuṣlatuñ" (your union) in place of "ṭal‘atuñ" (your countenance).)

19. The sun in the sky, in a pilgrim's garb of light, bare from head to foot, circles round your gate at every moment. (The Vatican copy has "ḳadem" in place of "bürehne" (bare).)

20. O sovereign, every hoofprint in your quarter that fills with rain is, so to speak, in meaning the well of Zamzam.

21. Because your lofty gate is the qibla of those who come with a need, rich and poor, shah and beggar rub their faces on it at every moment.

22. The caravan leader of the stars, that is, the full moon of the dark night, has thus adorned its mahmil out of longing to circle round your gate. ("Maḥmil" is, in the dictionary sense, the ornamented litter or canopy carried on a camel and taken along with the pilgrim caravans.)

23. The lowest of those who travel to your gate is a caravan commander; he who is king over Egypt and Damascus is one of the least of your servants.

24. It is not proper to leave the sacred precinct of Mecca and go away; otherwise the sultan of the Harem would come and rub his face before you.

25. The sands of Mecca are the hearts of the stony-hearted who, in your quarter, became dust beneath the feet and rubbed their faces on your threshold.

26. Whenever I think of making the pilgrimage, the wretched heart at once turns with a thousand longings towards your threshold. ("Revān" means both "at once, flowing" and "soul"; the line can also be read "whenever I think with my soul of the pilgrimage".)

27. Ever since your kindness invited the people of the world to the table of generosity, earth and sky are filled from end to end with the cry of "lebbeyk". ("Lebbeyk", "here I am at your service", is the opening of the pilgrims' invocation (telbiye); "ṣalā" is the call to the table and to the invitation.)

28. While the Kaaba is thus the place of visitation for the people of the world, if it had the strength it would itself come to circle round your gate.

29. From every side shahs leave their lands and come to dwell for years as mücavir at the Kaaba of your gate. ("Mücāvir" is, in the dictionary sense, one who lives beside a holy place, in its service.)

30. O shah, if it is granted me even once to reach your gate, the merit of a thousand pilgrimages and lesser pilgrimages will be written in my register. ("Dīvān" means both the register of deeds and the collection of poems. Ersoy gives the couplet as an example of the poet's belief that by praising Bayezid II the merit of a thousand pilgrimages and lesser pilgrimages would be written in his divan.)

31. On the dais of the sky, it is as if the sun in heaven had been set as a round cushion for your pure, world-illuminating judgement.

32. Because the dust of your gate is the musk pod of the body of the earth, China, Bulgar and Cathay are filled with its scent. ("Nāfe" means, in the dictionary sense, both navel and the musk pod in the navel of the musk deer; the dust of the gate is taken to be both the navel of the earth and its source of musk.)

33. In the inhabited quarter of the world only your lofty threshold is the qibla of men and jinn, the field of glory and honour. (The Vienna copy has "ṣāḥib-i" (master of) in place of "sāḥat-i" (field of).)

34. In your quarter I mistakenly mentioned the crescent-browed beauties; there was no need, for I knew already that in the Kaaba no one needs a qibla pointer. (The crescent brow calls to mind the prayer niche, the sign that shows the qibla; inside the Kaaba no one looks for the direction of prayer.)

35. If the sublime house has become your court, the gold-embroidered satin of the heavens is worthy to be its canopy of majesty. ("Beytü'l-‘alā", the sublime house, recalls "Beytullah", a name of the Kaaba.)

36. True, the Kaaba belongs to the children of Adam alone; but, O shah, your threshold has become the qibla of men and jinn.

37. Your lofty court has become the cause of the existence of the inhabited quarter of the world, just as Ümmü'l-kurâ is the cause of the world's flourishing existence. ("Ümmü'l-ḳurā" means, in the dictionary sense, "mother of cities" and is one of the names of Mecca.)

38. I used to moan at every moment like a caravan bell with thousands of sorrows; now, like the pilgrims, I have found a cure for the sorrow of my heart. ("Ceres" is, in the dictionary sense, the bell hung on caravan camels.)

39. At dawn Münîr saw the Kaaba of your beauty and said: the hour of daybreak has come, that is, O heart, it is the time of prayer.

40. As long as the travellers to the sublime Kaaba ever long to go there, as long as the pilgrims yearn for the light of Mustafa,

41. O sovereign, may your lofty gate be the qibla of the world for ever; may shahs come from every side and rub their faces on it.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Turkish kaside (qasida) of forty-one couplets and bears the number Kaside 12 in the edition. The kaside is a long verse form made up of couplets that keep a single rhyme, written for the most part in praise of a ruler or a great man. The metre is the ramal pattern "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The kaside has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the long sound "-ā" (ḍuḥā, ṣafā, dü-tā, ḳabā, tūtyā, nemā, ḫaṭā, revā, Ḫudā, recā, mesā, cilā, gedā, pādşā, du‘ā). Part of the rhyme is made with vocative forms such as "Ḫüsrevā" and "şehā", meaning "O sovereign, O shah". In his introduction Ersoy cites this poem among the kasides whose rhyme rests on the final letter alone. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 22b) and Vienna (VY 31a) copies. The heading in the edition, "Fī-medḥ-i Sulṭāni'l-İslām Bāyezīd Ḫān", means "In praise of Bayezid Khan, sultan of Islam"; in the Vienna copy the heading is simply "ve lehū" (also his).

The first thirteen couplets of the kaside are an opening addressed to the beloved. In this section the beloved's face is a festival, the brow a prayer niche, the locks the covering of the Kaaba, the beauty spot the Black Stone, the beloved's quarter the sacred precinct. Couplet 13 passes to the praise with the words "the festival of union with His Majesty, the shadow of God", and in couplet 14 the name of the patron comes as "sulṭān Bāyezīd". Couplets 14-38 are a eulogy that likens the sultan's gate to the Kaaba. The pen name (mahlas) appears in couplet 39 as "Münīr"; by saying that daybreak is the time of prayer, the couplet also leads into the closing prayer. The last two couplets are a prayer built on "as long as" clauses. For whom it was written is clear from the heading and from couplet 14; the sources give no information on when it was presented.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

All the images of the kaside are drawn from a single field, the pilgrimage and the Kaaba. The beloved's beauty is "the greatest festival", and the poet wishes to see it and "become a sacrifice" (1). Then almost everything connected with the Kaaba follows in turn: the qibla (2, 21), the prayer niche and prostration (3), the black covering of the Kaaba (4), circumambulation (5, 28), the golden spout of the Kaaba (7), the ban on hunting in the sacred precinct (8), the Black Stone (10), the pilgrim's garb (19), the well of Zamzam (20), the pilgrim caravan and the mahmil (22-23), the sands of Mecca (25), the pilgrims' invocation and the cry of "lebbeyk" (27), dwelling beside the holy place (29), the merit of the pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage (30), and Mecca under the name Ümmü'l-kurâ (37). The closing prayer of the kaside also mentions the pilgrims' longing for the light of the Prophet (40). According to the definition in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, kasides written on the occasion of the festivals of Ramadan and of Sacrifice that speak of the festival in their opening are called ıydiyye (festival kaside); according to the same article, in ıydiyyes for the Festival of Sacrifice places such as the Kaaba, the qibla, Safâ and Arafat are often mentioned, because these days are also the days of the pilgrimage. Münîrî's kaside is not called a festival kaside in the edition, but it bears these features in opening with the words "‘īd-i ekber" and "ḳurbān" and in keeping up the images of the pilgrimage from beginning to end. The sources give no information on the festival for which it was presented.

At the centre of the comparison stands the sultan's gate. The poet puts this gate in the place of the Kaaba and raises the hyperbole step by step: the Kaaba itself would come to circle round it if it had the strength (28), the sultan of the Harem cannot come only because he may not leave his place (24), shahs leave their lands to dwell beside it (29), the king of Egypt and Damascus is the least of the servants of those who travel to that gate (23), and while the Kaaba belongs to men alone, the sultan's threshold is the qibla of men and jinn (36). Couplet 30, which Ersoy cites in his introduction, is the peak of this series: the merit of a thousand pilgrimages and lesser pilgrimages is written in the register of the poet who reaches the gate even once. The word "dīvān" here means both the register in which deeds are recorded and the poet's collection of poems; Ersoy reads the couplet as an example of the poet's belief that by praising Bayezid II this merit would be written in his divan.

The heavenly bodies also join this scene of pilgrimage. The seven planets make eye-salve of the lovers' grave dust (5), the sun circles barefoot round the sultan's gate in a pilgrim's garb of light (19), the full moon as caravan leader of the stars adorns its mahmil (22), time burnishes the tablet of the sky with the polishing stone of the sun (17). Among the figures of speech, double entendre (tevriye) stands out. In couplet 10 "ḫaṭ" is read both as the boundary line of the sacred precinct and as the down on the cheek, in couplet 30 "dīvān" as both register and collection of poems, in couplet 32 "nāfe" as both navel and musk pod. In couplet 12 a contrast is set up between the belief that whoever reaches the Kaaba will not burn in fire and the lover burning in the beloved's quarter; in couplet 34 a witticism is drawn from the idea that no one looks for the qibla inside the Kaaba. In couplet 15 the seven climes, the six directions and the quarter of the world are counted in the same couplet and form a congruence of images (tenasüp).

Historical Context

According to the heading in the edition, the kaside was written in praise of Bayezid Khan, "sultan of Islam"; in couplet 14 the patron is named "sulṭān Bāyezīd". According to Ersoy's introduction, fourteen of the twenty-nine kasides in the divan are eulogies of Bayezid II. Münîrî had been in Bayezid's company while the latter was sanjak governor in Amasya; the sources, however, give no information on whether this kaside was written in the Amasya years or in the years of the sultanate.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources