Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḥażret-i şāh-ı cihān ider diyü ‘azm-i ġażā
Birbirine muştılar gökde melāyik Ḫüsrevā
Sen şeh-i devrān ile ‘azm-i ġażā itmeklige
Cem‘ idüpdür leşker-i ervāḥı rūḥ-ı Muṣṭafā
Ḫıdmetüñce bile bulunmaġa bu ḫayr işde çarḫ
Ṣubḥ-dem gördüm ki yaḳınmış şafaḳ birle ḥınā
Devlet anuñ kim rikābuñca bu ‘īd-i ekbere
Yüz süriyü yetişür mānend-i sulṭān-ı semā
Her ne deñlü irmez ise ḫıdmete şāhā elüm
Gönderürem reh-revān-ı ṣubḥ ile her dem du‘ā
Ḳalb-i a‘dāñı ‘aceb mi ḳılsa āvāzuñ şikest
Tār u mār olur belī şāhīn ile zāġ-ı semā
Gerd-i rāh-ı bād-pāyuñ devletine irmege
Her seḥer-geh görürem ayup gider bād-ı ṣabā
Şāh-ı heft iḳlīmsin saña muṭī‘ olmayana
Hīc kimse ‘ālem içre ṣıḥḥati görmez revā
‘Abdalān-ı Rūm pīri birle göñlüm [de] Münīr
Gitdi ol sulṭān-ı dervīşān u devrāndan yaña
Ḥażret-i şeh Bāyezīd ibn-i Meḥemmed ḫān içün
Fikrüñ itmekse du‘ā ey dil di işüñdür n’ola
Sāye-i Ḥaḳdur vücūdı ẓıllini memdūd idüp
Ber-mezīd itsün cihānda devlet ü ‘ömrin Ḫudā

In English

1. O sovereign, the angels in heaven gave one another the good news: "His Majesty, the king of the world, is setting out for holy war (gaza)." ("Muştılamak" is the old Turkish word for bringing good tidings.)

2. So that you, the king of the age, may set out for holy war, the spirit of Mustafa, that is, of the Prophet, has gathered an army of spirits.

3. The celestial sphere too has made ready to be with you in your service in this good work; at dawn I saw that it had dyed itself with henna in the red of daybreak. (The red of dawn is likened to henna that the sky has applied to its hands.)

4. Happy is the one who, like the sun, the sultan of the sky, reaches this greatest feast, the holy war, at your stirrup, rubbing his face on the ground; good fortune is his. ("‘Īd-i ekber" in its dictionary sense is "the greatest feast"; the poet regards the campaign as a festival.)

5. O king, however far my hand falls short of your service, every moment I send you prayers with the travellers of the morning. ("Reh-revān-ı ṣubḥ" can be understood as those who set out at daybreak or as the dawn breeze; the poet says he cannot be on the campaign and takes part in it through prayer.)

6. Is it any wonder if your battle cry breaks the heart of your enemies? Indeed, the crow of the sky is scattered by the falcon. ("Ḳalb" in its dictionary sense means both the heart and the centre of an army; "şikest" means both breaking and rout. The couplet says that both the enemy's heart and the centre of his army give way.)

7. Every dawn I see the morning breeze (saba) go off "ayup", to attain the fortune of the dust on the road of your wind-footed horse. (The word "ayup" can be read in two ways here: in its dictionary sense "coming to", that is, waking up; or, from the old Turkish verb "aymak", "saying". In either reading the morning breeze sets out every dawn to reach the dust of the sultan's horse.)

8. You are the king of the seven climes; no one at all would think it right that whoever does not submit to you should find health and well-being in this world.

9. O Münîr, my heart too went, together with the elder (pir) of the Abdals of Rum, toward that sultan of dervishes and of the age. (The word "de" (too) in the line is Ersoy's emendation, made on grounds of metre and sense.)

10. O heart, if your thought is to pray for His Majesty Bayezid, son of Mehmed Han, then say it; this is your task, and what wonder is there in that? ("Di" in the line means "say"; "n'ola" is read as "what of it, what is strange in this".)

11. His being is the shadow of God; may God lengthen his shadow and increase his fortune and his life in the world.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Turkish kaside (qasida) of eleven couplets and is numbered Kaside 19 in the edition. The kaside is a verse form in which every couplet carries the same rhyme, usually written in praise of a ruler; this poem is one of the shorter examples of the form. The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on a long "ā" (ġażā, Ḫüsrevā, Muṣṭafā, ḥınā, semā, du‘ā, revā, Ḫudā). Ersoy lists this kaside among the examples of rhyme built on the rhyme letter (revi) alone. The poem is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 37b). The heading in the edition, "Der-vaḳt-i ḳaṣd-ı ġażā kerden-i Sulṭān Bāyezīd", means "At the time when Sultan Bayezid resolved upon holy war".

The kaside has no long introductory section; the poem opens directly with the news of the campaign. The first four couplets describe how this news is received in heaven: the angels bring each other the tidings, the Prophet's spirit gathers an army of spirits, the sky dyes itself with henna, the sun rubs its face at the sultan's stirrup. In couplet 5 the poet turns to his own situation and says that, though he cannot be on the campaign, he sends prayers. Couplets 6-8 praise the sultan's might. Couplet 9 is the one in which the pen name (mahlas) "Münīr" appears; in couplet 10 the patron is named openly, and couplet 11 is the prayer.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The central idea of the poem is that the holy war is received as an event in heaven as well as on earth. For this reason most of the images are tied to the sky: the angels, the army of spirits, the dawn, the sun and the morning breeze all join the sultan's campaign. In couplet 3 the red of daybreak is likened to henna applied by the celestial sphere; this kind of fanciful explanation, which links a natural event to the subject of the poem, is an example of the figure called hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology). In couplet 4 the campaign is called "‘īd-i ekber", the greatest feast; a comparison is drawn between the joy of a festival and the campaign, and the sun, as "sulṭān-ı semā" (sultan of the sky), is imagined as one who rubs his face at the sultan's stirrup.

In couplet 6 the word "ḳalb" carries a play on words: in its dictionary sense it means both the heart and the centre division of an army. The sultan's battle cry breaks both the enemy's heart and the centre of his army. The comparison of falcon and crow in the second line proves the claim of the first line with an example taken from nature; this is a usage close to irsal-i mesel (the proverbial illustration). The word "ayup" in couplet 7 bears the trace of old Turkish and can be understood in two ways; both readings are shown in the English prose. In couplet 11 the title "Sāye-i Ḥaḳ" (shadow of God) and the phrase "ẓıllini memdūd idüp" (lengthening his shadow) carry on the same image of the shadow and close the kaside with a prayer.

Historical Context

The recipient of the kaside is clear from the heading and from the name "Bāyezīd ibn-i Meḥemmed ḫān" in couplet 10: the patron is Bayezid II, son of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. The heading states that the poem was spoken at a time when the sultan had resolved upon holy war; but which campaign is meant is stated neither in the heading nor in the text, and the sources give no information on it. Whether the poem was written in Bayezid's years as prince in Amasya or during his reign is also unknown. The words in couplet 5, "though my hand falls short of your service", suggest that the poet did not take part in this campaign.

In couplet 9 the poet says that his heart turned toward the sultan together with the "‘Abdalān-ı Rūm pīri". "Abdalân-ı Rûm" in its dictionary sense means the Abdals of Anatolia, that is, its wandering dervishes. The expression occurs once more in the divan: the heading of Ghazal 237 in the edition is "Berāy-ı Ḳoyun Baba" (for Koyun Baba), and in the first couplet of that ghazal Koyun Baba is called the leader and shepherd of the "Abdalān-ı Rūm". Whether the elder in the kaside is Koyun Baba is said neither in the text nor in the sources; so all that can be said is that the two poems share a similar expression. That the sultan is called "sultan of dervishes and of the age" in the same couplet shows the link drawn between holy war and the dervish life.

Bibliography

Online sources