Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gül-sitānda defter açmışdur diyü sulṭān-ı gül
Cem‘ olup küll-i şükūfe ṭoldı hep dīvān-ı gül
Ḫūn-behā-yı ehl-i beyt [kim] bülbül-i bī-çāredür
La‘l ü yāḳūt ile zer kim pür durur dāmān-ı gül
Ṭıfl-ı sulṭān-ı çemen alnında ḳurbān ḳanı var
Oldı beñzer ‘andelīb-i ḫaste-dil ḳurbān-ı gül
Bezm-gāh-ı ġonca zeyn olsun diyü bu vech ile
Şemse-i al ile ṭoldı ser-be-ser eyvān-ı gül
Kevs̱er-i nīsān ile ṭoldurmaġ içün ‘āḳıbet
Ḥavż-ı la‘l olmış durur yāḳūt-ı şādurvān-ı gül
Anca bülbül göñli yaḳmışdur cemāl-i şem‘ kim
Şol ḳadar pürdür şerer ṭolmışdur āteş-dān-ı gül
Būy-ı pīrāhen revān itmiş nesīm-i ṣubḥ ile
‘Andelīb-i pīr-i ‘ışḳa Yūsuf-ı Ken‘ān-ı gül
Ġoncanuñ la‘l-i lebini dişlemege her seḥer
Şeb-nem ile yetişüpdür ṣanasın dendān-ı gül
Her ne deñlü ṣoya geydürse zırıh bād-ı ṣabā
Eslemez ṭurmaz geçer hep ġoncadan peykān-ı gül
Tevbe-i ṣad-cā şikeste yine ey dil üştedür
Çün bu vech ile düzüldi sāġar u peymān-ı gül
Ejdehā-peyker ‘alemler çekmegin ḫār üstine
Ṣaff-ı ezherle bezenmişdür çehār erkān-ı gül
Sūz-ı ġonca bülbüli ḫākister idelden berü
Āteş-i gülden yanupdur lāle-i nu‘mān-ı gül
Efḍal-i eşkāl şekl-i müstedīr oldı diyü
Gösterür şekl-i müdevver ṣūret-i elvān-ı gül
Bunca kim la‘līn tabaḳlar ḥāṣıl olmışdur ṭurur
Dökilür beñzer çemen ehline ey dil ḫᵛān-ı gül
Ṭut ki her şāḫ-ı şecer mīve getürdi mā-ḥażar
Kūşe-i gül-zāra gelmişdür diyü mihmān-ı gül
‘Andelīb içün kimesne ḫun-behā añmamaġa
Artuḳ ola yüz varaḳdan ḥüccet ü bürhān-ı gül
Çetr-i la‘l-i lāleden ṭoldı zümürrüd ferş hep
Çün ḳadem baṣdı zeberced taḫt üzre ḫān-ı gül
Leşker-i ḫārı ser-ā-ser tārmār itmeklige
Nergis ü nesrīn ü lāle oldılar a‘vān-ı gül
Pādşāh-ı gül-sitān-ı ‘ālem olmışdur belī
Levḥa-i dībāçe-i ḥüsn olmaġın ‘unvān-ı gül
Āteş-i ‘ışḳ ile yanmışdur benüm gibi meger
Āşkār oldı ser-ā-ser sūziş-i pinhān-ı gül
Ḫār ile ceng itmek içün nīze-i Cibrīl ile
Berḳ urur gül-zār içinde miġfer-i raḫşān-ı gül
Sāḳīyā gül ṣoḥbetin terk itmek olurdı eger
Hā diyince geçmese bir haftada devrān-ı gül
Vaḳthā gül-zār-ı ḥüsnüñden götür bārī niḳāb
Ṣoḥbet-i gülde be-ġāyet ḫūb olur efşān-ı gül
Şāḫ-ı serv üzre oḳur şöyle ġazeller dem-be-dem
‘Andelīb-i dil gibi murġ-ı hezār-elḥān-ı gül
Ey ṣaçı sünbül gözi nergis gül-i ḫandān-ı gül
Serv-i nāz-ı ḳāmeti şāḫ-ı gül-i bustān-ı gül
Devr-i ḥüsnüñ sāyilidür şeb-nem ile her seḥer
Dürr ile ṭolsa ‘aceb mi kāse-i mercān-ı gül
Gül yüzüñ devrinde varın küllī īs̱ār itmegin
Her seḥer-geh göresin yaġmalanur dükkān-ı gül
Gül-sitānda şem‘-i ḥüsnüñden çerāġı yanmaġın
Rūşen itdi būstānı ṭal‘at-ı tābān-ı gül
Şāḫ-ı gül ḳaddüñ ḫayāli birle şöyle ṭoldı kim
Ravża-i dil ṭut kim olmışdır dıraḫtistān-ı gül
Sen yüzi gül lāle-ruḫ devrinde göñlüm ġam yimez
‘Āḳıbet göstermege ṭutdısa yüz pāyān-ı gül
Kend’özin beñzetdügi cürminedür gül yüzüñe
Niçe müddet sīne-i ḫār olduġı zindān-ı gül
Ruḫlaruñ mihriyle şöyle germ olup açıldı kim
Kend’özin ṭaġıtdı hergiz ḳalmadı dermān-ı gül
Ḥüsnüñüñ mecmū‘asın gördi meger kim utanup
Ser-be-ser yundı ‘araḳdan defter ü dīvān-ı gül
Virdügiçün ḳand-i la‘lüñden seḥer yili ḫaber
Aġzın açdı ḳaldı şöyle ġonca-i ḫandān-ı gül
Kendinüñ her berginüñ görüp ḳadeḥde seyrini
Sāġar-ı la‘lüñe düşmeklige ditrer cān-ı gül
Gül-sitān-ı bāġ-ı ḥüsnüñde neden düşdi ‘aceb
Sünbül-i zülfüñ de göñlüm gibi ser-gerdān-ı gül
Ẓıll-i Ḥaḳ şāh-ı cihān olduġı gibi ‘āleme
Gül-şen içre ḳāmetüñdür sāye-i Yezdān-ı gül
Ḥażret-i sulṭān-ı ‘ālem Aḥmed-i ḫān ibn-i ḫān
Gerd-i rāhıdur cihān mānend-i nūş-ı cān-ı gül
Ol şeh-i ‘ālemdür ol kim ḫāne-i dünyā gibi
Devletinde hep bezendi ravża-i bustān-ı gül
Dest-i sīm-efşān u gevher-bāruña öykünmegin
Şöyle altun virmek olmışdur siperle şān-ı gül
Ey şeh-i devr-i zamān u Ḫüsrev-i rūy-ı zemīn
Geldi gerd-i rāhuña yüz sürmege sulṭān-ı gül
Ḫıdmete geç geldügini Ḫüsrevā ma‘ẕūr ṭut
Gerdiş-i çarḫuñdur ol var ise de noḳṣān-ı gül
Bezm-gāhuñdan zemistānda ıraġ olduġıçün
Sīne-i ḫār olmış idi külbe-i aḥzān-ı gül
Fürḳat odı birle şāhā yanmaz idi sīnesi
Ḥadden aşmasaydı āḫir āteş-i hicrān-ı gül
Genc-i feyżüñ şöyle kim virdi ġınā mecmū‘ına
Ṭurmaz altun ṭartar oldı keffe-i mīzān-ı gül
Bezm-gāhuñda ṭutupdur cā-be-cā gül meş‘ale
Her ne deñlü nergis ise micmere-gerdān-ı gül
Bulmasaydı cūy-bār-ı şevketüñden perveriş
Ṣavrulurdı kül gibi külli göge bünyān-ı gül
Her ne deñlü ḫūb-şekl ü verd-i bezm-ārāyise
Āb-ı rūy-ı gerd-i rāhuñdur ki vardur ān-ı gül
Devr-i ‘adlüñde kimüñ ne cānı var ẓulm itmege
Ḫārı siñdürse ‘aceb mi cünbiş ü cevlān-ı gül
Dest-i ‘adlüñle yaḳasın ḫār elinden ḳurtarup
Seyre çıḳmışdur süvāre giñ olup meydān-ı gül
Aluban ḫuddām-ı encüm-iḥtişāmuñdan sebaḳ
Baġladı gül-şende ṣaflar leşker-i reyhān-ı gül
Yile virürler ser-ā-ser ṭurmayup varlıḳların
Ḫāk-i pāyuñ yolına gül-zārda a‘yān-ı gül
Nice bir hafta iremez ẕerresine feyżüñüñ
Tā ebed la‘l ü cevāhirden k’ola iḥsān-ı gül
Çekdi tīġin boynın urmaġa ‘adūñuñ yir yirin
Sūsen-i āzāde k’olmışdur bugün der-bān-ı gül
İttifāḳī zīnet-i bezmüñi ḳılmaġa edā
Lāle vü nesrīn ü nergis oldılar iḫvān-ı gül
Gül-bün-i gül-zār-ı devletsin ki devrüñde bugün
La‘l ü yāḳūt u zeberced birle oynar kān-ı gül
İtüñ izi devletinde bize gül eksük degül
Ṭurmayup geçdi giderse çāre ne āvān-ı gül
Çün du‘ā-yı şāh-ı ‘ālemdür murāduñ ḫod Münīr
Sözi uzatma dükenmez ḳıṣṣa vü destān-ı gül
Yanduġınca şem‘-i lāle esdügince bād-ı ṣubḥ
Ġunc ile olduḳça ḫurrem ġonca-i ḫandān-ı gül
İrdügince sünbül ü nesrīn ü şāḫ-ı żaymürān
Olduġınca ‘ālem içre ḥayyiz-i imkān-ı gül
Ẓıll-i Ḥaḳsın Ḥaḳ Te‘ālā ẓıllüñi memdūd idüp
Sāye ṣalsun ḫıdmetüñde tā ebed aġṣān-ı gül

In English

1. Because the sultan of the rose has opened a register in the rose garden, all the blossoms have gathered and the divan of the rose has filled from end to end. ("Defter" and "divan" can be read both as the register and council of the state chancery and as a book of poems.)

2. The ruby, garnet and gold that fill the skirt of the rose are the blood-money for the "ehl-i beyt", the helpless nightingale. ("Ehl-i beyt" in the dictionary sense means the people of the house; since "beyt" means both house and couplet, the phrase also calls to mind the people of verse, the poets. The word "kim" in square brackets is Ersoy's emendation according to metre and sense.)

3. The child of the meadow's sultan has the blood of sacrifice on his forehead; the heartsick nightingale seems to have become the rose's sacrifice. (The red rose is likened to a child whose forehead has been marked with the blood of a sacrifice.)

4. So that the bud's banqueting hall may be adorned, the rose's iwan has filled from end to end with red sunbursts. ("Şemse" in the dictionary sense is a round, sun-shaped ornament; the open roses are likened to these ornaments.)

5. To be filled at last with the Kevser of April rain, the garnet fountain of the rose has become a ruby pool. (Kevser is the name of a river of paradise; April rain was counted a blessing. The red cup of the rose is likened to a pool.)

6. The beauty of the candle has so burned the nightingale's heart that the rose's brazier is brimming with sparks. (The rose is thought of as a candle and as the fire of a brazier; the yellow pollen inside is the sparks.)

7. The rose, the Joseph of Canaan, has sent the scent of his shirt with the morning breeze to the old nightingale of love. (The allusion is to the scent of Joseph's shirt reaching his father Jacob; the nightingale is Jacob and the rose is Joseph.)

8. The teeth of the rose seem to arrive with the dew every dawn to bite the ruby lip of the bud. (The white drops of dew are likened to teeth.)

9. However much armour the east breeze strips and puts on the bud, the arrowhead of the rose pays no heed, does not stop, and passes straight through it. (The layered petals of the bud are likened to armour, and the rose that pierces through them as it opens to an arrowhead.)

10. O heart, here again is the repentance broken in a hundred places, for the rose's cup and "peymān" have been set out in this way. ("Peymān" means a vow or oath and also calls to mind "peymāne", a cup; in the rose season the repentance of one who has sworn off wine is broken.)

11. Because dragon-shaped banners have been raised over the thorn, the four pillars of the rose are adorned with ranks of blossoms. (The dragon-shaped banners are the thorny branches. "Çehār erkān" in the dictionary sense means four foundations, four pillars.)

12. Ever since the burning of the bud turned the nightingale to ashes, the rose's anemone too has burned with the fire of the rose.

13. Because the most excellent of shapes is the round one, the form of the rose's colours shows a round figure. (In older thought the circle was held to be the most perfect shape; the poet gives this as the poetic cause of the rose being round, a hüsn-i talil.)

14. O heart, so many ruby trays have come into being; the table of the rose seems to be spread out for the people of the meadow.

15. Imagine that every tree branch has brought fruit as whatever it had to hand, because the rose has come as a guest to the corner of the garden. ("Mā-ḥażar" in the dictionary sense means "whatever is at hand".)

16. So that no one should speak of blood-money for the nightingale, the hundred leaves of the rose are more than enough as evidence and proof. ("Varaḳ" means both a leaf and a page; the hundred-petalled rose is imagined as a document of a hundred pages.)

17. The emerald carpet has filled from end to end with the ruby canopies of the tulip, since the khan of the rose set foot on the chrysolite throne. (The green grass is thought of as an emerald carpet and chrysolite throne, the red tulips as canopies.)

18. To rout the army of thorns entirely, the narcissus, the wild rose and the tulip became the rose's allies.

19. Yes, the rose has become padishah of the rose garden of the world, for its title is the headpiece of the preface of the book of beauty. (A dibace is the preface of a book, and the levha the decorated heading at its start.)

20. The rose too must have burned with the fire of love like me; the hidden burning of the rose has come to light from end to end.

21. The rose's shining helmet flashes like lightning in the rose garden, to fight the thorn with the lance of Gabriel.

22. Cupbearer, it would be possible to give up the company of the rose, if only the rose's season did not pass in a week before one could say "ha".

23. Lift the veil from the rose garden of your beauty at least now and then; in the company of the rose, a scattering of roses is very fine. ("Efşān" means something scattered, a strewing.)

24. The rose's bird of a thousand songs, like the nightingale of the heart, thus recites ghazals without pause on the branch of the cypress. ("Hezār" means both "thousand" and "nightingale"; the word can be read in both senses.)

25. O you whose hair is hyacinth, whose eye is narcissus, the laughing rose of the rose; O you whose cypress-like stature is the rose branch of the rose garden.

26. The coral bowl of the rose is a beggar of the age of your beauty every dawn, with the dew; is it any wonder if it fills with pearls? (The red cup of the rose is likened to a coral bowl and the dewdrops to pearls.)

27. Because the rose scatters all it has in the age of your rose-like face, every dawn you will see the shop of the rose being plundered. (The rose petals blown about by the wind are likened to plundered goods.)

28. Because its lamp is lit from the candle of your beauty in the rose garden, the shining face of the rose has lit up the garden.

29. The rose branch has so filled with the image of your stature that you may count the garden of the heart a grove of roses.

30. O rose-faced, tulip-cheeked one, in your age my heart does not grieve, even though the end of the rose season has begun to show.

31. If the rose has long made the breast of the thorn its prison, that is the punishment for comparing itself to your rose-like face. (The bud caught among thorns is likened to a prison; this is a hüsn-i talil.)

32. The rose was so warmed by the love (the sun) of your cheeks and opened so wide that it scattered itself and no strength was left in it. ("Mihr" means both love and the sun. According to Ersoy's note the text reads "fermān"; Ersoy thinks it should be "dermān", strength.)

33. The rose must have seen the anthology of your beauty, for, ashamed, the register and divan of the rose were washed in sweat from end to end. (The sweat is the dew on the rose; anthology and divan also call to mind books of poetry.)

34. Because the dawn breeze brought news of the sugar of your ruby lip, the laughing rosebud opened its mouth and stayed just so.

35. Seeing the reflection of each of its petals in the goblet, the soul of the rose trembles to fall into your ruby goblet.

36. I wonder why, in the rose garden of the garden of your beauty, the hyacinth of your lock has also become, like my heart, dizzy with the rose. ("Ser-gerdān" means both dizzy and bewildered, and hanging head down; the curl of the lock is likened to this.)

37. Just as the king of the world is the shadow of God over the world, so within the rose garden your stature is the divine shadow of the rose. ("Ẓıll-i Ḥaḳ", "shadow of God", is a title used for sultans; the girizgâh is made with this couplet.)

38. His Majesty the sultan of the world, Ahmed Han son of a Han, the dust of whose road is to the world like the rose's sherbet of life.

39. He is the king of the world under whose rule the garden of the rose has been adorned from end to end like the house of the world.

40. By imitating your hand that scatters silver and rains jewels, giving away gold with a shield has become the rose's glory. (The round cup of the rose is likened to a shield and the yellow pollen inside it to gold.)

41. O king of the age and Khosrow of the face of the earth, the sultan of the rose has come to rub its face on the dust of your road. (Khosrow is the famous name of Persian kings; here it is used in the sense of ruler.)

42. O Khosrow, forgive the rose for coming late to your service; if the rose has any fault, it comes from the turning of the heavens.

43. Because it was far from your feast in winter, the breast of the thorn had been the rose's hut of sorrows. ("Külbe-i aḥzān" alludes to the hut of sorrows in which Jacob wept in longing for Joseph.)

44. O king, the rose's breast would not burn with the fire of parting, had the fire of the rose's separation not at last passed all bounds.

45. Your treasury of bounty has given them all such wealth that the scale pan of the rose keeps weighing out gold without pause. (The cup of the rose is likened to a scale pan and its yellow pollen to gold.)

46. In your feast the rose holds torches here and there; every narcissus there is carries round the rose's censer.

47. Had it not been nurtured by the stream of your majesty, the rose's foundation would have been blown entirely into the sky like ashes.

48. However fair of form and feast-adorning the rose may be, the charm of the rose comes from the honour of the dust of your road. ("Verd" means rose in Arabic. "Āb-ı rū", the water of the face, means standing and honour.)

49. In the age of your justice, who has the heart to do wrong? Is it any wonder if the swaying and prancing of the rose breaks the thorn?

50. Having freed its collar from the hand of the thorn by the hand of your justice, the rose has gone out riding for a stroll, its field grown wide.

51. Taking a lesson from your servants of starry majesty, the rose's army of basil has drawn up its ranks in the rose garden.

52. The notables of the rose in the rose garden give their whole being to the wind without pause, on the road of the dust of your feet. (The rose petals blown by the wind are likened to wealth strewn on the sultan's path.)

53. Even if the rose's gift were of rubies and jewels for all eternity, how could it, with its one-week life, reach a mote of your bounty? (The line can also be understood as "cannot reach it even for a week".)

54. The free lily, which has become the rose's doorkeeper today, has drawn its sword here and there to strike off your enemy's neck. (The lily's sword-shaped leaves; "āzāde" in the dictionary sense means free, independent, and is a known epithet of the lily.)

55. The tulip, the wild rose and the narcissus have become the rose's brothers, to carry out together the adornment of your feast.

56. You are the rosebush of the rose garden of fortune; in your age today the rose's mine plays with ruby, garnet and chrysolite.

57. Through the fortune of your dog's track we lack no roses; if the rose's season passes and goes without stopping, what is to be done? (The couplet is not entirely clear. Even the track of the dog at the door may be counted precious enough to take the place of the rose.)

58. O Münîr, since your wish is in any case to pray for the king of the world, do not draw out your words; the tale and epic of the rose never ends.

59. As long as the candle of the tulip burns, as long as the morning wind blows, as long as the laughing rosebud is merry with coquetry,

60. As long as the hyacinth, the wild rose and the branch of sweet basil grow, as long as the rose remains within the bounds of what can exist in the world,

61. You are the shadow of God; may God Most High lengthen your shadow, and may the branches of the rose cast their shade in your service forever.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Turkish kaside (qasida) of sixty-one couplets and is numbered Kaside 22 in the edition. The kaside is a long verse form in which every couplet keeps the same rhyme, usually written to praise a ruler or a great man of state. The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "gül" (rose); Ersoy mentions "gül" separately among the kaside refrains of the divan. The rhyme rests on the sound "-ān" (sulṭān, dīvān, dāmān, ḳurbān, eyvān); Ersoy cites this kaside among the examples of the rhyme in which a long vowel comes before the final rhyming letter (kafiye-i müreddefe). The kaside is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 43a). The heading in the edition, "Der-medḥ-i Şeh-zāde Sulṭān Aḥmed ṭāle beḳāhü", means "In praise of Prince Sultan Ahmed; may his life be long". The word "kim" in square brackets in couplet 2 is Ersoy's emendation according to metre and sense; in couplet 32 the text reads "fermān", and Ersoy thinks it should be "dermān". The sources give no information on when or on what occasion the kaside was presented.

The sections of the kaside can be clearly seen in the text. Couplets 1-22 are an opening section describing the rose season; in couplet 22 the poet addresses the cupbearer and says that the rose season passes and is gone in a week. Couplets 23-24 prepare the passage to the beloved and to the bird reciting ghazals. Couplet 25 is a new matla‘ (opening couplet) whose two lines both end in "gül", and couplets 25-36 address the beloved like a ghazal (gazel) set inside the kaside. Couplet 37 is the girizgâh (transition): just as the sultan is the shadow of God in the world, the beloved's stature is the shadow of the rose in the rose garden. The name of the person praised appears in couplet 38: "Ḥażret-i sulṭān-ı ‘ālem Aḥmed-i ḫān ibn-i ḫān". Couplets 38-57 are the medhiye (praise section). In couplet 58 the poet addresses himself by his pen name (mahlas) "Münīr" and turns to the prayer, saying "do not draw out your words, the epic of the rose never ends"; the last three couplets are a prayer built on the pattern "as long as …".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The whole imagery of the kaside is built around the rose of the refrain, and in every couplet the rose takes on another guise. The rose is a sultan who opens a register and holds council (1); it carries the nightingale's blood-money in its skirt (2); it is a child whose forehead is marked with the blood of a sacrifice (3), the Joseph of Canaan (7), a warrior whose helmet flashes like lightning (21), a generous lord who hands out gold with his shield (40) and a treasurer whose scales weigh out gold without pause (45). Most of these similes come from the look of the flower: its red petals become ruby, garnet, coral and sunburst ornaments, the yellow pollen at its centre gold and sparks, its round cup a shield, a pool and a scale pan. The couplets that explain the roundness of the rose by the circle being the most perfect shape (13), and its being caught among thorns as punishment for the crime of comparing itself to the beloved's face (31), are clear examples of hüsn-i talil, the figure that gives a poetic cause in place of the real one.

Münîrî's fondness for wordplay and words with several meanings shows in this kaside too. "Ehl-i beyt" in couplet 2 can be read both as the people of the house and as the people of the couplet, that is, the poets; "peymān" in couplet 10 calls to mind both a vow and a cup; in couplet 16 "varak" is both a leaf and a page; in couplet 24 "hezār" carries the senses of both "thousand" and "nightingale"; in couplet 32 "mihr" is both love and the sun. In couplets 1 and 33 the words "defter ü dīvān" present the rose as a state chancery and at the same time call to mind a book of poems; "mecmū‘a" in couplet 33 is likewise the name for an anthology of poems. The allusions come mostly from the stories of the prophets: the scent of Joseph's shirt (7), Jacob's hut of sorrows (43) and Gabriel's lance (21). In couplet 22 the rose season passing in a week "before one could say ha" is an idiom taken from everyday speech.

In the praise section the spring flowers turn into the servants of Prince Ahmed's feast: the rose holds torches, the narcissus carries round the censer (46), the lily becomes the doorkeeper and draws its sword to strike off the enemy's neck (54), and the tulip, wild rose and narcissus become the rose's brothers to adorn the feast (55). In the girizgâh couplet (37) and the last couplet (61) the epithet "ẓıll-i Ḥaḳ" (shadow of God), used for sultans, appears, and the image of the shadow is joined to the shade of the rose's branches. Ersoy gives no information that the kaside was written as a nazire (response poem) to another poet.

Historical Context

According to the heading in the edition, the kaside is a poem of praise written for Prince Ahmed; the person praised is named in couplet 38 as "Aḥmed-i ḫān ibn-i ḫān". According to Ersoy, the divan contains kasides written for Prince Ahmed; according to the headings in the edition, K 22-28 are among them. Münîrî had been in Ahmed's circle while Ahmed was governor in Amasya, and according to Hüseyin Hüsameddin he was Ahmed's nişancı (chancery secretary) between 910 and 915 (1504-1510). There is no record showing whether the kaside was written in those years.

Bibliography

Online sources