Original Persian Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Ān ki ber-mülk-i cihān sāye-i Sübḥān ānest
Melik-i Türk ü ‘Arab-rā vü ‘Acem sulṭānest
Ḫüsrev-i rūy-ı zemīn ḥażret-i sulṭān Aḥmed
Şāh-ı sulṭān-ı gedā vü şeh-i dervīşānest
Rūşenest ān ki şod ū şöhre-i āfāḳ belī
Mis̱l-i sulṭān-ı felek nādire-i devr ānest
Mī-koned meh ‘asesī ber-ser-i kūyeş heme şeb
Geh be-desteş siper ü gāh gehī çevgānest
Der-ṣalābet ḫalef-i Ḫaydar-ı kerrār toyī
Ḳıṣṣa-i Rüstem ez-ān pīş-i to yek destānest
Berḳ-ı tīġ-i to ki ber-farḳ-ı ‘adū-yı to resed
Naṣṣ-ı ḳāṭı‘ şoden-i ḥükm-i to-rā bürhānest
Gīsū-yı şām-ı ecel ḥabl-i metīneş şod ez-ān
Düşmen-i cāh-ı to-rā mülk-i cihān zindānest
Āsmān-rā ser-i meh gerçi zi-rütbet be-resīd
Çün gedāyān heme şeb kūy-ı to-rā mihmānest
Düşmenān-ı to ki iẓhār-ı ‘adāvet kerdend
Heme bī-ḫod şode ez-cām-ı ecel mestānest
Z’ān konem ḳaṣd-ı ḳaṣīde heme der-midḥat-i to
Īnçonīn şi‘r be-meddāḥ-ı to-rā āsānest
‘Īd-i vuṣlat ki dil-i ḫaste ber-ū ḳurbānest
Cān dehem ber-reh-i ū z’ān ki be-ḥaḳḳ-ı ḳurb’ānest
Dil ki der-ḥalḳa-i gīsū-yı to şod ḥalḳa be-gūş
Hemçü zülfeyn-i to ser-geşte vü ser-gerdānest
Hestī-i la‘l-i to ma‘lūm-ı kesī hīc ne-şod
Rūḥ maḥżest ki sırr-ı leb-i to pinhānest
Fī’l-mes̱el sīne-i men yek siperest ez-pūlād
Ez-ḫadeng-i to çonīn sīne ki pür-sükkānest
Ber-dil[em] şekl-i ṣanavber ki buved peykānet
Ū zi-ḫūn-ı dil-i men dāne-i yek rummānest
Cānem ez-ẓevḳ-ı leb-i la‘let ez-īn rū ne-güẕeşt
Ẓāhirest ān ki dilā ḥubb-i vaṭan īmānest
Gerçi tengest belī ḫāne-i dil der-ḳademet
Ez-gülistān-ı cemāl-i to hemān bustānest
Cān ki behr-i ser-i gīsū-yı to şod dest-āvīz
Tuḥfe-i ḫaste-dilānest ü tehī-destānest
Der-ḫayālet ki raḳīb-i to be-dil mī-āyed
Ez-reh-i rāst be-ḫᵛāhed ki bered şeyṭānest
Ḳābil-i devlet-i vaṣlam to ne’ī hīc me-gū
Ḳābiliyyet be-cihān lāzıme-i insānest
Ez-fiġān-ı dil-i zār-ı men-i bī-çāre me-renc
Gül-şen-i kūy-ı to-rā murġ-ı hezār-elḥānest
Dil-i bīmār-ı men-i ḫaste ki ber-kūy-ı to hest
Mī-nümāyed ki hemān yek şebegī mihmānest
Hīc bā-çeşm-i ḥaḳāret be-faḳīret me-niger
Gerçi şāhī vü ġulāmān-ı to bī-pāyānest
Men ü to bende-i ān şāh-ı cihānem ki müdām
Ḫod-ı to dānī ki dereş secde-geh-i ḫūbānest
Ān şehenşāh-ı cihānest ki der-mülk-i cihān
Be-miyān-ı heme sulṭān-ı selāṭīn ḫānest
Vaṣf-ı ḳadreş ki der-ū hīc nihāyet ne-buved
Īn ḳadr dānemeş ey dil ki merā imkānest
Ẕikr-i ū ez-dil-i her kes ne-reved hīc demī
Ey dil insān ki mürekkeb şode ez-nisyānest
Ey şeh-i devr-i zamān pādşeh-i heft iḳlīm
Rub‘-ı meskūn zi-keremhā-yı to pür-iḥsānest
Berḳ-ı tīġet ki ‘ayān şod çü ruḫ-ı māh-veşān
Fitne hemçün dehen-i ‘işve-gerān pinhānest
Siperet tāze gül-i gül-şen-i dehrest belī
Gūyiyā ber-yed-i to ḫāverī-i raḫşānest
Hem-dem-i perçem-i rāyāt-ı to şod bād-ı ẓafer
Ḳader ü fetḥ ü ḳażā tīġ-i to-rā yārānest
Her kirişme ki koned nīze-i to ber-a‘dā
‘İşvehāyeş hemegī şīve-i yek s̱u‘bānest
Cevher-i tīġ-i to-rā bīnem ü pindāred dil
K’ez dem-i ḫaṣm be-mānde es̱er-i efşānest
Sebzī-i bāġ-ı ḫilāfet ki şeved ez-vey tāze
Z’āb-ı tīġet ki ber-a‘dā-yı to-rā ṭūfānest
Pāye-i ḳadr-i to-rā fikr-i kesī der-ne-resed
Heştümīn çarḫ ki ber-ḳadr-i to yek eyvānest
Heme ber-ẕāt-ı şerīf-i to cibillīst tamām
Āyet-i luṭf ki ber-‘unṣur-i pāket şānest
Çeşme-i āb-ı hayātest belī gerd-i rehet
Ḫāk-i der-gāh-ı to bā-cevher-i cān yeksānest
Cirm-i ḫūr şemse-i eyvān-ı to-rā nīst şebīh
Nisbet-i māh-ı tamām er konemeş noḳṣānest
Ẕāt-ı pāk-i to zi-ser tā-ḳadem ey şāh-ı cihān
Baḫşiş-i luṭf-ı Ḫudā ‘āṭıfet-i Yezdānest
Ān ki hem-nām-ı resūlest der-ān ḳurb Münīr
Gerçi Selmān ne-şod ammā ki hemān Ḥassānest
Tā buved merdümek-i dīde-i devrān ḫurşīd
Tā ki īn çarḫ-ı muḳarnes ki çonīn gerdānest
Ṭal‘at-ı mihr-i ruḫet bād hemīşe tābān
Ki ez-ū merdümek-i çeşm-i cihān tābānest

In English

1. He it is who is the shadow of God over the realm of the world; he is the sultan of the kings of the Turks, the Arabs and the Persians. (The line can be read in two ways: as Ersoy gives it, "the sultan of the kings of the Turks, Arabs and Persians", or "the king of the Turks and Arabs and the sultan of the Persians".)

2. The ruler of the face of the earth, His Majesty Sultan Ahmed, is the sultan of beggars and the shah of dervishes. (Word for word the line can also be read "the shah of the sultan of beggars"; Ersoy understands it as "the shah of beggars and dervishes".)

3. It is plain that he has become famous in every horizon; yes, like the sun, the sultan of the sky, he is the rarity of the age.

4. Every night the moon keeps watch at the head of his street; in its hand there is sometimes a shield, sometimes a polo stick. (The full moon seems to be likened to a shield and the crescent to the curved end of a polo stick.)

5. In valour and steadfastness you are the successor of Haydar-ı Kerrâr; that is why the tale of Rüstem is a mere story beside you. (Haydar-ı Kerrâr, "the lion who charges again and again", is the epithet of Ali. "Destān" in the dictionary sense means both tale and fable.)

6. The lightning of your sword falling on the head of your enemy is proof that your decree is a definitive text. ("Naṣṣ-ı ḳāṭı‘" in the dictionary sense is a definitive ruling that leaves no room for interpretation; besides "definitive", "ḳāṭı‘" also means "cutting", which links it to the sword.)

7. The hair of the evening of death has become his strong rope; that is why the realm of the world is a prison to the enemy of your rank. ("Ḥabl-i metīn" means a strong rope in the dictionary sense.)

8. Though the moon has reached the summit of the sky by its rank, every night it comes as a guest to your street like the beggars.

9. All who have shown their enmity to you are drunkards who have lost themselves with the cup of death.

10. That is why I devote my whole intent of kaside to your praise; for one who praises you, poetry like this comes easily.

11. There is a feast of union to which the sick heart offers itself as sacrifice; I give my life on its road, for that is the due of nearness. (There is a pun between "ḳurbān" (sacrifice) and "ḳurb ān" (that nearness). Ersoy understands the second line as "I give my life on its road so as to be near to it".)

12. The heart that has become a slave with a ring in its ear in the ring of your hair is bewildered and dizzy like your locks. ("Ḥalḳa be-gūş" in the dictionary sense means one with a ring in the ear, that is, a slave; the word "ḥalḳa" is repeated with the ring of the hair.)

13. The existence of your ruby lip has never become known to anyone; your lip is pure spirit, and so its secret is hidden. (Ersoy understands it as "since the spirit is essence, the secret of your lip is hidden". The invisibility of the lip relates to the beloved's mouth being so small as to be almost non-existent.)

14. Even if my breast were, so to speak, a shield of steel, your arrow would make it a breast filled with arrows. (Ersoy understands "full of arrows"; "sükkān" means inhabitants, residents in the dictionary sense, and the arrows may be thought of as residents who have settled in the breast.)

15. Your arrowhead, shaped like a pine, lodged in my heart, has turned into a pomegranate seed from the blood of my heart. ("Ṣanavber" means pine in the dictionary sense; Ersoy gives "in the shape of a pine tree". The suffix "-em" in square brackets is Ersoy's emendation on grounds of metre and sense.)

16. That is why my soul never gave up the pleasure of your ruby lip; O heart, it is plain that love of homeland is part of faith. (The line uses the widely known saying "love of homeland is part of faith"; for the poet's soul, the homeland is the beloved's lip.)

17. Though the house of the heart is narrow before your feet, it at once becomes an orchard thanks to the rose garden of your beauty.

18. The soul, which has become a means of clinging to the tips of your hair, is the gift of the heart-sick and the empty-handed. ("Dest-āvīz" in the dictionary sense is something to hold on to, a means; "tehī-dest" means empty-handed, poor. Both words contain "dest" (hand).)

19. The rival who comes into the heart within the image of you is the devil who wants to lead one off the straight path. (Ersoy reads the couplet as "if you see your rival watching over you in your dream, he is the devil trying to lead you astray".)

20. Do not say "you are not worthy at all of the fortune of union"; in this world capability is an inseparable quality of man. ("Ḳābil" (worthy) and "ḳābiliyyet" (capability) come from the same root.)

21. Do not be vexed by the cries of the moaning heart of helpless me; it is a bird of a thousand melodies in the rose garden of your street. ("Hezār-elḥān" means of a thousand melodies; "hezār" in the dictionary sense also means nightingale.)

22. The sick heart of wounded me that lies in your street is, it seems, only a guest there for one night.

23. Though you are a shah and your servants are countless, never look on your humble one with contempt.

24. You and I are forever the servants of that shah of the world; you yourself know that his door is the place where beauties prostrate themselves. (Here the poet turns from the beloved to the shah whose servants they both are.)

25. He is the emperor of the world, the khan who is sultan of sultans among all the sultans in the realm of the world. (Ersoy gives the second line as "he is a khan among all the sultans".)

26. O heart, there is no end to describing his worth; of it I know only as much as lies within my power. (There is wordplay between "ḳadr" (worth) and "īn ḳadr" (this much).)

27. The remembrance of him never leaves anyone's heart for a single moment; O heart, and yet man is kneaded out of forgetfulness. (Linking the word "insān" (man) with "nisyān" (forgetfulness) is an old play on words.)

28. O shah of the age, padishah of the seven climes; the inhabited quarter of the world is filled with bounty through your generosities. ("Rub‘-ı meskūn" in the dictionary sense is the inhabited quarter of the earth.)

29. When the lightning of your sword shines like the cheek of the moon-faced, sedition hides like the mouth of coquettish beauties. (The beauty's mouth is too small to be seen; sedition likewise vanishes.)

30. Your shield, yes, is the fresh rose of the rose garden of the age; it is as if a shining sun were in your hand.

31. The wind of victory has become the companion of the tassels of your banners; fate, conquest and destiny are the friends of your sword.

32. Every glance and coquetry your lance makes against the enemy is wholly the manner of a dragon. ("Kirişme", "‘işve" and "şīve" in the dictionary sense denote coquetry and manner; "s̱u‘bān" is a great serpent, a dragon. Ersoy reads the couplet as likening the sound of the lance to a serpent's hiss.)

33. I see the watering of your sword's steel, and my heart imagines it bears the spattered traces left by the enemy's blood. ("Dem" in the dictionary sense means both blood and breath.)

34. The verdure of the garden of the caliphate is refreshed by the water of your sword, which is a flood to your enemies. ("Āb-ı tīġ" in the dictionary sense is the water of the sword, that is, its sheen.)

35. No one's thought reaches the step of your worth; even the eighth heaven is but a portico beside your rank.

36. The verse of grace that is the glory of your pure essence is innate, entirely, in your noble person.

37. Yes, the dust of your road is the spring of the water of life; the soil of your court is one with the substance of the soul.

38. The orb of the sun does not resemble the sunburst ornament of your portico; were I to liken it to the full moon, that too would be a deficiency. ("Şemse" in the dictionary sense is the sun-shaped motif in ceiling and bookbinding decoration. "Māh-ı tamām" means full moon; there is an antithesis between "tamām" (complete) and "noksān" (deficiency).)

39. O shah of the world, your pure person from head to foot is the gift of God's grace and the compassion of the Lord.

40. In the nearness of that shah who is the namesake of the Prophet, Münîr, though he has not become a Selmân, is a very Hassân. (Ahmed is one of the names of the Prophet. Ersoy explains Selmân as Selmân-ı Fârisî; Hassân is Hassân b. Sâbit, the poet known for his praise of the Prophet. Ersoy reads the couplet as an address, "O Münîr".)

41. As long as the sun is the pupil of the eye of time, as long as this vaulted, many-tiered sphere turns as it does…

42. May the radiance of your sun-like face shine forever; for the pupil of the world's eye takes its light from it and shines.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Persian kaside (qasida) of forty-two couplets and is numbered Kaside 24 in the edition. The kaside is a long verse form in which all couplets run on a single rhyme, usually written to praise a ruler or a dignitary of state. The metre is "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "-est", which in Persian means "is"; the rhyme rests on the sound "-ān" (Sübḥān, sulṭān, dervīşān, destān, zindān, mihmān). In his list of refrains Ersoy places this kaside among the kasides with the refrain "-est", and in his discussion of rhyme among the examples of kafiye-i müreddefe. The kaside is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 47a). The heading in the edition, "Fī-medḥ-i Sulṭān Aḥmed", means "In praise of Sultan Ahmed". The suffix "-em" in square brackets in couplet 15 is Ersoy's emendation. The sources give no information on when or on what occasion the kaside was presented.

The kaside does not open with a descriptive prelude; it enters straight into praise from the first couplet, and the patron's name appears in couplet 2 as "ḥażret-i sulṭān Aḥmed". Couplets 1-10 describe the prince's fame, his valour and the end of his enemies; in couplet 10 the poet says that he devotes his whole intent of kaside to his praise. Couplet 11 is a new matla (opening couplet) with both lines ending in "-ānest", and couplets 11-23 address the beloved like a ghazal (gazel) set inside the kaside. Couplet 24 is the girizgâh (transition to praise): the poet tells the beloved "you and I are servants of that shah of the world" and returns to praise. Couplets 25-39 form the second praise section. Couplet 40 is the pen-name (mahlas) couplet, and the kaside ends with a two-couplet prayer built on the pattern "tā … tā …" (as long as …).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The praise sections compare the prince with heavenly bodies, epic heroes and religious figures. Like the sun he is the rarity of the age (3), the moon keeps watch in his street every night and comes to his door as a guest like the beggars (4, 8), in valour he is the successor of Ali and the tale of Rüstem is a mere story beside him (5), and the eighth heaven is but a portico beside his worth (35). Sword, shield and lance are brought to life one after another: the lightning of the sword proves the finality of his decree (6), his shield is a sun held in the hand (30), his lance is a coquettish dragon (32), and the watering of his sword's steel resembles the spatter of enemy blood (33). Couplet 29 joins these two worlds; the gleam of the sword is likened to the cheek of beauties, and the vanishing of sedition to the beauties' mouths, too small to be seen. Hyperbole is the basic device of the kaside.

Münîrî's fondness for wordplay shows in this kaside as well. In couplet 11 there is a pun built on identical sound between "ḳurbānest" and "ḳurb ānest"; in couplet 26 "ḳadr" (worth) and "īn ḳadr" (this much), in couplet 20 "ḳābil" and "ḳābiliyyet", and in couplet 27 "insān" and "nisyān" are set side by side. In couplet 12 there is tenasüp (congruence of images) between the slave's earring and the ring of the hair, and in couplet 18 between "dest-āvīz" and "tehī-dest". In couplet 16 the common saying "love of homeland is part of faith" is used by way of irsal-i mesel (quoting a proverb), and the poet's homeland becomes the beloved's lip. In the ghazal section the beloved's glance is an arrow and the poet's breast a shield filled with arrows (14); the arrowhead lodged in the heart mixes with blood and turns into a pomegranate seed (15).

The pen-name couplet (40) is the most striking couplet of the kaside. Since the prince's name, Ahmed, is one of the names of the Prophet, the poet calls him "the namesake of the Prophet" and likens himself, beside him, to those close to the Prophet: though he is not a Selmân, he is a Hassân, that is, if not a close companion, then at least his poet. Ersoy explains Selmân as Selmân-ı Fârisî. The name also recalls Selmân-ı Sâvecî, under whose influence Münîrî wrote his Persian kasides; this second reading, however, is not in Ersoy, and it is not certain whether the couplet carries a tevriye (double entendre). Ersoy's introduction gives no information that this kaside was written as a nazire (response poem) to another poet. The English rendering is based on the Persian text and on Ersoy's meanings in the apparatus; places where it departs from Ersoy or where two readings are possible are noted under the couplets.

Historical Context

According to the heading in the edition, the kaside is a eulogy written for Prince Ahmed; the patron is named in couplet 2 as "Ḫüsrev-i rūy-ı zemīn ḥażret-i sulṭān Aḥmed". The same line also appears word for word in couplet 22 of Kaside 23. In the kaside the prince is given sovereign titles such as "shah of the age", "padishah of the seven climes" (28) and "sultan of the Turks, Arabs and Persians" (1); these belong to the language of the eulogy and do not indicate a date. Münîrî had been in Ahmed's circle while the prince was governor of Amasya, and according to Hüseyin Hüsameddin he was Ahmed's chancellor (nişancı) between 910 and 915 (1504-1510). There is no record showing whether the kaside was written in those years.

Bibliography

Online sources