Original Persian Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün

Sulṭān-ı ins ü cān ki be-ten mihr-i cān nihād
Mihr-i ruḫ-ı to ber-dil ü rūḥ u revān nihād
Şod ṣadr-ı sīne behr-i ḫayāl-i to cāy-ı ḫūb
Merdüm zi-ḥavż-ı dīde ki şādürvān nihād
Dil der-viṣāl-i mūy-ı miyān-ı to mī-resed
Hem-çün kemer ki hestī-i ḫod der-miyān nihād
Āvāze-i zih ey ṣanem āfāḳ-rā girift
Tīr-i belā ki ġamze-i to ber-kemān nihād
Der-bezm-gāh-ı ḫayl-i ḫayālet ki mī-şeved
Ḫod-rā der-ān miyāne dilem şem‘-dān nihād
Zerrīn-perīst māh-ı nev ey māh-rū meger
Mis̱l-i to behr-i ‘īd be-ser k’āsmān nihād
Behr-i nis̱ār-ı maḳdem-i ḫayl-i ḫayāl-i to
Be’nger be-dīdeem ki be-rāheş dü kān nihād
Ḫadd ü ruḫet ki ḫāṣıyet-i āteş ender-ūst
Nāmeş egerçi ḫalḳ gül-i gülsitān nihād
Ber-ḫāk-i dergeh-i to ruḫem her ki dīd ü goft
Gūyā müferriḥīst ber-ū za‘ferān nihād
Cānā mis̱āl-i ġonca-i lāle derūn-ı dil
Ḫāl-i lebet be-bīn ki çi dāġ-ı nihān nihād
Ḫᵛāhed be-ṣadr-ı sīne ḫayālet ki mī-resed
Ber-reh-güẕār-ı dīde dilem çeşm-i cān nihād
Der-kişver-i cemāl-i cemīleş ki zülf-i yār
Leşker-keşīst pür-dil ez-ān ber-kerān nihād
Hem-çün zamāne fi‘l-i to-rā nīst i‘timād
Dil ber-vefā vü ‘ahd-i to müşkil tevān nihād
Peykān-ı nāvek-i to derūn-ı dilem ki hest
Rūşen şod ān ki menzil-i ḫod-rā nişān nihād
Çīzī nüvişt ḫaṭṭ-ı to ber-şekker-i lebet
Dil-rā teb-i hevā-yı to cānā ez-ān nihād
Der-gül-sitān-ı bāġ-ı cemāl-i to zülf-i to
Ber-berg-i gül zi-sünbül-i ter sāyebān nihād
‘Ayn-ı ḥayāt şod dehen-i yār-ı men meger
Būse be-ḫāk-i der-geh-i şāh-ı cihān nihād
Sulṭān-ı ‘ālem Aḥmed-i muḫtār-ı kāyināt
Ber-ḫāk-i der-geheş ser ü çeşm ins ü cān nihād
Der-şīşe-i felek ki buved gerd-i rāh-ı ū
Küḥlīst cevherī ki ber-ān sürmedān nihād
Īn resm-i salṭanat ki der-īn milket-i cihān
Pīr-i felek ne-dīd ki ān nev-cüvān nihād
Her cā ki hest ḫırmen-i ‘ömr-i ‘adū-yı vey
Āteş zi-tīġ u nīze-i āteş-feşān nihād
Ey Ḫüsrev-i zemīn ü zamān ṣīt-i heybetet
Der-bīşe vehm ber-dil-i şīr-i jiyān nihād
Evvel ḥurūf-ı ism-i şerīf-i to mī-nüvişt
Ān dem ḳalem be-levḥ ki ey şeh benān nihād
Şod pīş-keş-i to-rā ki zamāne zi-māh-ı nev
Ber-ablaḳ-ı felek ki çonīn dāġ-ı rān nihād
Der-devr-i himmet-i to be-feyżet şod āşkār
Gencīne’ī ki mālik-i deryā nihān nihād
Dest-i seḫā-yı to hemegī ṣarf mī-koned
Ān-geh berā-yı ‘āḳıbet-i ḫᵛīş kān nihād
‘Ayn-ı hidāyetest zi-Ḥaḳ ẕāt-ı to ki dīd
Nāmet zamāne Mehdī-yi āḫir zamān nihād
‘Ālem be-kām-ı tost belī z’īn sebeb şod’est
Gītī to-rā laḳab ki şeh-i kām-rān nihād
Ḫātem ki dīd mühr-i Süleymān be-dest-i tost
Engüşt-i ḥayretest ki ū der-dehān nihād
Ber-şāh-bāz-ı himmet-i to füsḥat-i cihān
Teng āmedest çonīn ki be-‘arş āşyān nihād
Tāc-ı sa‘ādetest ġubār-ı deret k’ez-ān
Minnet revān be-gerden-i heft āsmān nihād
Gāh-ı ‘urūc-ı ḳadr-i to ber-evc-i āsmān
Evvel ḳadem ki zed be-ser-i ferḳadān nihād
Ber-kelle-i ‘adū vü bed-endīş ü düşmenet
Ārām-geh-i zamāne be-nevk-i sinān nihād
Ẕāt-ı to-rā miyān-ı selāṭīn-i kāyināt
Luṭf-ı Ḫudāy mā-ḥaṣal-i kün fe-kān nihād
Ān ki zi-ḥükm-i nāfiẕ-i to kerd ser-keşī
Dest-i felek be-gerden-i ū rīsmān nihād
Ez-rūy-ı mertebe ser-i ū mī-resed be-‘arş
Ser bā-segānet ān ki ber-īn āstān nihād
Luṭf-ı to-rā be-ḳahr-ı to sulṭān-ı bī-zevāl
Behr-i niẓām-ı mülk-i cihān tev’emān nihād
Gūyā der-īn ḳaṣīde Münīrī be-himmetet
Der-gülsitān-ı medḥ-i to āb-ı revān nihād
Selmān be-īn ḳasīde cevāb-ı Ẓahīr goft
Müşkil ber-ū ki dest be-īn ü be-ān nihād
Tā der cihān ki mī-şeved āvāze-i ṣıyām
Tā-ṣavt u ṣīt-ı ‘īd ki Ḥaḳ der-miyān nihād
Bādā mezīd devlet ü ‘ömret be-rūz-ı ḥaşr
Īzed ki ẕāt-ı pāk-i to cān-ı cihān nihād

In English

1. The sultan of men and jinn, who placed the love of life in the body, has placed the sun of your face in the heart, the spirit and the soul. ("Mihr" in the dictionary sense means both love and sun; the couplet uses it in both senses. Whether this sultan is God, or Prince Ahmed, at whose court men and jinn lay their heads in couplet 18, cannot be settled from the text.)

2. The seat of honour of the breast has become a fine place for your image; the pupil of the eye has set up a fountain there from the pool of the eye. ("Ṣadr" means both breast and seat of honour, "merdüm" both man and pupil of the eye.)

3. The heart reaches your hair-thin waist like a belt that has bound its own being to the waist. ("Der-miyān nihādan" in the dictionary sense means both to place at the waist and to put forward; because the belt puts forward all it has, it reaches the waist.)

4. O idol-like beauty, when your languid glance set the arrow of affliction to the bow, the cry of "bravo" filled every horizon. ("Zih" in the dictionary sense is both a bowstring and a word of praise meaning "bravo"; the two senses meet in the image of bow and arrow.)

5. In the place of assembly that the host of your image holds, my heart has set itself up in the middle as a candlestick.

6. O moon-faced one, the new moon must be a fairy with golden wings; like you, it has lifted its head to the sky for the feast. (The line can be read in two ways: "zerrīn-perī" means golden fairy, "zerrīn-per" golden-winged. Ersoy understands it as "though the new moon is like a wing of gold".)

7. See how, to scatter offerings at the arrival of the host of your image, my eye has placed two mines on its road. (The two eyes are likened to two mines that scatter tears like jewels.)

8. Though people have given it the name of the rose of the rose garden, your cheek and face hold within them the property of fire.

9. Whoever saw me lay my cheek on the dust of your court said, "it is like a cordial with saffron laid upon it". ("Müferriḥ" in the dictionary sense is a cheering medicine, an electuary. The lover's yellowed face is likened to saffron and the dust of the threshold to this medicine.)

10. O my soul, see what a hidden wound the mole on your lip has placed inside the heart, like the bud of a tulip. (The dark spot inside the tulip is called "dağ", a scar or brand, in classical poetry; the mole on the lip is likened to this spot.)

11. Your image wishes to come to the seat of honour of the breast; and my heart has fixed the eye of the soul on the path through which the eye passes.

12. In the land of the beloved's lovely face, the lock of hair is a commander leading an army full of hearts; that is why it has been placed on the frontier. ("Pür-dil" in the dictionary sense means both stout-hearted and full of hearts; Ersoy understands "a volunteer commander". Because the locks fall at the edges of the face, they are an army stationed on the frontier.)

13. Like the times, your deeds cannot be trusted; it is hard to bind the heart to your faithfulness and your pledge.

14. The arrowhead of your arrow lying within my heart has made it plain that the arrow placed its mark on its own target. ("Nişān" means both target and mark.)

15. Your down wrote something on your sugar lip; O my soul, that is why the fever of your love has fallen upon the heart. ("Teb" in the dictionary sense means fever. The down, in classical poetry, is the fine hair above the lip and is likened to writing, "ḫaṭṭ".)

16. In the rose garden of the orchard of your beauty, your locks have set up a canopy of fresh hyacinth over the rose petal.

17. Perhaps my beloved's mouth became the spring of life because it kissed the dust of the court of the shah of the world. ("‘Ayn" in the dictionary sense means both spring and eye; the couplet prepares the turn to the shah.)

18. On the dust of the court of the sultan of the world, Ahmed, the chosen of creation, men and jinn have laid their heads and their eyes.

19. The dust of his road is a precious kohl kept in the flask of the sphere; that is why the sphere has placed it in the kohl box. (Kohl is the dark powder applied to the eyes; the dust of his road is precious enough to be put on the eyes.)

20. Not even the elder of the sphere has seen such a custom of sovereignty as that young prince has established in this realm of the world. (Ersoy explains the elder of the sphere as Saturn.)

21. Wherever the harvest of his enemy's life may lie, he has set fire to it with his fire-scattering sword and lance.

22. O ruler of earth and time, the renown of your majesty has placed fear in the heart of the roaring lion in the forest.

23. O shah, the moment the finger set the pen to the tablet, it was writing first of all the letters of your noble name. (Ersoy understands "levḥ" as the page; since "levḥ" and "ḳalem" stand side by side, they may also recall the Tablet and the Pen on which destiny is written.)

24. If time has stamped such a brand from the new moon on the thigh of the piebald horse of the sphere, it is so that it may be a gift to you. (Night and day are likened to a piebald horse and the crescent to the owner's brand on its thigh. "Dāġ-ı rān" means a brand on the thigh in the dictionary sense; Ersoy explains the piebald as night and day.)

25. In the age of your high resolve, the treasure that the lord of the seas had hidden has come to light through your bounty.

26. Your generous hand spends and distributes everything; in this way it lays up a mine for its own hereafter. (Ersoy too renders the couplet as meaning that generosity is like a mine prepared for one's end.)

27. Your person is a source of guidance from God; seeing this, time has named you the Mahdi of the end of days. ("‘Ayn" here too means source, essence. The Vienna manuscript reads "‘ināyet" (favour) instead of "hidāyet"; since the variant is printed in the edition with missing letters, this is a reading.)

28. Yes, the world goes according to your wish; for this reason the world has given you the title "the shah who has attained his desire". ("Be-kām" (according to one's wish) and "kām-rān" (one who attains his desire) come from the same word.)

29. The ring that saw the seal of Solomon in your hand has put the finger of astonishment in its mouth. ("Ḫātem" in the dictionary sense means both ring and seal; putting a finger to the mouth is a sign of astonishment. The ring on the finger seems to be likened to a mouth holding a finger. Ersoy understands "the seal of Solomon bites its finger in astonishment". The Vienna manuscript reads "mülk-i" instead of "mühr-i".)

30. The breadth of the world proved so narrow for the falcon of your resolve that it built its nest on the Throne of God.

31. The dust of your door is the crown of felicity; that is why it has laid an obligation on the neck of the seven heavens.

32. When your rank rose to the summit of the sky, it set its first step on the heads of the Farqadain stars. ("Ferḳadān" in the dictionary sense are the two bright stars of the Little Bear; Ersoy calls them "the two pole stars".)

33. Time has made the lance point a resting place for the heads of your enemy, your ill-wisher and your foe. (Ersoy construes the couplet as "time's resting place has put the heads of your enemies on the point of the lance"; in both readings the enemy's head is on the lance point.)

34. Among the sultans of creation, God's grace has placed in your person the essence of the words "kün fe-kān" (He said "Be", and it was). (There is an allusion to "Be", the command of creation in the Qur'an; "mā-ḥaṣal" in the dictionary sense means the outcome, the essence.)

35. On the neck of whoever rebelled against your binding decree, the hand of the sphere has placed a rope.

36. Whoever has laid his head on this threshold together with your dogs, his head reaches the Throne of God in rank.

37. The Sultan without decline (God) has created your grace twin to your wrath for the order of the realm of the world.

38. In this kaside Münîrî, perhaps by your favour, has sent running water into the rose garden of your praise. ("Revān" means flowing in the dictionary sense; the fluency of the poem is likened to water watering the garden.)

39. With this kaside Selmân gave an answer to Zahîr; it is hard for one who lays a hand now on this, now on that. (The second line is obscure; Ersoy understands it as "his difficulty is that he reaches out now to one, now to the other".)

40. As long as the call of the month of fasting is heard in the world, as long as the sound and fame of the feast that God has set between endure…

41. May your fortune and your life increase until the Day of Judgement; God it is who placed the soul of the world in your pure person.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Persian kaside (qasida) of forty-one couplets and is numbered Kaside 25 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 "mef‘ûlü fâ‘ilâtü mefâ‘îlü fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "nihād" (placed); the rhyme rests on the sound "-ān" (cān, revān, şādürvān, miyān, kemān, şem‘-dān, āsmān). In all forty-one couplets the refrain says that something has been "placed" somewhere, and in each couplet the poet uses this verb within a different expression: to place at the waist, to set to the bow, to fix the eye on the road, to station on the frontier, to set the pen to the tablet, to lay the head on the threshold. Ersoy lists this kaside among the refrains as the kaside with the refrain "nihād", and in his discussion of rhyme among the examples of kafiye-i müreddefe.

The kaside is found in the Vatican (VT 48b) and Vienna (VY 157b) manuscripts. According to Ersoy's apparatus the Vatican manuscript has no heading; the heading in the edition, "Der-medḥ-i Sulṭān Aḥmed ṭāle beḳāhu", means "In praise of Sultan Ahmed; may his life be long". There are four small differences between the manuscripts: in couplet 3 the Vatican manuscript reads a different preposition in place of "der-viṣāl-i", and in couplet 20 it has "mülk mī-şeved" for "milket-i cihān"; the Vienna manuscript reads "‘ināyet" for "hidāyet" in couplet 27 and "mülk-i" for "mühr-i" in couplet 29. Since the special letters of the apparatus could not be printed in the edition, some of these readings have been completed from the main text. The sources give no information on when or on what occasion the kaside was presented.

The sections of the kaside are clearly visible in the text. Couplets 1-16 are like a ghazal addressed to the beloved and form the nesib (lyrical prelude) of the kaside. Couplet 17 is the girizgâh (transition to praise): the beloved's mouth has become the spring of life because it kissed the threshold of the shah of the world. The patron's name appears in couplet 18 as "Sulṭān-ı ‘ālem Aḥmed-i muḫtār", and couplets 18-37 are the praise section. Couplet 38 contains the pen name (mahlas) "Münīrī", couplet 39 names Selmân and Zahîr, and the last two couplets are a prayer built on the pattern "tā … tā …" (as long as …).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the nesib the elements of the beloved's beauty turn into images of place and of the state. The breast is the seat of honour where the image is placed, and the pupil of the eye sets up a fountain there (2); the lock of hair is an army commander stationed on the frontier of the land of beauty (12); the locks are also a canopy of hyacinth set over the rose petal (16). The glance sets the arrow of affliction to the bow (4), and the arrowhead finds its own target in the heart (14); the new moon, like the beloved, has lifted its head to the sky for the feast (6). In couplet 9 the lover's yellowed face on the dust of the court is likened to a medicine with saffron. Puns and words with two meanings are frequent in the kaside: "mihr" in couplet 1 is used once as love and once as sun, "ṣadr" in couplet 2 as both breast and seat of honour, "zih" in couplet 4 as both bowstring and bravo, "miyān" in couplet 3 as both waist and middle, and "‘ayn" in couplets 17 and 27 as both spring and essence.

In the praise section the eulogy is carried to cosmic dimensions. The dust of the prince's road is the kohl in the flask of the sphere (19), his majesty frightens the lion in the forest (22), the pen wrote his name first of all (23), the sphere has branded the thigh of its piebald horse with the new moon (24), the falcon of his resolve nests on the Throne of God (30), and his rank steps on the Farqadain stars (32). The allusions come from the stories of the prophets and from religious texts: the seal of Solomon (29), the command "kün fe-kān" (34) and the name "Mahdi of the end of days" given to the prince (27). In couplet 37 grace and wrath are presented as twins; the antithesis treats both faces of the ruler as necessary together for the order of the world. In couplet 29 the image of the ring putting its finger in its mouth is a hüsn-i talil (fanciful aetiology) that joins the idiom of astonishment to the shape of the object.

According to Ersoy, the eulogy in the metre "mef‘ûlü fâ‘ilâtü mefâ‘îlü fâ‘ilün" with the rhyme and refrain "-ān nihād" is a nazire (response poem) to both Selmân-ı Sâvecî and Zahîr-i Fâryâbî. Ersoy bases the comparison on Mansur Müşfik's edition of Selmân's Dîvân and on Zahîr's Dîvân; which kasides of the two poets served as models has not been examined separately here. The poet himself mentions this relationship in couplet 39: with this kaside Selmân answered Zahîr. The link of the kaside to the poems of these two poets in the same metre and rhyme is thus stated in the poet's own words as well; the second line of the couplet, however, is obscure and has been rendered following Ersoy's meaning. In couplet 38 the poet likens his praise to running water sent into a rose garden; here the refrain "nihād" "places" the poem itself in the garden. 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 18 as "Sulṭān-ı ‘ālem Aḥmed-i muḫtār" and described in couplet 20 as "nev-cüvān", that is, young. According to Ersoy, Münîrî was influenced in his Persian kasides by Zahîr-i Fâryâbî and Selmân-ı Sâvecî and mentioned both poets by name; this kaside is one of the examples of that mention. 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). The feast (6) and the month of fasting and the feast (40) are mentioned in the kaside, but the sources contain no record that it was presented on the occasion of a feast, nor of the year in which it was written.

Bibliography

Online sources