Original Persian Text

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

Ey bā-fürūġ-ı ḥüsn-i to ḫurrem cemāl-i ‘īd
V’ez ebrūy-ı hilāl-i to ferḫunde fāl-i ‘īd
Der-evc-i dil-berī ki dehed ‘ışḳ-rā ṣalā
Ġuyā ki ḫāl-i hindūyet āmed Bilāl-i ‘īd
Gerçi be-dīden-i ruḫet ey dost ḫurremest
V’ez zülf-i ser-keş-i to şod āşüfte ḥāl-i ‘īd
‘Uşşāḳ-ı nā-tüvān-ı belā-dīde-i to-rā
Ey şeh-süvār-ı ḥüsn me-kon pāymāl-i ‘īd
Ber-kām-ı cān-ı teşneem ez-la‘l-i cān-fezāt
Āyā buved ki mī-resed āb-ı zülāl-i ‘īd
Z’ān der-ḫayāl-i muṭrib ü sāḳī vü ‘işretīm
Bī-cām-ı mey şoden buved emr-i muḥāl-i ‘īd
Ān kes ki pīr-i mey-gede-rā rū ne-mī-nümūd
Ma‘lūm-ı vey ne-şod meger āḫir-maḳāl-i ‘īd
Sāḳī bi-y-ār bāde ki der-devr-i ān ṣanem
Be’nmūd işāret-i mey ü sāġar hilāl-i ‘īd
Bāzem be-devr-i ḥażret-i Şeh Bāyezīd Ḫān
Şükr-i Ḫudā ki geşt müyesser viṣāl-i ‘īd
Ān şāh-ı ins ü cin ki be-devr-i zamān-ı ū
Hergiz ne-mī-reved zi-miyān ḳīl ü ḳāl-i ‘īd
Der-‘īdgāh-ı ṣaṭvet-i ān şāh-ı kām-yāb
Ṣadrest ber-şehān heme ṣaff-ı ni‘āl-i ‘īd
Der-bezm-i dil-küşā-yı feraḥ-baḫş-ı ū müdām
Muṭrib be-zen terāne ki īn şod maḳāl-i ‘īd
Çeng-i ḫamīde-ḳad eger ez-perde ūftād
Şod vaḳt-i ān ki mey ḫored ez-gūşmāl-i ‘īd
Ez-iḥtişām-ı nevbet-i sulṭānī-i veyest
Ber-rūz-ı ġayr ḥaşmet ü cāh u celāl-i ‘īd
Der-devr-i ān ki şeb heme şeb ḳadr mī-şeved
Her dem be-rūzgār-ı vey āmed mis̱āl-i ‘īd
Āyed be-dergeheş be-hezārān feraḥ velī
Gerded be-derd ü ḥasret ü ġam intiḳāl-i ‘īd
Dāned ki dūr mī-şeved ez-devlet-i viṣāl
Ba‘d ez-namāz dīger ez-ān şod hilāl-i ‘īd
Ez-ḫᵛān-ı sofra-i şeh-i gītī-penāh-ı mā
Her kes nevāle’ī bered ey dil çü āl-i ‘īd
Der-rūze-dārī-i ġam u endūh mī-şeved
Hergiz be-düşmeneş ne-buved iḥtimāli ‘īd
Ān şeh ki bā-vücūd-ı meh-i ṭal‘ateş Münīr
Yek dem be-devr-i ū ne-buved infiṣāl-i ‘īd
Maḥbūb-ı rūzgār-ı cihānest fī’l-mes̱el
Şod ṣubḥ u şām u ‘işret-i ū ḫadd ü ḫāl-i ‘īd
Ez-behr-i dīden-i ruḫet ey şāh-ı kām-yāb
Āyed be-dergeh-i to buved tā mecāl-i ‘īd
Ez-muṣḥaf-ı ruḫet be-seḥer fāl mī-küşūd
Ber-sa‘d-ı ṭāli‘est ez-ān ḥasb ü ḥāl-i ‘īd
Her rūz-ı mā be-devr-i to çün ‘īd-i ekberest
Ġam ne be-yek dü sā‘at eger şod zevāl-i ‘īd
Der-gerdiş-i zamāne vü der-devr-i rūzgār
Cüz dīden-i cemāl-i to ne’bved ḫayāl-i ‘īd
Āḫir be-ṭavf-ı Ka‘be-i kūy-ı to-rā resīd
Ger der-reh-i hevā-yı to şod māh u sāl-i ‘īd
Der-rūzgār-ı vaṣl-ı to ḫandān u ḫurremest
Baḫşende-i ṣafāst belī ittiṣāl-i ‘īd
Sālī buved ki per zened ender-hevā-yı to
‘Aybeş ne-bāşed er ne-buved perr ü bāl-i ‘īd
Tā der-cihān ki mī-şeved āvāze-i ṣıyām
Tā der-ṣafā vü ‘ayş buved imtis̱āl-i ‘īd
Bādā be-ṭal‘at-i meh-i dīdār-ı enveret
Der-rūzgār-ı gerdiş-i devrān kemāl-i ‘īd

In English

1. O you whose radiant beauty makes the face of the festival smile, and from whose crescent brow the festival draws a lucky omen (O sultan). (The festival begins when the new moon, the crescent, is sighted; the poet likens the beloved's eyebrow to that crescent.)

2. Your mole, black as a Hindu, calling love to prayer from the summit of charm, has become as it were the Bilal of the festival. (Bilal, in the dictionary sense, is the Prophet's Abyssinian muezzin; the "salâ" is a summons chanted from a high place. The blackness of the mole recalls Bilal, and its place high on the face recalls the muezzin's post on the minaret.)

3. O friend, seeing your face does gladden the festival; yet because of your unruly, tousled locks the festival's state has become disordered too. ("Āşüfte", in its dictionary sense, describes both dishevelled hair and a troubled heart.)

4. O skilled rider of the field of beauty, do not trample under your horse's hooves on the festival day your exhausted, afflicted lovers.

5. Will the sweet, clear water of the festival ever reach my thirsting soul, as it longs, from your life-giving ruby lips?

6. That is why we dream of the musician, the cupbearer and the drinking party: for the festival to pass without a cup of wine in hand is an impossible thing.

7. He who never showed his face to the elder of the tavern did not learn the festival's last word. ("Āḫir-maḳāl" means "last word" in the dictionary sense; Ersoy too reads the couplet as saying that such a man will not know what was last said at the festival.)

8. Cupbearer, bring wine, for in the age of that idol-like beauty the festival crescent has pointed to wine and the cup.

9. Thanks be to God that in the reign of His Majesty Shah Bayezid Han it has once again been granted to me to reach the festival.

10. In the age of that shah of men and jinn, talk and report of the festival never fall silent.

11. At the awe-inspiring festival ground of that shah who has attained his every wish, even the shoe rack in the festival rows is the seat of honour for all kings. (The shoe rack, in the dictionary sense, is the lowest place in a gathering, by the door; that kings should count it the place of honour expresses the greatness of the patron.)

12. Musician, play your melodies without pause in his heart-opening, joy-giving assembly, for this is the festival's word.

13. If the bent-backed harp has fallen out of tune, the time has come to drink wine with the festival's ear-twisting. (Falling from the "perde", the fret, means losing the tuning. "Gūşmāl", in the dictionary sense, is twisting the ear: it covers both turning an instrument's pegs to tune it and pulling someone's ear to discipline him. Ersoy explains the couplet in the sense of tuning.)

14. The pomp, rank and majesty by which the festival surpasses other days come from the splendour of his royal nevbet. (The nevbet, in the dictionary sense, is the drum and shawm music played at fixed hours at the ruler's gate.)

15. In his age every night is a Night of Power; in his time every moment has come like a festival.

16. The festival comes to his threshold with a thousand joys, but leaves it in pain, longing and grief.

17. The festival knows that it will be parted from the good fortune of union; that is why after the festival prayer it became a crescent again. (In Ersoy's reading, the crescent appears once more because the festival knows it will be separated from the bliss of being with the sultan.)

18. O heart, from the table of our shah, the refuge of the world, everyone carries off a portion like the people of the festival. (Nevale, in the dictionary sense, is a share of food set aside for someone, provisions.)

19. His enemy keeps a fast of grief and anxiety; there is never any chance that his enemy will celebrate a festival.

20. O Münîr, while that moon-faced shah is here, no one in his age is parted from the festival even for a moment. (The couplet can be read in two ways: Ersoy takes "Münīr" as the pen name used in address; since the word means "shining, illuminating" in its dictionary sense, it can also be understood as "his shining moon face".)

21. As the saying goes, he is the beloved of the world; his morning, his evening and his assembly have become the festival's cheek and mole.

22. O shah who has attained his every wish, the festival comes to your court, as far as its strength allows, to see your face.

23. At dawn the festival took an omen from your face, which is like a copy of the Qur'an; its good state comes from its fortune turning out auspicious in that omen. (Taking an omen from the Mushaf, in the dictionary sense, means opening the Qur'an at random and drawing a meaning from the page that appears.)

24. In your age every day of ours is like the great festival; even if the festival slips away within an hour or two, no grief is felt.

25. In the turning of time and the course of the age, the festival has no other dream than to see your beauty.

26. If the festival's month and year were spent on the road of love for you, in the end it reached the circling of the Kaaba of your street.

27. In the time of union with you the festival is smiling and glad; indeed, the festival's coming and joining bestows delight.

28. All year long the festival beats its wings in the air of your love; if it has no wings or feathers, that is no fault in it. ("Hevā", in the dictionary sense, means both air and passionate desire; beating wings suits both meanings. "All year" recalls that the festival comes once a year.)

29. As long as the call of the fast is heard in the world, as long as delight and festivity are kept at the festival…

30. … as long as the age turns, may the festival reach perfection through the light of your bright, moon-like face.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a thirty-couplet Persian kaside (qasida) and carries the number Kaside 8 in the edition. The kaside is a long verse form built of couplets that keep a single rhyme throughout and is usually written in praise of a person; both lines of the first couplet rhyme, and in the following couplets only the second lines take the rhyme. The metre is the pattern "mef‘ûlü fâ‘ilâtü mefâ‘îlü fâ‘ilün". The rhyme is the sound "-āl" (cemāl, fāl, Bilāl, ḥāl, pāymāl, zülāl), and the redif (refrain word) closing every couplet is "‘īd", that is, "festival". Some rhyme words recur: "hilāl" appears in couplets 8 and 17, "maḳāl" in couplet 12 and in the compound "āḫir-maḳāl" of couplet 7, and "cemāl" in couplets 1 and 25. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 16b) and Istanbul University (Ü 11b) manuscripts. Its heading in the edition is "Ve lehū eyżan fī medḥ-i Sulṭān Bāyezīd Ḫān ḫalledallāhü ḫilāfetehū", meaning "Again by him, in praise of Sultan Bayezid Han; may God make his caliphate everlasting".

The sections of the kaside are clearly visible in the text. The first eight couplets describe the festival together with the beloved's beauty: the crescent brow, the mole likened to Bilal, the dishevelled locks, the ruby lip and finally the call to the cupbearer for wine. Couplet 9 is the transition (girizgâh); the poet gives thanks for having reached the festival once more in Bayezid's reign and names the patron here. Couplets 10-19 are the praise proper: the festival ground, the assembly, the instruments, the royal nevbet, the table and the fast of grief kept by the enemy. The pen name (mahlas) comes in couplet 20 in the form "Münīr". The poet then continues the praise as though speaking to a beloved and addresses the patron as "you" (21-28). The last two couplets form the prayer section, built on the pattern "tā … tā …" (as long as … ). Whom the poem was written for is clear from the heading; the sources give no information on which festival or in which year it was presented.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

This kaside belongs to the kind called ıydiyye in divan literature. The TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi defines the ıydiyye as a kaside presented to the great on the occasion of the Ramadan and Sacrifice festivals, and notes that such poems are usually built of an opening describing the festival, a section of praise and a prayer. Münîrî's poem follows this scheme. According to the same article, the earliest known examples of the genre in Turkish literature include two ıydiyyes by Ahmed Paşa, one of them with the redif "ıyd". Münîrî's Persian kaside also carries the redif "‘īd"; the sources establish no nazire (response poem) relationship between the two.

All the images of the poem are tied to the redif word, and the festival behaves almost like a person. Its state is thrown into disorder by the beloved's locks (3), it comes joyfully to the sultan's threshold and leaves in longing (16), it takes an omen from his face at dawn (23), and all year long, wingless though it is, it beats its wings in love for him (28). This personification is the most prominent device of the kaside. Couplet 17 is an example of hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology): the poet ascribes the reappearance of the crescent after the festival prayer to the festival's knowing that it will be parted from the sultan. In couplet 19 fasting, the opposite of the festival, falls to the enemy's share; there is no hope of a festival for him.

Tenasüp (congruence of images) and tevriye (double entendre) take up much room in the kaside. In couplet 2 the black mole is likened to a "Hindu" and to Bilal, the Abyssinian muezzin; the words "evc" (summit) and "ṣalā" (summons) complete the image of the muezzin. In couplet 13 the words "perde" and "gūşmāl" suit both music and the ear-pulling of discipline; the bent-backed harp becomes a person who must be brought into line by having his ear twisted. In couplet 11 the shoe rack of the festival ground serving kings as their seat of honour is an antithesis that sets the lowest place of the assembly against the highest. The "face like a copy of the Qur'an" of couplet 23 carries over to the sultan's face the sanctity that divan poetry attaches to the beloved's face. In couplet 20 the pen name "Münīr", whose dictionary meaning is "shining, illuminating", connects with the "moon face" just before it.

According to Ersoy, Münîrî was influenced in his Persian kasides by Zahîr-i Fâryâbî and Selmân-ı Sâvecî; the TDV article repeats this. Ersoy indicates no separate nazire relationship for this kaside. The English rendering here rests on the Persian text and on Ersoy's meanings in the apparatus; the places Ersoy opens with parentheses (the mole in couplet 2, the tuning in couplet 13) are given with the same interpretation.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

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