Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilün

Zulm idüp ol nev-cuvâna eyledün cevr-i fezâ
Boynına dakdun kemendi cânına kıldun ezâ
Şefkat îmândur bilürken kılmadun havf-i Hudâ
Merhametsüz şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Bir Urus câdûsınun sözin kulaguna koyup
Mekr ü âla aldanuban ol ‘acûzeye uyup
Bâğ-ı 'ömrün hâsılı ol serv-i âzâda kıyup
Bî-terahhum şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Şâh-ı ‘âlemsin velî halk tutdı senden nefreti
Kimsenün kalmadı hergiz sana meyl-i şefkati
Bâ'is olan müftîye de irmesün Hak rahmeti
Merhametsüz şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Nev-cuvân iken işüni ‘adl ile dâd eyledün
Hâl ü hâlince kamunun hâtırın şâd eyledün
Pîrlikde şimdi n’içün zulm ü bîdâd eyledün
Bî-terahhum şâh-ı âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Bî-güneh kan itmege pes nicesi gördün savâb
Bunı mı zann eyledün kim şâha olmaya hisâb
Ne yüz ile Hazret-i Hakka virisersin cevâb
Merhametsüz şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Kimseye bâkî degüldür bu fenâ bilmez misin
Öldürüben nev-cuvân oğlunı sen ölmez misin
Mülk idindün dünyeyi âhir fenâ olmaz mısın
Bî-terahhüm şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Dest-gîri Hak Resûli gibi ulu şâh ola
Ol Resûlullâh katında makbûl-i dergâh ola
Yok mı havfün tamu yolı sana toğrı râh ola
Merhametsüz şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Töhmet ü isnâd ile yıkıldı taht u hânesi
Mazlûm u ma'sûm iken n’itdi ya ol dür dânesi
Hazret-i Ya'kûb-veş yandı firâka anası
Bî-terahhüm şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Sabr-ı Eyyûb ile katlandı firâka ol hatun
Bu fenâ dârı içinde çekdi tamu mihnetin
Anı yakup yanduran görsün zebânî heybetin
Merhametsüz şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ
Bu Nisâyî derdmend feryâd idüp kan ağladı
Derd-i hasretden anun cismindeki cân ağladı
Yidi kat gökde melekler yirde insân ağladı
Bî-terahhüm şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ

In English

1. You oppressed that young man and dealt him heavy cruelty; you put the noose around his neck and tormented his soul. Though you knew that compassion is part of faith, you felt no fear of God. O merciless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

2. Putting into your ear the words of a Russian sorceress, deceived by trickery and ruse, following that old hag, cutting down that free cypress, the fruit of the garden of your life; O pitiless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

3. You are king of the world, but the people have come to loathe you; no one has any love or compassion left for you. And may God's mercy not reach the mufti who caused it. O merciless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

4. When you were young you did your work with justice; you pleased everyone's heart according to his state. Why now, in your old age, have you done oppression and injustice. O pitiless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

5. How could you think it a good deed to shed innocent blood; did you suppose that a sultan would not be called to account. With what face will you answer before God. O merciless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

6. Do you not know that this transient world remains to no one; you have killed your young son, will you yourself not die. You have made the world your property; will you not perish in the end. O pitiless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

7. May a great king like the Messenger of God take him by the hand; may he be accepted in the presence of the Messenger of God. Are you not afraid that the road to hell will be your straight road. O merciless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

8. Through accusation and slander his throne and his house were destroyed; wronged and innocent as he was, what had that pearl done. His mother burned with separation like Jacob. O pitiless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

9. That lady bore the separation with the patience of Job; in this transient world she suffered the torment of hell. May whoever burned her and set her aflame see the terror of the guardians of hell. O merciless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

10. This grieving Nisâyî cried out and wept blood; the soul in her body wept from the pain of longing. The angels in the seven heavens and the people on earth wept. O pitiless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba of ten stanzas and is a twin of Nisâyî's first elegy in metre, rhyme scheme and last stanza. The refrain comes in two forms, alternating stanza by stanza: odd stanzas read "Merhametsüz şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ" (O merciless king of the world, what did Sultan Mustafa do), even stanzas "Bî-terahhum şâh-ı ‘âlem n’itdi Sultân Mustafâ" (O pitiless king of the world…). The last stanza is the same as the last stanza of the first elegy, with only the refrain changed. The text rests on the reading in Çavuşoğlu's article of 1981-1982 and is given as quoted in Hasar's thesis. In the heading Hasar writes the metre as "Fâ’ilâlün"; this is a typographical error, and the lines fit the "fâ’ilâtün" pattern.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The second elegy speaks more harshly and more openly than the first. In the second stanza the sultan is said to have followed the words of "bir Urus câdûsı", a Russian sorceress. Recep Hasar states that with the words "Urus câdûsı" and "‘acûze" (old hag) the poet means Hürrem Sultan. In the third stanza the curse turns to the mufti who issued the legal opinion; relying on Şerafettin Turan, Hasar states that this mufti was the Şeyhülislam Ebussuud Efendi. In the fourth stanza the justice of the sultan's youth is set against the oppression of his old age. From this way of recalling the sultan's younger days, Çavuşoğlu concludes that the poet may have been an elderly person who had known Süleyman since his youth.

The fifth and sixth stanzas proceed through questions, reminding the sultan of death and of the reckoning in the hereafter. The eighth and ninth stanzas are devoted to the prince's mother. She is likened to Jacob, who lost his son, and to Job, who bore his afflictions with patience; the poet wishes that those who brought her to this state may see the terror of the guardians of hell (zebani). Hasar particularly stresses that Nisâyî dwells on the grief of the prince's mother and curses those who brought her to this state. The image of the "pearl", common in divan poetry, is used here for a precious and innocent child. The plainness of the language and its repetitions should be considered together with Çavuşoğlu's view, based on errors of language in the poems, that the poet may not have been formally educated.

Historical Context

This elegy is among the poems that touch most openly on the inner world of the palace after the death of Prince Mustafa. The detailed treatment of the grief of the prince's mother, Mahidevran Sultan, in the poem is the basis on which Çavuşoğlu places the poet in the circle of the prince or of his mother. This is an inference, and who the poet was is still unknown today. What is known of Nisâyî's life is described in the biographical article in this category, and the other elegies in our article Elegies for Prince Mustafa.

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