Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef’ûlü Fâ’ilâtü Mefâ’îlü Fâ’lün

Tevbeyle Hak yanında oluram günâh ‘afv
Afv eyle sen de bendeni ey pâdişâh ‘afv
Kimdür bu deyr içinde kim ol eylemez günâh
Şirk olmasun hemân tek olur her günâh ‘afv
Her kanda defter olsa sepîd ü siyâh olur
Dir hâl ü kâl ile bu sepîd ü siyâh ‘afv
Ferzend eger günâh ide sehv ü hatâ ile
Ana peder cefâlar ider gâh gâh ‘afv
İtdüm şu denlü tevbe vü şerm ü nedâmeti
Mercû’ durur ki itmiş ola ol İlâh ‘afv
Katlüme kâdir olmış iken niçe vech ile
Şâhâne tavr gösterüben itdi şâh ‘afv
‘Afv itdi şâh Şâhîyi ey şâh-ı mülk-i Rûm
‘Afv eyle sen de bendeni ey pâdişâh ‘afv

In English

1. Through repentance a sin is pardoned in the presence of God; O padishah, you too pardon your servant, pardon.

2. Who is there in this temple of the world who does not sin? As long as it is not idolatry, every sin is pardoned.

3. Wherever there is a register, it has its white and its black; and this white and black say, by state and by word, "pardon".

4. If a son sins by mistake and error, the father sometimes treats him harshly, sometimes pardons him.

5. I have repented so much, felt such shame and remorse, that it is to be hoped that God has pardoned me.

6. Though he was able to kill me in many ways, the shah showed a kingly manner and pardoned me.

7. O shah of the land of Rum, the shah has pardoned Şâhî; O padishah, you too pardon your servant, pardon.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Above the seven-couplet ghazal the metre is given as "mef'ûlü fâ'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'lün"; in Kılıç's list of metres the same pattern appears as "mef'ûlü fâ'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'ilün". The redif is "'afv" (pardon), and the rhyme is the "-âh" sound in "günâh, pâdişâh, siyâh, gâh, İlâh, şâh"; "günâh" and "pâdişâh" each stand twice in the rhyme position. The second line of the closing couplet is identical to the second line of the opening couplet. In the edition the second line of the opening couplet is typeset as "Afv", without the sign for the letter ayn, and the last line as "'Afv"; this is a typesetting difference, and the text has not been altered. The folio mark [89b] stands after the sixth couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built like a petition for pardon. The poet first recalls that God forgives the one who repents and that every sin except idolatry can be pardoned; then he applies this principle to the padishah. "Sepîd ü siyâh" (white and black) in the third couplet suggests the good and bad entries of the register of deeds, and at the same time paper and ink. The fourth couplet reveals the true addressee of the ghazal: if the "ferzend" (son) errs, the "peder" (father) sometimes treats him harshly, sometimes pardons him. Kılıç says that if the word "afv" is added to the words of separation and longing, the content of most of the divan will have been expressed.

Historical Context

Kılıç quotes this ghazal in full and says that with this ghazal with the redif "afv", placed at the end of the divan, the prince begs his father's pardon with all his heart. In her view the ghazal was probably written in Iran, because the phrase "'afv itdi şâh" (the shah has pardoned) in the last couplet must refer to Shah Tahmasb. According to Kılıç's biographical chapter, when the letters of Süleyman and Selim reached Iran, Bayezid asked the shah to mediate for his pardon, and Tahmasb, outwardly, asked Süleyman to pardon him. The one called "şâh-ı mülk-i Rûm" (shah of the land of Rum) in the last couplet is Süleyman; saying that the shah of Iran has pardoned him, the poet asks the same forgiveness of his father. In the introduction the ghazal is cited as "G132"; its number in the text is 133. In the quotation in the introduction the word "Mercû'" in the fifth couplet is typeset as "Mercû1".

In the sixth couplet it is said that the shah pardoned Bayezid although he was able to kill him. Kılıç records that Tahmasb, alleging the preparation of an assassination, dispersed Bayezid's soldiers and on 16 April 1560 had him imprisoned together with his sons. It cannot be understood from the text whether the couplet points to a moment before or after this event; this connection is our reading, offered only as a possibility. The hope expressed in the ghazal was not fulfilled: in 1562 Bayezid was handed over to the Ottoman envoys at Qazvin and killed.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 111, ghazal no. 133 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 89b); also pp. 13-16 (the years in Iran, Tahmasb's mediation, imprisonment and death), p. 29 (metres and refrains), p. 31 (the word "afv"), pp. 34-35 (full quotation of the ghazal under the reference "G132" and the interpretation concerning Tahmasb), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.
  • Tufan Gündüz, "Tahmasb", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 39, Istanbul 2010, pp. 413-415. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/tahmasb

Online sources