Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Mef’ûlü Fa’ilâtü Mefâ’îlü Fâ’ilün
Red itdilerse ger bizi ‘Osmân erenleri
İtdi kabûl dil-i ‘Acemistân erenleri
Dil mezra’ına tohm-ı mahabbet bırakdılar
Gazvin ile Herât u Sıfâhân erenleri
İhsân ümîdi ile biz itdük havâleti
İhsânlar itdiler bize ihsân erenleri
Rahm itdiler felâketümüz çünki gördiler
Tebrîz ü Nahcivân ile Şirvân erenleri
Râz-ı derûnumuz işidüp şefkat itdiler
Pîrân-ı Belh ü Râz u Horâsân erenleri
Yâkût-ı eşk ile göricek dâmenüm tolu
Gözden bırakdı la’li Bedahşân erenleri
Erdi Hıtâ ile Hotene ger çekem hatâ
Bakmadılar hatâmuza Geylân erenleri
İki cihânda n’ola şefî’ olsalar bize
İran erenleri ile Tûrân erenleri
Ol server-i dü-’âlem ü ashâb u âl içün
K’anlar durur şefâ’at ü gufrân erenleri
Bu Şâhînün günâhını ‘afv itseler n’ola
Sultân-ı Rûm u mülket-i ‘Osmân erenleri
In English
1. If the erens of the Ottomans rejected us, the erens of the land of the Persians accepted us with all their heart.
2. The erens of Qazvin, Herat and Isfahan sowed the seed of love in the field of the heart.
3. In the hope of kindness we entrusted ourselves to them ("havâlet": leaving one's burden to another); and those erens of kindness showed us many kindnesses.
4. When they saw our calamity, the erens of Tabriz, Nakhchivan and Shirvan took pity on us.
5. Hearing the secret within our hearts, the elders of Balkh, "Râz" and Khorasan showed us compassion.
6. When they saw my skirt full of the rubies of tears, the erens of Badakhshan let their own rubies fall from favour (held them worthless).
7. Even if I have committed an error that reached as far as Khitay and Khotan, the erens of Gilan did not look at our error.
8. What if the erens of Iran and the erens of Turan were our intercessors in both worlds (would that they were).
9. For the sake of the leader of the two worlds (the Prophet Muhammad), his companions and his family; for they are the erens of intercession and forgiveness.
10. What if the sultan of Rum and the erens of the Ottoman realm forgave the sin of this Şâhî.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The ten-couplet ghazal is written in the "mef'ûlü fa'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif is "erenleri" (their erens), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in "'Osmân, 'Acemistân, Sıfâhân, ihsân, Şirvân, Horâsân, Bedahşân, Geylân, Tûrân, gufrân". Kılıç counts "erenleri" among the refrains of the divan. In the edition the folio mark [88b] stands next to the number of the ghazal, so the poem begins at the head of a new leaf in the manuscript. Most of the rhyme words are place names, and this is where the real interest of the poem lies: the opening couplet begins with "'Osmân erenleri" and the closing couplet ends with the same words. The eight couplets in between form a sequence of lands stretching from Qazvin to Turan.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
"Eren" is used here not only for a saintly person but also for the notables, the men of feeling, of a country. In the third couplet the word "ihsân" (kindness) is repeated three times, balancing the kindness hoped for against the kindness received. In the sixth couplet the lover's skirt is full of rubies of tears, and before this abundance the erens of Badakhshan, famous for its ruby mines, find their own rubies worthless. In the seventh couplet there is a play on sound (cinas) between "Hıtâ" (Khitay, northern China) and "hatâ" (error); Khotan, the land of musk, appears in the same couplet. "Râz" in the fifth couplet is not easily explained as a place name; a play on "Râz-ı derûnumuz" (the secret within us) at the beginning of the same couplet may be intended. In the ninth couplet the companions and the family of the Prophet are named together, a formula of prayer that respects both sides.
Historical Context
Kılıç does not discuss this ghazal separately, but the poem states its own history plainly. According to Kılıç, after his defeat at Konya at the end of May 1559 Bayezid hurried back to Amasya and sent the mufti Muhyiddin Cürcânî to his father to ask for pardon; when no pardon came he left Amasya on 7 July, took refuge in Iran in mid-August and on 23 October was received by Shah Tahmasb at Qazvin with a splendid ceremony, trays of jewels being scattered over his head. The "rejection" of the first line can be read as this refused plea for pardon, and Qazvin in the second couplet as this reception; a link between the rubies of the sixth couplet and the scattered jewels is also possible. These readings are ours. The language of gratitude in the poem fits the months before Bayezid's imprisonment on 16 April 1560 better; this too is our conjecture. The "n'ola" of the last couplet turns the hope of pardon back towards the "sultan of Rum". Kılıç reports that Danişmend took this word in that period to express the acceptance of a request, in connection with the murabba written by Süleyman in reply to his son.
Bibliography
- Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 127-128, ghazal no. 169 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 88b); p. 13 (the defeat at Konya, the departure from Amasya, the reception at Qazvin), p. 29 (the redif "erenleri"), p. 39 (Danişmend's reading of "n'ola"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.
Online sources
