Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Tâlib-i kûy-ı ferâgat kâh-ı eyvân istemez
Tumturak-ı râyet ü dergâh u dîvân istemez
Gün gibi bir kurs ile kâni’ olan sultân-ı vakt
Hân-ı elvân u simât-ı çarh-ı gerdân istemez
Şu’le-i âhından anun düni rûşen gün gibi
Meş’al-i mühr-i münîr ü mâh-ı tâbân istemez
Nûş idüp gam câmını her lahza câm-ı Cem gibi
Hızr ile zulmata varup âb-ı hayvân istemez
Hırka-i fakr u fenâdan hil’at-i Şâhî ana
Zinde-pûş-ı dehr olup teşrîf-i sultân istemez

In English

1. He who seeks the street of contentment and renunciation does not want a pavilion with a vaulted hall; he does not want the pomp of banners, a palace gate or a council.

2. The sultan of the age, content with one round loaf like the sun, does not want a table of many-coloured dishes or the spread of the turning sky.

3. From the flame of his sigh his night is bright as day; he does not want the torch of the shining sun or the radiant moon.

4. Since he drinks the cup of grief every moment like the cup of Jamshid, he does not go with Khidr into the land of darkness and does not want the water of life.

5. The cloak of poverty and nothingness is a royal robe to him; being the coarse-wool dervish of the world, he does not want to be honoured with a robe by the sultan.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal of five couplets is written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif (refrain) is "istemez" (does not want), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in the words "eyvân, dîvân, gerdân, tâbân, hayvân, sultân". According to Kılıç's footnote this ghazal is not found in the manuscript of the divan; it has been taken from the Mecmû'atü'n-nezâ'ir, that is, the Pervâne Bey Mecmuası, and it is a nazire (response poem) to Şeyhî's ghazal whose opening couplet is "Düşdi gönlüm derdine şöyle kim dermân istemez / Tapuna kul oldı cânum özge sultân istemez". For this reason it carries no folio mark in the edition.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The rhyme "sultân istemez" occurs in Şeyhî's opening couplet; in Bayezid's ghazal the same rhyme returns in the last couplet as "teşrîf-i sultân istemez". The subject of the ghazal is contentment and renunciation of the world. Each couplet names a worldly blessing and describes the man who rejects it: the pavilion, the banner and the council, colourful tables, the sun and the moon, the water of life, the sultan's robe of honour. In the second couplet the word "kurs" means both a round loaf and the disc of the sun; the true sultan of the age is content with a single loaf, like the sun. The word "dün" in the third couplet means night in old Turkish, and in the phrase "düni rûşen gün gibi" (his night is bright as day) night and day are contrasted. The fourth couplet brings together the cup of Jamshid and the water of life that Khidr found in the darkness; one who drinks the cup of grief does not pursue immortality.

In the last couplet the pen name is placed within the construction "hil'at-i Şâhî" (royal robe). The word printed in the edition as "zinde-pûş" should be "jende-pûş" (zende-pûş), meaning a dervish dressed in coarse wool; the suggested reading is ours.

Historical Context

Şeyhî is the poet, born in Kütahya, the seat of the Germiyanids, who is counted among the founders of classical Turkish poetry. Kılıç records that Bayezid founded a literary circle in Kütahya, where he served for many years as provincial governor; there is, however, no information that the nazire was written there. The Pervâne Bey Mecmuası was compiled in 968 (1560-61) by Pervâne b. Abdullah, a palace servant. Considering that Bayezid was in Iran at that date, it is noteworthy that the prince's poems entered a nazire anthology in palace circles during his lifetime. Although a poem of contentment is an ordinary theme within the tradition, a prince who had his eye on the throne rejecting the throne, the council and the sultan's robe takes on another meaning when it is read with his life in mind; this assessment is ours.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 78-79, ghazal no. 63; footnote 108 (nazire to Şeyhî, from the Mecmû'atü'n-nezâ'ir); also pp. 13-15 (the years in Iran) and pp. 20-21 (the literary circle in Kütahya, the pen name "Şâhî"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Academic studies

Online sources