Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Fe’ûlün

Gel ey tab’-ı sühen-senc ü güher-çîn
Nigâra nâme yaz zîbâ vü rengîn
Ruh-ı cânân gibi mahbûb olsun
Yanında dil-berün mergûb olsun
Kad-i dil-ber gibi her beyti mevzûn
Leb-i cânân gibi her lafzı mey-gûn
Perî ruhsârumı teshîr kılsun
Mübârek hâtırında yir kılsun
Şehâ ehl-i nazm medhünde kâsır
Egerçi her biri fenninde mâhir
Sen ol şehsin ki şâhâ hınk-ı gerdûn
Gelür karşuna zer zeyniyle her gün
Bugün kabzandadur şemşîr-i mirrîh
Mutî’ olmazsa a’dâ başına mîh
Eger korkutmasan pençenle şîri
Kaçup çarh üzre idinmezdi yiri
Şu bezm-i ‘ıyşdur bezmün ki ey yâr
Kamer deffâf u Zühre çengisi var
Zebân-ı hâl ile dir çeng-i Zühre
Şehâ sür devrüni tayanma dehre
El urupsun sa’âdet gibi gence
Ne tan ursan yidi iklîme pençe
Şeh-i gîtî-sitân şâh-ı cihânsın
Sikender-der Ferîdûn-ı zemânsın
Nedür devründe İskender Ferîdûn
Senün ey pâdişâh-ı rub’-ı meskûn
Şehâ her ilde bir İskenderün var
Ferîdûn gibi yüz bin serverün var
Bu gün devründe yokdur pençe-gîrün
Şeh-i gerdân-keşânlar hep esîrün
Cihânı dutdı nâm u dâstânun
Süleymân Hânısın devr-i zemânun

In English

1. Come, O my nature (poetic gift), weigher of words and gatherer of pearls, write a letter to the beloved, ornate and colourful.

2. Let (the letter) be lovable like the beloved's cheek; let it be welcomed in the presence of the heart-stealer.

3. Let each of its couplets be well-measured (in metre) like the beloved's stature, each of its words wine-coloured like the beloved's lip.

4. Let it enchant my fairy-faced beloved; let it find a place in his blessed mind.

5. O shah, the people of verse fall short in praising you, though each of them is a master in his art.

6. You are such a shah that, O shah, the steed of heaven comes before you every day with its golden saddle (the sun).

7. Today the sword of Mars (the planet of war) is in your grip; if enemies do not obey, (it is) a nail driven into their heads.

8. Had you not frightened the lion with your claw, it would not have fled and made its place above the sphere (in the sign of Leo).

9. O beloved, this gathering of pleasure is your gathering, in which the Moon is the tambourine player and Venus the harpist.

10. With the tongue of circumstance the harp of Venus says: "O shah, enjoy your reign, do not rely on time."

11. You have laid your hand on a treasure such as felicity; what wonder if you strike your claw upon the seven climes?

12. You are the world-conquering shah, the king of the world; you are the Alexander, the Feridun of the age. (The word "Sikender-der" is not clear; a reading "Sikender-fer", that is, with the glory of Alexander, is possible; this is our conjecture.)

13. O sovereign of the inhabited quarter of the world, what are Alexander and Feridun in your reign?

14. O shah, in every land you have an Alexander, and a hundred thousand chiefs like Feridun (at your command).

15. Today in your reign there is none who can grip your claw (match you in strength); the haughty-necked shahs are all your captives.

16. Your name and fame have seized the world; you are the Süleyman Khan of the turning of the age.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

In Kılıç's edition there are three poems under the heading "Mesneviler"; this is the first of them and has sixteen couplets. The mesnevi (mathnawi) is the verse form in which each couplet rhymes within itself (aa, bb, cc…); it was written at every length, from poems of two couplets to works of thousands, and usually in the short patterns of aruz (quantitative metre). All three of Şâhî's mesnevis are written in "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün fe'ûlün", one of the seven metres counted as common for the mesnevi. According to Kılıç's description, in the manuscript the murabbas are followed by two ghazals, two mesnevis, three ghazals and one mesnevi. In the edition the mark [84b] stands beside the number and [85a] at the end of the seventh couplet. Most of the rhymes are full; "kâsır" and "mâhir" (5) and "gerdûn" and "gün" (6) meet only in the final sound.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem has two parts. In the first four couplets the poet addresses his own "tab'", his poetic gift, and asks it to write a "nâme" (letter) to the beloved. Each couplet of the letter must be "mevzûn" like the beloved's stature; since the word means both "metrical" and "well-proportioned", a tevriye (double entendre) is formed. From the fifth couplet the address turns to "şehâ" (O shah) and the poem becomes a eulogy. The praise is built with the heavenly bodies: the steed of heaven comes to serve every day with its golden saddle of the sun, the sword of Mars is in the shah's hand, the Moon plays the tambourine and Venus the harp. In the eighth couplet it is said that the Lion of the sky (the sign of Leo) fled there in fear of the shah's claw; this is a typical hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology). In the tenth couplet the harp of Venus tells the shah, "with the tongue of circumstance", to enjoy his reign but not to trust time; a small piece of advice is set within the praise. The allusions (telmih) to Alexander and Feridun hold the shah above the legendary kings. The words "Süleymân Hânısın devr-i zemânun" in the last couplet recall both the legendary kingdom of the prophet Solomon and the name of the sovereign.

Historical Context

The last couplet names the addressee: Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (Kanuni). Kılıç does not discuss this mesnevi separately; he notes, however, that in another poem the prince portrays his father "by likening him to a beloved" within the aesthetics of divan poetry, while also praising his sovereignty. This mesnevi follows the same path: the "nigâr" (beloved) and "perî ruhsâr" (fairy-faced one) of the first couplets emerge as the "şâh" after the fifth couplet. That the poem was written as a versed letter sent to the father is our own reading; its date is not known.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 150-151, mesnevi no. 1 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fols. 84b-85a); also p. 27 (arrangement of the divan), pp. 29-30 (survey of metres), p. 36 (the father likened to a beloved), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.
  • Mustafa Çiçekler, "Mesnevî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 29, Ankara 2004, pp. 320-322. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mesnevi

Online sources