Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün
Şehâ sanma ki vaslundan recâ rif’atde olmakdur
Yanunda hoş geçüp bir iki gün hürmetde olmakdur
Varup ‘izz-i huzûrunda yâhûd ‘izzetde olmakdur
Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur
Gamundan yıkılan dil mülkinün şâhum harâbın an
Kıyâmetde su’âli hod mukarrerdür cevâbın an
Esîr-i bend-i hicrânı halâs itmek sevâbın an
Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur
Cemâlünden cüdâ cânâ cihânda n’eylerem cânı
Tapunsuz gözüme zindân görinür mülk-i Yunanî
Varup sâyende hoş geçsem n’ola ey zıll-ı Yezdânî
Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur
Anup dil bülbüli bâl açdı vuslat gülsitânına
Terahhum eyle hâr-ı fürkatün kâr itdi cânına
Tabîbâ çâre kıl bu derdmendün girme kanına
Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur
Bu Şâhî nâ-murâdı pâdişâhum ber-murâd eyle
Beşâret-nâme ile vaktidür lutf eyle yâd eyle
İrişdür derd ü hecr öldürmeden dermâna şâd eyle
Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur
In English
1. My shah, do not think that what I hope for from union is to rise, to spend a day or two pleasantly beside you and be held in esteem, to go and stand in your exalted presence or to live in honour. My wish is only to be at service in the dust of your feet.
2. My shah, remember the ruin of the land of the heart that your grief has laid waste; at the Resurrection the questioning about it is certain, think of your answer. Remember the reward of freeing the captive of the bonds of separation. My wish is only to be at service in the dust of your feet.
3. O my soul, parted from your face, what shall I do with life in this world; without you the land of Rum (Anatolia) looks like a dungeon to my eyes. O shadow of God, what harm if I came and spent my time pleasantly in your shade. My wish is only to be at service in the dust of your feet.
4. Remembering you, the nightingale of the heart spread its wings towards the rose garden of union; have mercy, the thorn of your separation has pierced its soul. O physician, find a cure for this sufferer, do not take his blood upon you. My wish is only to be at service in the dust of your feet.
5. My padishah, grant this luckless Şâhî his wish; it is time to be gracious and remember him with a letter of good tidings. Before pain and separation kill him, bring him to his cure and make him glad. My wish is only to be at service in the dust of your feet.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a murabba of five stanzas with a refrain, written in the "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün" pattern of the hezec family of aruz (quantitative metre). In the first stanza the four lines end with the redif (refrain word) "olmakdur"; the rhyme is the sound "-etde" in the words "rif'atde, hürmetde, 'izzetde, hizmetde". The other stanzas use the rhymes "-âbın an", "-ânî", "-ânına" and "-âd eyle". The refrain is the line "Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza (fol. 67b).
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The poem is a supplication from beginning to end. In the first stanza the poet says that he expects no rise, esteem or honour from union, and that his only wish is service. In the second he reminds the one he addresses of the Day of Resurrection: the account of the ruined land of the heart will be asked there, while freeing the captive earns divine reward. In the third stanza the addressee is called "zıll-ı Yezdânî", the shadow of God on earth; this title is used for rulers, and it builds a congruence of images (tenasüp) with the word "sâye" (shade) in the same line. The phrase "mülk-i Yunanî" denotes the land of Rum, Anatolia; Kılıç associates the words "Yunan illeri" in one of the divan's ghazals with the region of Karaman. In the fourth stanza the nightingale of the heart, the rose garden of union and the thorn of separation form a congruence of images; this time the addressee is a physician who removes pain. In the last stanza the words "nâ-murâd" (luckless) and "ber-murâd" (granted one's wish) come from the same root as "murâdum" (my wish) in the refrain, and the poem closes on this play on words.
Historical Context
Kılıç quotes this murabba in full and says that Bayezid's desire to see his father rises to the level of entreaty in the poems towards the end of the divan. In his view the "beşâret-nâme" in the last stanza is the letter of good tidings that would announce Süleyman's pardon of his son, and here the poet openly awaits that letter. After his defeat at Konya in 1559 Bayezid sent the mufti Muhyiddin Cürcânî to his father to beg pardon; when no pardon came he took refuge in Iran, and from there too he wrote letters seeking pardon. The text does not show which of these pleas the poem is connected with. It may be said that the words "questioning at the Resurrection" and "do not take his blood upon you" gain a particular weight when one considers that they are spoken by a prince whose life depended on his father's decision; this is our own reading.
Bibliography
- Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 131, murabba no. 3 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 67b); also p. 34 (poems addressed to his father) and p. 41 ("Yunan illeri"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.
- Şerafettin Turan, "Bayezid, Şehzade", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 5, Istanbul 1992, pp. 230-231, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/bayezid-sehzade.
Online sources
