Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Bārekā’llah zihī şehr-i güzīn-i vālā
Ḥabbezā belde-i pākīze-i cennetāsā
Var mı bir şehr ki bu beldeye mānend ola
Cümle büldāna n’ola olsa müreccah Bursa
Şehr-i Bursada olan suları ta‘dād idelüm
Vādī vü nehr ü ḥavīżāt u ‘uyūn müstes̱nā
Sularuñ başı bıñar başı ṣuyıdur ancaḳ
Anı tercīḥ ider cümle miyāha ḥükemā
Mu‘tedil pāk ṣudur hem daḫı tā’ib bıñarı
Ḫumsı żāyi‘ olur ol āb leẕīẕüñ ḥayfā
Severüm vaḳt-i ṣabādan beri ābī degilüm
Ḳatı şīrīn gelür Südlicenüñ ābı baña
Var mı ṣarnıc ṣuyınuñ dünyada bir mānendi
İtdirir hazm ṭa‘āmı ne ḳadar olsa ġıdā
Bir kez içmekle ṭoyulmaz o Umūrıñ ṣuyına
Bu da bir emr-i ‘acībdür anı ḳıl istis̱nā
Müfti ṣuyuñ olur olmaz ṣūya tanẓīr idemem
Hele şer‘īce ṣudur iç ve ‘aleyhi’l-fetvā
Ḫoş gelür pīrlere içmege bu Āb-ı ‘Aṣā
Anı iẓhār-ı kerāmetle aḳıtmış Mūsa
Hāżım u mu‘tedil ü müdrir ü ‘aynı ṣudur
Ẕevḳ baḫş ider aġır ḳahve yerine Ḥaḳḳā
Ḳandırır āb-ı Ḳısıḳ çeşmesi ‘aṭşānları
Müteleẕẕiz olur elbette ider kesb-i ṣafā
Teşnegāna hele kātip ṣuyı rūḥ-efzādur
Ḫoş-güvār olduġuna ṣafveti şāhiddür aña
Āb-ı Devlengci idrār ile tercīḥ iderüm
Seretān ‘illetine olsa n’ola ‘ayn-ı şifā
Ḳadri ‘ālī ṣularuñ birisi āb-ı ḳadri
‘Iydgehde anı Ṣāḥib es̱er itmiş imlā
Ele girseydi gümüş ṣuyı eger bir kerre
Anı isrāf yere ḫarc mı iderdüm aṣlā
Āb-ı Fındıḳlı n’ola olsa gümüşden ‘ālī
Fındıḳ altunı ḳadar nef‘ini görür fuḳarā

In English

1. God bless it, what a choice and lofty city; how fine a town, pure like paradise.

2. Is there a city that resembles this town? It would be fitting if Bursa were preferred above all cities.

3. Let us count the waters in the city of Bursa, leaving aside the valleys, rivers, pools and springs.

4. The head of the waters is surely the water of Pınarbaşı; the learned prefer it to all waters.

5. The Tâib spring too is a mild and pure water; alas, a fifth of that delicious water runs to waste.

6. I have loved it since my youth, I am no lover of water, but the water of Südlice tastes very sweet to me. (The reading of the line is not certain.)

7. Is there anything in the world like the water of Sarnıç? It digests food, however heavy the meal.

8. One cannot have one's fill of that Umur water by drinking it once; this too is a strange thing, set it apart.

9. I cannot compare the Müftü water to just any water; it is above all a water lawful (and pure) by religious law, drink it, the fatwa is in its favour.

10. This Asâ water is pleasant for old men to drink; Moses made it flow by working a miracle.

11. It is a digestive, mild, diuretic and unmixed water; truly it gives pleasure in place of heavy coffee.

12. The water of the Kısık fountain quenches the thirsty; surely (whoever drinks) takes pleasure and gains delight.

13. Above all, the Kâtip water revives the thirsty; its clarity bears witness that it is pleasant to drink.

14. I prefer the water of Devlengeci because it is diuretic; it would be fitting if it were the very cure for the disease of cancer.

15. One of the waters is the Kadri water, high in worth; Sâhib had a work about it written at the Iydgâh. (The meaning of the second line is not fully clear.)

16. If the Gümüş water (silver money) had ever come into my hands, would I ever have spent it in waste?

17. It would be fitting if the Fındıklı water were above silver; the poor benefit from it as much as from a "fındık altını" (gold coin).

Literary and Historical Commentary

This poem, placed in the "chronograms" section, has no chronogram line; it is a praise of a city that counts the waters of Bursa one by one. The waters of Pınarbaşı, the Tâib spring, Südlice, Sarnıç, Umur, Müftü, Asâ, the Kısık fountain, Kâtip, Devlengeci, Kadri, Gümüş and Fındıklı are named in turn, and each is given either a benefit to health or a witticism drawn from its name. Topal cites couplets 2, 6, 12 and 14 of this poem as examples of passages in Sâhib's chronograms that describe the beauties of Istanbul and Bursa and the taste of their waters.

Most of the witticisms are born of names. The Müftü ("mufti") water can be drunk "by religious law" and "the fatwa is in its favour"; the Asâ ("staff") water was made to flow by Moses, who drew water by striking the rock with his staff; the Gümüş ("silver") water would be a fortune not to be wasted if it came into one's hands; and the Fındıklı water gives the poor as much benefit as a "fındık altını". The fındık altını was the name of one of the gold coins of the period; the poet thus ties the name of the water to money. The other couplets speak in the language of folk medicine: the Sarnıç water digests heavy meals, another water takes the place of heavy coffee, the Devlengeci water is a diuretic and, by the poet's word, could cure "seretân" (cancer).

According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Sâhib became kadı of Bursa in 1142 (1729-1730); his detailed knowledge of the city's waters may be connected with this post, but there is no indication in the poem of the year it was written. In the fifteenth couplet the poet, naming himself, seems to say that he had a work about the Kadri water written at the "Iydgâh" (open-air prayer ground); whether this was an inscription or some other writing cannot be told from the text. Unlike most of the chronograms, this poem is found in two manuscripts: the Ali Emîrî manuscript (fol. 38a) and Istanbul University T. 1710/6 (fol. 2b). The differences in the second copy are no more than small variants of spelling.

Bibliography

Online sources