Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Gül-bün-i gülzār-ı dāniş Ḫaṭṭī-i ḫoş-ṭab‘ kim
Ḫoş-nüvisān içre s̱ebt-i ḥükm-i erḳām eyledi
Ġayrılar çīl sāle taḥṣīl itdigi resm-i ḫaṭṭı
Az zamānda ol idüp taḥṣīl-i itmām eyledi
Buldı çün iḳdām ile cümle ḫuṭūṭ-ı dest-res
Ba‘d-ez-in taḥsīl-i ḫaṭṭ-ı rūya iḳdām eyledi
Virdi ruḫṣat ḫaṭṭ-ı sebz-i müşg-bū-yı rūyına
Ka‘be-i ruḫsārı ya‘nī ‘anberīn-fām eyledi
Gūş idince remz ile Ṣāḥib didi tārīḫini
Geçdi Şehbādan Ḥasan menzilgehin Şām eyldi

In English

1. The rose bush of the rose garden of knowledge, Hattî of pleasing nature, who confirmed the rule of characters (of script) among those who write beautifully.

2. The art of script that others learn in forty years, he learned and completed in a short time.

3. When through his effort he had mastered all the kinds of script, he then set about acquiring the "hatt" of the face (the down).

4. He gave leave for the green down to appear on his musk-scented face; that is, he made the Kaaba of his cheek ambergris-coloured (veiled).

5. On hearing this, Sâhib spoke its date by a riddle: "Hasan passed through Şehbâ and made Damascus his station."

Literary and Historical Commentary

The heading "Tārīḫ-i Diger" (another chronogram) points to the chronogram for Hattî Mustafa Çelebi that stands just before this five-couplet poem in the Ali Emîrî manuscript: the two poems follow one another in the manuscript (fols. 11a-11b), while in the edition other chronograms come between them. The subject is the same, the first appearance of down on Hattî's face; but this time the poet uses the two meanings of the word "hatt" to the full. Hattî first masters the art of script, "hatt"; he learns in a short time what others learn in forty years and gains command of every kind of script. Then only one "hatt" remains for him to learn: the "hatt" of the face, the down.

The first couplet names Hattî among those who write beautifully (ḫoş-nüvisān); the poem therefore suggests that his pen name was a calligrapher's pen name, though the edition gives no information on this. The fourth couplet repeats the Kaaba comparison of the earlier chronogram: the cheek is a Kaaba, and the down covers it with an ambergris-coloured veil.

The last line is a riddling chronogram: "Geçdi Şehbādan Ḥasan menzilgehin Şām eyledi." On the surface the line tells of someone called "Hasan" passing through Şehbâ, the old name of Aleppo, and halting at Damascus (Şâm). But "hasen" means beautiful, "şehbâ" white and "şâm" evening; the beautiful face has passed beyond its whiteness and settled in the station of evening, that is, of the dark down. In a ghazal couplet that Topal cites in her study, the beloved's lock is likewise likened to a caravan travelling between Şehbâ and Damascus. In riddling chronograms the number is found by adding or subtracting the values of certain words in the line; Topal does not explain how this line is to be solved, and we could not reach a certain solution either. The last word of the chronogram line is shortened to "eyldi" instead of "eyledi" to fit the remel metre.

Bibliography

  • Meral Topal, Pîrî-zâde Mehmed Sâhib Hayatı, Edebî Kişiliği, Eserleri ve Divanı'nın Tenkitli Metni, MA thesis, Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Elazığ 2004, p. 89, tarih 13 "Tārīḫ-i Diger" (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 11b); also p. 26 (ghazal 112, couplet 3). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014

Online sources