Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḥażret-i Aġā-yı vālā-ḳadr ālī-menzilet
Ol Ḥüseyn-ism ü Ḥasen-sīret cenāb-ı kār-dān
Cā-nişīn-i ḥüsn-i aḫlāḳ-ı Ḥüseyn-i Bayḳara
Ṣadr-pīrā-yı ‘umūm-ı ketḫüdāyān-cihān
Ol ki tehẕīb-i ḫıṣal u zīver-i ādābla
Faḫr-i eşbāh-ı naẓā’irdür vücūdı bī-gümān
Her işi ḳānūn ile enmūzec-i rüşd ü ṣavāb
Her kelām-ı ḥikmet-āmīzi ma‘ānī vü beyān
Bāreka’llāh bu dil-ārā ḳaṣrı bünyād eyledi
Eyledi himmetle icrā-yı ‘ulüvv ü ‘izz şān
Ḥabbezā ḳaṣr-ı feraḥ-baḫşā ki ṭarḥın görse ger
İ‘tirāf eylerdi bī-şübhe ḳuṣūr yine cinān
Revnaḳ-ı tāvānı pervāz-ı müzeyyin naḳşla
Şol gülistāndur ki eṭrāfı yazılmış būstān
Ḥaḳ Te‘ālā ide bānīsin sa‘ādetle mekīn
Her umūrında mu‘īn ola Ḫudā-yı müste‘ān
Seyr idüp Ṣāḥib didi tebrīk ile tārīḫini
Dil-nişīn ḳaṣr-ı Hüseyn-ābād u pākīze-mekān

In English

1. His Excellency the Agha, of lofty worth and high rank; that capable lord whose name is Hüseyin and whose conduct is "hasan" (good).

2. The one who takes the place of Husayn Bayqara in fine character, who adorns the seat of honour among all the stewards of the world.

3. He whose being, through the refinement of his qualities and the ornament of his manners, is without doubt the pride of his peers.

4. His every deed, done according to law, is a model of rightness and good judgement; his every word mixed with wisdom is meaning and eloquence.

5. God bless it, he has founded this heart-adorning pavilion; with his zeal he has made loftiness, honour and glory real.

6. How fine a joy-giving pavilion; were the gardens of paradise to see its design, they would surely confess their own palaces (their faults).

7. The splendour of its ceiling, with its ornamented and decorated frieze, is a rose garden with an orchard painted around its edges.

8. May God Most High settle its builder here in felicity; may God, whose help is sought, be his helper in all his affairs.

9. Having viewed it, Sâhib spoke its date with congratulations: "The heart-dwelling pavilion of Hüseynâbâd and pure place."

Literary and Historical Commentary

The third of the chronograms written for Ali Pasha's buildings in Urfa celebrates the pavilion not of the vizier but of an agha. The heading can be read as "Chronogram of Hüseynâbâd in Ruha and praise of Hüseyin Agha, (of) Ali Pasha"; the phrase in the second couplet, "the seat of honour among all the stewards of the world", suggests that Hüseyin Agha was the vizier's kethüda, his steward who ran his affairs. The edition gives no information about this person, and we could not find him in another source either. The name of the pavilion, like Ferahâbâd, is derived from its owner's name: Hüseynâbâd.

The name is also the material of the praise. In the first couplet the Agha is called "Ḥüseyn-ism ü Ḥasen-sīret": his name is Hüseyin, his conduct "hasen", that is, good. The coming together of the names of Hasan and Husayn adds an echo of the Prophet's household to the praise of character. In the second couplet it is the Timurid ruler Husayn Bayqara who is named; this sultan, protector of poets and artists in Herat, is made the model of the good character of his namesake, the Agha.

In the sixth couplet the word "ḳuṣūr" is a double entendre (tevriye): as the plural of "kasr" it means "palaces", and read on its own it means "faults". Were the gardens of paradise to see Hüseynâbâd's design, they would confess both their palaces and their faults. The seventh couplet describes the pavilion's ceiling: framed by ornamented friezes, the ceiling resembles a rose garden with an orchard painted along its edges. This description brings to mind an interior whose ceilings were decorated with painted plant motifs. The last line is the chronogram (tarih); reckoning the phrase "Dil-nişīn ḳaṣr-ı Hüseyn-ābād u pākīze-mekān" with the conjunction "u" in the usual spelling, we arrive at 1132 (1719-1720), which agrees with the years indicated by the other Urfa chronograms. The calculation is not in Topal's edition. The text is written in the remel pattern "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün" and is found on folio 9b of the Ali Emîrî manuscript.

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, pp. 74-75, tarih 6 "Tārīḫ-i Ḥüseyn-ābād der Ruha vü Sitāyiş-i Hüseyn Aġa ‘Ali Paşa" (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 9b). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014

Online sources