Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Yine dil-ḫāh üzre devr itdi sipihr-i āferīn
Şükrili’llāh eyledi erbāb-ı ṭab‘ı kām-bīn
Sābıḳa itdikleri āzāra nādim oldı çarḫ
Ḳalmadı āyīne-i ṭab‘ında reng-i keyd ü kīn
Eyledi eyyām-ı māfāta telāfī rūzgār
Ba‘d-ez-īn şaḫs-ı emel göstermesün çīn-i cebīn
Kevkeb-i ümmīd ḳalmışken vebāl-i ye’sde
Menzil-i sa‘du’l-s‘uūda eyledi şimdi ḳarīn
Egleniş budur ki bī-dār oldı baḫtı ‘ālemüñ
Ḫāṭır-ı nā-şāda söyleñ olmasun endūhgīn
Oldı birkaç vech ile ḫalḳa meserret rū-nümā
Nice ṣūretle göründi luṭf-ı Rabbü’l-ālemīn
Ḥāmilinüñ itdi tecdīdi teṣādüf sāl ile
Şer‘ ile ḳānūn ile bünyān-ı ḥükm oldı raṣīn
Ġayrı dursun cümleden şimdi budur māfi’z-zamīr
K’oldı şāyān ehline seccāde-i şer‘-i mübīn
Ya‘nī bir ẕāt-ı fażīlet-perver-i dāniş-nihād
Müsta‘idd-i müsta‘iddīn-i a‘ref her ‘ārifīn
Ḥażret-i Nā’ib Efendi ḥākim-i şer‘-i şerīf
Faḫr-i nüvvāb u fażā‘il-güster-i ‘irfān-güzīn
Eyledi ni‘me’l-bedel maẓmūnını icrā ile
Ḳāḍī-ı şehr-i Ruhā anı yerine cā-nişīn
Bir Süleymān-ı selīmü’ṭ-ṭab‘ efendidür o kim
Bī-tereddüd oldı ḥükmiyle ḳavī aḥkām-ı dīn
Nāfīẕü’l-ḥükm-i maḳām-ı şer‘-i pāk-i Aḥmedī
Ḥākim-i ḥükm-i ḳavīm-i cāy-ı faḫrü’l-mürselīn
‘Ālim ü fāżıl süḫan-dān-ı edīb ü pür-kemāl
Nükte-perdāz u hüner-senc ü lebīb-i ḫurde-bīn

Couplet 15 is illegible in the manuscript and is replaced by ellipses in the edition.

Ṣoḥbeti bir cāmi‘e beñzer ki anda ṣaf-be-ṣaf
Ṣan cemā‘atdür süṭūr-ı imżā imāmu’l-müslimīn
Mührini mühr-i Süleymān-ı ṭılısmāsā ṣukūk
Götürür başında tā kim ḫaṣmdan ola emīn
Maḥkeme bünyād olaldan olmamışdur ḥaḳḳ bu kim
Böyle ne bir ḳāḍī ne nā’ib bilā-şübhe mekīn
Kendü olduḳça bu ‘ālemde mu‘īn-i ehl-i şer‘
Ḥażret-i Ḥaḳḳda ola her emrde aña mu‘īn
İstimā‘ itdikde Ṣāḥib müjde-i teşrīfini
Didi tārīḫ-i güzīnin ḥāmī şer‘-i metīn

In English

1. Bravo to the sky, once again it has turned as the heart desires; thanks be to God, it has granted the people of talent (the poets) their wishes.

2. The wheel has repented of the torments it inflicted before; no colour of trickery and spite remains in the mirror of its nature.

3. Time has made good the days that were lost; from now on let hope not frown (at us).

4. While the star of hope lay in the ill fortune of despair, it has now brought it near to the station of the most auspicious star.

5. This is the joy: the world's fortune has woken; tell the joyless heart not to be sorrowful.

6. Joy has appeared to the people in several ways; the grace of the Lord of the worlds has shown itself in many forms.

7. The renewal of (the office's) holder coincided with the year; through religious law and statute the building of judgement has become firm.

8. All else aside, what is in the heart now is this: the prayer rug of the manifest law has become worthy of its rightful holder.

9. That is, a person of virtue and learned nature, the most capable of the capable, the most knowing of all who know.

10. His Excellency the Nâib Efendi, judge of the noble law; pride of deputies, who spreads virtues with choice learning.

11. The kadı of the city of Ruha, fulfilling the sense of the phrase "what a fine substitute", made him his deputy in his place.

12. He is a gentleman named Süleyman, of sound nature, through whose judgement the rulings of religion have without doubt grown strong.

13. Whose judgement is in force in the seat of the pure law of Ahmad (the Prophet), the judge of upright rulings in the land of the pride of the prophets.

14. Learned and virtuous, a master of words, cultivated and full of perfection; a maker of subtleties, a weigher of skill, an intelligent and keen-sighted man.

16. His company resembles a mosque in which the lines of signatures, row upon row, are like the congregation, (and he himself is) the imam of the Muslims.

17. Legal deeds carry his seal on their heads like a talisman, (taking it for) the seal of Solomon, so that they may be safe from their adversaries.

18. The truth is that since the court was founded, no kadı or deputy like this has without doubt held the seat.

19. As long as he is the helper of the people of the law in this world, may His Majesty God be his helper in every affair.

20. When Sâhib heard the good news of his arrival, he spoke its choice date: "Protector of the firm religious law."

Literary and Historical Commentary

This time the Urfa chronograms reach a judicial official: according to the heading, the poem was written for Süleyman Efendi, deputy judge (nâib) of Ruha. The eleventh couplet tells how the appointment came about: the kadı of Ruha, fulfilling the phrase "ni‘me'l-bedel" (what a fine substitute), made Süleyman Efendi his deputy, that is, his nâib. According to Hüsameddin's account, Sâhib himself had at one time been deputy judge of Sivas; this praise, from the pen of a poet who knew the office of nâib from the inside, carries details from the everyday world of the court.

These details are found above all in the sixteenth and seventeenth couplets. The deputy's company is likened to a mosque: the signatures set row upon row under the legal deeds are the lines of the congregation, and his signature is the "imāmu'l-müslimīn", the imam of the Muslims. The seventeenth couplet contains a play on the name: Süleyman Efendi's seal is likened to the seal of the prophet Solomon, which in legend commanded the jinn and demons, and legal documents (ṣukūk), carrying this seal on their heads like a talisman, are protected against their adversaries. In the twelfth couplet the phrase "Süleymān-ı selīmü'ṭ-ṭab‘" (Süleyman of sound nature) brings the names Süleyman and Selim together and may recall the two great sultans; the text does not draw this hint openly.

The fifteenth couplet could not be read by Topal because it is faded in the manuscript, and the edition puts ellipses in its place. The first eight couplets of the poem speak the language of reconciliation with the sky: the wheel repents of its former torments, and the star of hope has drawn near to the most auspicious sign. The seventh couplet says that the renewal of the office's holder coincided with the turn of the year; the chronogram line is the phrase "ḥāmī şer‘-i metīn" (protector of the firm religious law). By abjad (ebced) this phrase gives the value 1129 (1716-1717); the calculation is ours, and the text does not specify which words enter the number. Apart from folio 10b of the Ali Emîrî manuscript, the poem has no witness.

Bibliography

Online sources