Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḥamdu li’llāh yine bir müjde dili şād eyledi
Rūz-ı ġam endūzumı mānend-i a‘yād eyledi
Pertev-i nūr-ı meserretle derūnum itdi yer
Şem‘-i tebşīrin şeb-i ṭab‘a żiyā dād eyledi
Eyleyüp hanzalı mizāc telḫī-i ġamdan biri
Ḫāṭır-ı vīrānemi dükkān-ı ḳannād eyledi
Bir nüvīd-i ḫoş-edā-yı ruḥ-baḫşādur bu kim
İstimā‘ı ḳuvvet-i endūhı ifsād eyledi
Bir nüvīd-i dil-güşādur ki bu ṣaḥn-ı sīnede
Ḫāne-i ḥüzni yerinden yıḳdı ber-bād eyledi
Ḳoymadı kāḫ-ı kederden dilde ās̱ar-ı ẓılal
Yerine bir ḳaṣr-ı ‘işret-ḫāne bünyād eyledi
Līk aṣlın bilmemekle bu nüvīd-i dil-keşüñ
Sā’il-i endīşe benden ḫayli ib‘ād eyledi

Page 55, which contains couplets 8-17, is missing from the open-access digital copy of the thesis. Couplets 11, 14 and 16, which Topal quotes in a simplified spelling in the study section, are given below in that form.

Mülk-i Bağdâda murâd üzre olup te’min-bahş
Hazret-i Sultan Murad’ın rûhunı şâd eyledi
İtdiği âsâyiş ü hüsn-i nizâmı bî-riyâ
Ne Nizâmü’l-Mülk idüp ne İbn Abbâd eyledi
Rahşına ruh-ı musavverdür disem şâyestedür
Sûret-i îrâs-ı şerm-i rûh-ı Bihzâd eyledi

From couplet 18 onward the text is again taken from the critical text of the thesis.

Beẕl ü ‘aṭāda be ḳavli nābī-i cennet-māṣīr
Ḫalḳı iḥsānı ile ḳul itdi āzād eyledi
Her yere kim baṣdı pā neşv ü nemā-yı himmeti
Her ḫas-ı ḫāşāke bir serv itdi şimşād eyledi
Ṣubḥ-ı iclāli uyardı çeşm-i baḫt-ı ‘ālemi
Necm-i iḳbāli uyutdı dehri irḳād eyledi
Ḳahramān-ı zūr-āverdür ki ‘azm-i rezmini
Leşker-i a‘dāya ne Rüstem ne Güşvād eyledi
Rezmini vaṣf idicek şeh-nāme-ḫān-ı rūzgār
Heft-ḫān-ı Rüstemi eñ soñra īrād eyledi
Eylediyse her ne semte ‘izz ü devletle sefer
Rūḥ-ı pāk-i evliyā bi’l-cümle imdād eyledi
Rāyet-i iḳbāline innā fetaḥnā-ḫān olup
Himmet-i merdān aña her yerde is‘ād eyledi
Ḳuṭb-ı gerdūn-ı sa‘ādetdür ki çetr-i baḫtına
Himmet-i ḫāṣṣ-ı ricālü’l-ġayb-ı evtād eyledi
Kāh Baṣra kāh Baġdada olup te’mīn-baḫş
Eşḳıyā-yı şehre zevī zūrı ber-bād eyledi
Cūy-bār-ı saṭvetin cārī idüp ol mülke de
Cā-be-cā iṭfā-yı nār-ı ẓulm-i ekrād eyledi
Seyr idince tīġ-i āteş-tābını İbn-i Yebiḥ
Yüz dutup rāh-ı firāre terk-i ecnād eyledi
‘Āḳıbet irmek temennāsıyla başı devlete
Cān atup rū-māle-i dāmād-ı cellād eyledi
Rāh-ı idbāre ḳoyup pā Türkīye iḥdā başın
Ḥāṣılı ḳayd-ı cihāndan başın āzād eyledi
İtdügi izār-ı toḫm-ı ḫīşe vü ġadr u cevrden
Rās-ı maḥṣūlı mücāzāt ile iḥṣād eyledi
Bā-ḫuṣūṣ ol kūh-ı Sencār-ı şeḳāvet zār kim
Ḳavm-i eşrārını cāy baġi vü ifsād eyledi
Ya‘ni ol ḳavm-i Yezīdān-ı ḍalālet-pīşe kim
Ḫānedān-ı Aḥmed-i muḫtāra bī-dād eyledi
Nice yüz yıldan iṭā‘atden çıḳup ol ḳavm-i şūm
Ḳaṭ‘-i reh sefk-i dimā ‘iṣyānı mu‘tād eyledi
‘Āḳıbet ol āṣaf-ı dādār-ı Ṣāḥib merḥamet
Şefḳat-i feryād u āh-ı ehl-i feryād eyledi
Eyleyüp tedmīr yine himmetle ‘azm ol fırḳanuñ
Çetr-i ‘izzetle o kūha ḍarb-ı evtād eyledi
Bundan aḳdem gerçi kim nice vezīrān-ı selef
Fetḥine sa‘y eyleyüp tertīb-i ecnād eyledi
Līk bu fetḥ ü ẓafer birine olmayup naṣīb
Āteş-i ḥasret ü cūdın yaḳdı īḳād eyledi
Ḥamduli’llāh kim o kūha şimdi ol ‘ālī-himem
Tīşe-i himmetle resm-i kār-ı Ferhād eyledi
Aldı şāh-ı Kerbelānuñ intiḳāmın ḫaṣmdan
Ḳırdı ol ḳavm-i ḍalālet-pīşeyi dād eyledi
Ġayret-i dīn-i mübīni eyledi icrāya sa‘y
Ḫānedāna ḫizmet ile bir güzel ad eyledi
Ḍarb u fetḥüñ sillesiyle sīne-i a‘dā-yı dūn
Dā’ireāsā fiġāne geldi feryād eyledi
Āṣafa bu bende-i iḳbāl-cū Ṣāḥib ḳuluñ
Rūz şeb kim medḥüñi tekrāra mu‘tād eyledi
İrticā-yı izdiyād-ı devlet ü iḳbālüñi
Her ‘aḳīb-i farżda taḳdīm-i evrād eyledi
Bir ġulām-ı kemterīndür ki çoḳdan nāmını
Bendegānuñ defterine yazdı a‘dād eyledi
Şimdi bu fetḥ-i meserret-baḫşā kim tāriḫ içün
Sāḥa-i endīşede çoḳ fikr-i īrād eyledi
Bir beşīr irdi beşāretle didi tāriḫini
Fetḥ idüp Sencārı ol iḳlīmi ābād eyledi

In English

1. Praise be to God, once again a piece of good news has gladdened the heart; it has made my day that gathers sorrow like a festival.

2. The radiance of the light of joy has settled within me; the candle of glad tidings has given brightness to the night of my nature.

3. One (piece of news) has turned my ruined heart, bitter as colocynth from the bitterness of grief, into a confectioner's shop.

4. It is sweet-voiced, life-giving news, the hearing of which has broken the strength of sorrow.

5. It is heart-opening news that has torn the house of grief from its place in the courtyard of the breast and laid it waste.

6. It has left in the heart no trace of shadow from the palace of sorrow; in its place it has founded a pavilion of revelry.

7. But since I did not know the source of this heart-winning news, the questioner of thought (my curiosity) drove me far afield.

11. Granting security in the land of Baghdad as was desired, he gladdened the soul of His Majesty Sultan Murad.

14. The order and fair governance he established without pretence were achieved neither by Nizâm al-Mulk nor by Ibn ‘Abbâd.

16. If I call his horse a living picture, it is fitting; it became a form that put the soul of Bihzâd to shame.

18. In keeping with the saying of the "nâbî" whose destination is paradise, in giving and generosity he made people slaves through his kindness and set (slaves) free. (It is not clear whether "nābī", printed in lower case in the edition, means the poet Nâbî or the Prophet.)

19. Wherever he set foot, the growth and flourishing of his zeal turned every bit of straw and rubbish into a cypress and a boxwood.

20. The morning of his majesty awakened the eye of the world's fortune; the star of his prosperity lulled the age to sleep and gave it rest.

21. He is a mighty hero; neither Rustam nor Gushvad showed such resolve for battle against the enemy army.

22. When the Shahnameh reciter of the age described his battles, he left the Seven Labours of Rustam to the very end.

23. In whatever direction he campaigned with glory and fortune, the pure souls of the saints all came to his aid.

24. While "innâ fetahnâ" (We have given you a victory) was recited for the banner of his prosperity, the zeal of the men of God aided him everywhere.

25. He is the pole of the heaven of felicity, and the zeal of the chosen among the hidden saints became the tent pegs of the pavilion of his fortune.

26. Now in Basra, now in Baghdad, granting security, he laid waste the might and strength of the city's brigands.

27. Making the stream of his majesty flow into that land too, he put out here and there the fire of the oppression of the Kurds.

28. When Ibn-i Yebih saw his fire-flashing sword, he turned his face to the road of flight and abandoned his troops.

29. In the end, wishing to attain fortune, he threw down his head and his life and offered them to the kerchief of the executioner's son-in-law.

30. Setting his foot on the road of retreat, he made a gift of his head to Turkishness; in short, he freed his head from the bond of the world.

31. With retribution he reaped the head of the harvest of the seed of trickery and oppression he himself had sown. (The reading and meaning of the line are uncertain.)

32. Above all that mountain of Sinjar, place of brigandage, which made the host of the wicked a nest of insolence and mischief;

33. That is, that host of Yazidis, given to error, who did injustice to the house of Ahmad the chosen (the Prophet).

34. For many hundreds of years that ill-omened host had left obedience and made highway robbery, bloodshed and rebellion their custom.

35. At last that just and merciful vizier took pity on the cries and sighs of those who cried out.

36. Resolving once more with zeal to destroy that host, he drove the tent pegs of his pavilion of honour into that mountain.

37. It is true that before this many viziers of the past strove to conquer it and marshalled troops.

38. But this conquest and victory fell to the lot of none of them, and the fire of longing burned and consumed their being.

39. Praise be to God that now on that mountain that vizier of lofty zeal has done the work of Farhad with the pickaxe of zeal.

40. He took the revenge of the king of Karbala (Husayn) from the enemy; he crushed that host given to error and established justice.

41. He strove to carry out the zeal of the manifest religion; by serving the (Prophet's) house he made himself a good name.

42. Under the blow of your strike and conquest, the breast of the base enemies began to wail like a tambourine and cried out.

43. O Âsaf (of a vizier), this servant who seeks your favour, your slave Sâhib, has made it his custom to repeat your praise night and day.

44. After every obligatory prayer he has placed the wish for the increase of your fortune and prosperity before his litanies.

45. He is the humblest of your slaves, who long ago wrote his name in the register of your servants and counted himself among them.

46. Now, to find a chronogram for this joy-giving conquest, he brought many thoughts onto the field of reflection.

47. A herald came with good tidings and spoke its date: "Conquering Sinjar he made that land prosper."

Literary and Historical Commentary

The heading of the kaside (qasida) states its subject plainly: "On the holy war of the Sinjar campaign of the noble vizier Hasan Pasha, governor of Baghdad". Eyüplü Hasan Pasha, who governed Baghdad for nearly twenty years, had taken up the post in 1116 (1704) and dealt with the rebellious tribes of the region until his death in 1136 (1724). The campaign Sâhib praises was against the Yazidis living on the mountain of Sinjar (Sencar). The last couplet is a chronogram (tarih); the line "Fetḥ idüp Sencārı ol iḳlīmi ābād eyledi", when reckoned by the abjad (ebced) values of its letters in the usual spelling, gives the number 1126 (1714). Topal does not calculate the value of the line; the calculation is ours and cannot be confirmed without seeing the spelling in the manuscript. This date falls within the years of Hasan Pasha's governorship.

The first seven couplets describe the change that a piece of good news brings about in the heart before the news itself is named: the heart, bitter as colocynth, becomes a confectioner's shop, and the palace of sorrow a pavilion of revelry. The section from the eighth to the seventeenth couplet could not be read, because page 55 is missing from the open-access digital copy of the thesis. The three couplets Topal quotes in her study show the subject of this section: Hasan Pasha, by securing Baghdad, gladdened the soul of "Sultan Murad", most probably Murad IV, who had conquered the city in 1048 (1638); with his justice he surpassed the Seljuk vizier Nizâm al-Mulk and the Buyid vizier Ibn ‘Abbâd; and his horse is beautiful enough to shame the miniature master Bihzâd. Topal notes that in this section heroes of the Persian epic such as Jam, Kahraman, Nariman, Sohrab, Afrasiyab, Zal, Esfandiyar, Qarun and Sam are also named.

The account of the campaign moves in a language where reality and epic are intertwined. The Seven Labours of Rustam come last beside Hasan Pasha's battles; as tent pegs are driven into the mountain, Farhad's pickaxe is remembered. The idea that gives the kaside its particular colour is in the thirty-third and fortieth couplets: the name "Yezîdân" leads the poet to Yazid, who had Husayn martyred at Karbala, and the defeat of the Yazidis is presented as the revenge of Karbala. Topal too notes that in these couplets Yazid is named as an enemy because of Karbala. This connection reflects not a historical fact but a poetic logic resting on the association of the name. The "oppression of the Kurds" extinguished in the twenty-seventh couplet and "Ibn-i Yebih", who flees in the twenty-eighth, are also local opponents in the campaign; the edition does not explain who Ibn-i Yebih was.

In the last section the poet enrols himself among Hasan Pasha's servants: his name has long been in the register of slaves, and after every obligatory prayer he prays for the pasha's fortune. The eighteenth couplet recalls the common saying that man is the slave of kindness, and sets "making a slave" against "setting free" in the same line; the "nābī" named as the author of the saying may be Nâbî, whom Sâhib calls his master in his ghazals, or the Prophet (nebî). According to Hüsameddin's account, Sâhib had been exiled to Amasya with his patron Hacı Ahmed Pasha at the end of 1125 and became deputy judge of Sivas in 1126; it is possible that the kaside was written in these years spent away from Istanbul in search of a patron, but the text says nothing of this. Absent from the two Istanbul University manuscripts, the kaside entered Topal's edition from the Ali Emîrî manuscript (fol. 4a). The text runs in the "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün" pattern of the remel metre, and the edition notes "metre faulty" for the first line of the forty-fourth couplet.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

  • 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. 54-59, kaside 5 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 4a); also pp. 19-21 (couplets 11, 14, 16, 21, 33, 39 and 40). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014
  • Feridun Emecen, "Hasan Paşa, Eyüplü", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 16, İstanbul 1997, pp. 336-337. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/hasan-pasa-eyuplu

Online sources