Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâʻilâtün Fâʻilâtün Fâʻilâtün Fâʻilün

Yine yüz döndürdi nâgeh rûzigâr-ı bî-vefâ
Her kişiye güci yitdükce ider cevr ü cefâ
Ẕevḳ ü şâdîden ferâġat eylesün ehl-i ṣafâ
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ
ʻAksine döndi dirîġâ yine çarḫ-ı âsumân
Ṭañ mıdur olsa sipihrüñ dâmeni ṭopṭolu ḳan
Nevḥa vü zârî ḳılup ins ü melek itsün fiġân
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ
Ṭaña ḳaldı dîde-i encüm felek ḳan aġladı
Yedi deryâ acıyup ebr ile bârân aġladı
İşidüp bu mâtemi kâfir Müselmân aġladı
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ
Bu muṣîbetden göge aġsa ʻaceb mi dûd-i âh
Nâle itdi iḫtiyârı ḳalmayup mîr ü sipâh
Uydı aʻdâ sözlerine ġaflet ile pâdişâh
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ
Ol gül içün ḥaşr olunca aġlasun ebr-i bahâr
Nâle ḳılsun gülşen-i ʻâlemde bülbüller hezâr
Çâre ne çün böyle imiş muḳteżâ-yı rûzigâr
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ
Ḥasretâ ḥayfâ dirîġâ gitdi ol ḫan oġlı ḫan
Emr-i Ḥaḳḳ’a imtisâl idüp yolına virdi cân
Ḫalḳ dilinde tâ ḳıyâmet söylene bu dâsitân
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ
İy Sirâcî yanayum hicrân odına ṣubḥ u şâm
Yandı yaḳıldı bu mâtem âteşine ḫâṣ u ʻâm
Bu muṣîbet söyleniser tâ ilâ yevmi’l-ḳıyâm
Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ

In English

1. Faithless time has once more suddenly turned its face away; to everyone, as far as its power reaches, it deals oppression and cruelty. Let the people of pleasure give up delight and joy; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

2. Alas, the wheel of the sky has turned upside down once more; is it any wonder if the skirt of heaven is all blood. Let man and angel raise the lament and cry out moaning; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

3. The eye of the stars was left astonished, the heavens wept blood; the seven seas took pity and wept rain with the clouds. Hearing of this mourning, unbeliever and Muslim wept; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

4. Is it any wonder if the smoke of sighs rises to the sky from this calamity; beys and soldiers moaned in spite of themselves. In heedlessness the sultan followed the words of the enemies; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

5. Let the spring cloud weep for that rose until the Resurrection; let a thousand nightingales moan in the rose garden of the world. What can be done, such was the requirement of time; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

6. What longing, what pity, alas, that khan son of a khan is gone; obeying the command of God, he gave his life on His path. Let this tale be told on the people's tongues until the Last Day; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

7. O Sirâcî, let me burn in the fire of separation morning and evening; the great and the common burned and were consumed in this fire of mourning. This calamity will be spoken of until the Day of Resurrection; Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba of seven stanzas in the metre "fâʻilâtün fâʻilâtün fâʻilâtün fâʻilün". Each stanza has four lines; the first three rhyme among themselves, and the fourth is repeated as the refrain "Riḥlet itdi ʻâlem-i ʻuḳbâya Sulṭân Muṣṭafâ" (Sultan Mustafa has departed for the world of the hereafter). In the first stanza the rhyme is built on the same sound as the refrain ("bî-vefâ, cefâ, ṣafâ, Muṣṭafâ"). The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza in the address "İy Sirâcî". The text is on folios 29a-29b of Sirâcî's divan and is given in the appendix of Maruf Çakır's article. Recep Hasar notes that all the elegies for sultans and princes in murabba form were written for Prince Mustafa; Sirâcî's poem, published after Hasar's thesis, is not included in his count.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Of Sirâcî's three elegies this is the plainest and shortest; each stanza draws a brief picture of mourning and closes with the refrain. The heavens turn upside down, the skirt of the sky fills with blood, the eye of the stars is left astonished, the seven seas weep with the clouds. The phrase "kâfir Müselmân aġladı" (unbeliever and Muslim wept) in the third stanza is a common expression of the elegies for Prince Mustafa; it also occurs in the elegies of Hasbî, Müdâmî and Selîmî.

The most striking point of the poem is the line in the fourth stanza, "Uydı aʻdâ sözlerine ġaflet ile pâdişâh" (in heedlessness the sultan followed the words of the enemies). Maruf Çakır stresses that while Sirâcî states that the prince was slandered, he does not shrink from saying that it was not the young prince but Süleyman himself who fell into heedlessness, and recalls that Ahmet Atilla Şentürk finds a similar accusation of "heedlessness" in Taşlıcalı Yahya's elegy. The sixth stanza says that the prince obeyed God's command and gave his life, and wishes that the event be told as a tale on the people's tongues until the Last Day; the last stanza repeats this wish.

Historical Context

According to Çakır, Sirâcî's elegies are, besides being literary poems, historical documents reflecting the people's view of this event in Ottoman history; the poets did not shrink from criticising the sultan and those they saw as responsible for the event. Who the poet was and his other poems are described in the biographical article in this category, and the other elegies in our article Elegies for Prince Mustafa.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Sirâcî, Dîvân, Istanbul University Rare Works Library, Turkish Manuscripts, NCTY09503, fols. 29a-29b (copied 1055/1645-46; as published by Çakır).

Academic studies

Online sources