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Poet, panegyric, and patron
A Bahariye Kaside by Tacizade Caʿfer Çelebi for Sultan Bayezit II
Walter G. Andrews and Mehmet Kalpaklı
The poet-statesman Tacizade Caʿfer Çelebi was raised in the environment of the court of Prince Bayezit (b. 1447, d. 1512) during the future sultan’s governorship of the “princely province” (şehzade sancağı) of Amasya. Caʿfer’s father, Taci Beg, had entered the service of then fifteen year-old Bayezit sometime in 1461–62, about two years before Caʿfer was born (1463–64). As the son of a highly regarded courtier, Caʿfer received an excellent medrese (theological school) education from which he graduated to a successful career as a medrese professor in the provinces. By the time he was thirty, he held signficant positions in Istanbul thanks to the patronage of Çandarlı İbrahim Paşa, tutor to Prince Bayezit in Amasya and, by 1486, vizier to Sultan Bayezit (r. 1481–1512). Caʿfer’s rise in prominence, likely impelled by his connection to Bayezit’s court, culminated in 1497, with his appointment to the Imperial Divan as nişancı, or inscriber of the royal signature, a powerful and influential position whose official status he did much to increase.1
A significant measure of Caʿfer’s esteem derived from his abilities as a poet and as an engaging companion at the social gatherings of the great. Among his many poetic works, he has a fascinating kaside (panegyric) on the topic of spring (bahariye) and the praise of Sultan Bayezit II, which was written either before the author’s appointment as nişancı or some years later.2 Kasides are almost always occasional but unless a kaside refers to a specific event, it is usually impossible to tell for certain when and for what occasion it was composed. The “registers of gifts” (inʿamat defterleri) which recorded gifts given by the sultan in recognition of significant poems, other works of literature, or life events, show only three awards for kasides made to Caʿfer in the spring or early summer: one in June of 1505, one in June of 1508, and one in April of 1509.3 The fact that the hüsn-i taleb (beauty of request) section of this kaside, in which the poet begs for something, is limited to a simple statement confined to part of one half-line seems to indicate that he felt no need to elaborate on his needs or qualifications. The begging is introduced by a quite common geological (and astronomical) fantasy and draws a simple comparison:
If Argus’ rays fall on a stone from the Yemen, oh Monarch,
It becomes carnelian and then finds worth and value
Compared to the rays of your beneficence, Argus is less than a mote
If I am not worth less than a rock, transport me to worthiness.
This sounds like a person, confident of his worth, looking for an increase in his income or influence more than a person looking for a better or specific job. This would fit Caʿfer who was already in an important divan-level position (nişancı) by 1505–08.
What is striking about Caʿfer’s poetry in general and this poem in particular is the way he creatively plays with and often confounds the genre expectations of his audiences and does this in the context of reminding them of the realities of patron, place, and time. We shall see, in this kaside, numerous examples of Caʿfer’s referencing the character and interests of Bayezit in clever and complex ways.
Caʿfer’s spring kaside begins, as do most (if not all) spring poems, in the flower garden. The winter has been long and cold, and all entertaining has been done indoors, in warm clothes, huddled around braziers or fireplaces—the only flowers were woven into fabrics or carpets, painted on tiles or ceramics, or recalled in the words of poems. In spring, the entertainment gathering, the meclis, again moves outside into the garden, its traditional and preferred locale. However, Caʿfer’s nesib, in contrast to the usual poetic introduction to a spring poem, takes the meclis for granted and reminds his audience that not only are the flowers blossoming but, in their blossoming, reflecting the ordinary life of Ottoman society preparing to bring its own color and joy to the world.
1. Şâhid-i raʾnâ-yı lâle geydi gülgûn pîrehen
Zînet idüb anı sîmîn tügmelerle jâleden
[The pretty boy poppy donned a rosy shirt
And adorned it with silver buttons of dew]
2. Kurs-ı germ-i âfitâbı gök tenûrında görüb
İştihâsından sehergeh goncalar açdı dehen
[At dawn the buds saw the warm cake of the sun
In the sky-oven and hungrily opened their mouths]
3. Şâh-ı gülden kasd-ı fasd idüb çü neşter çekdi hâr
Hâzır itdi nergis-i zerrîn-küleh çûb-u-legen
[When the thorn drew its lancet to bleed the rose sultan
The golden crowned narcissus made ready stick and basin]
4. Kâseler oynatdugınca lâle çûb üzre anun
Eşrefîler yagdurur hengâmesine nesteren
[When the poppy made goblets spin on its stick
The briar rose rained down gold sequins on the crowd]
5. Sebze sûzen târ-ı sünbül riştedür bâd-ı sabâ
Berg-i gülden dikmege dilberler içün pîrehen
[The grass is a needle, hyacinth stamen thread that the wind
Might sew a shirt of rose petals for the heart-thieves]
6. Yer yüzi tutdı pelengîne nihâlî sûretin
Düşdi çün hâk-i siyâh üstine berg-i yâsemen
[The face of the earth looked like a leopard skin carpet
When petals of jasmine fell upon the black soil]
The poppy is a beautiful beloved youth sewing silver buttons on his spring shirt. No more drab winter cloaks and furs! The warm sun reminds the hungry bud-children of round golden cakes of bread right out of the oven. The rose, sultan of flowers, is about to have blood drawn to relieve him of the melancholy humors of a dark winter and prepare him for the delights of spring. In the marketplace a crowd has gathered around open-air entertainers (kâsebâz) who spin cups and plates on sticks (and send out lovely boys to work the crowd for tips). The briar rose excites the crowd by generously scattering small gold coins at their feet as the sultans and the very wealthy would often do on glad public occasions. The wind helps the beloved boys dress for the occasion and the black earth, strewn with white jasmine petals, becomes a leopard-skin rug for the party-goers to sit upon in the garden.
The rebirths of nature and society coupled with images of beauty, joy, and generosity might well recall promise of the Resurrection to any pious Muslim—and by the later years of his reign, Bayezit, who led a rather wild life during his youth in Amasya had repented of his youthful excesses and gained a reputation for extreme piety (albeit with a dervish flavor).
7. Hâkdan baş kaldurub her yirde emvât-ı nebât
Halka mahşer hâlin izhâr itdi lutf-ı Züʾl-minen
[Everywhere dead plants raised their heads from beneath the earth
As a generous God demonstrated the Resurrection to one and all]
8. Verd-i raʾnâ Ahmed-i muhtârdan virüb nişân
Râyet-i sebz olub üstinde turur serv-i çemen
[The lovely rose displays the emblem of Ahmet the Chosen
Above it the meadow cypress is a flag of green]
9. Kodı altunla mufassıllar bahâr âyâtına
Câ-be-câ nergis ki tutdı sebze-zâr içre vatan
[Here and there narcissi that made a home of the greensward
Mark with gold separations between the verses of spring]
The Resurrection—instructively acted out by nature in springtime—leads directly to thinking of the Prophet, who brought God’s message of Resurrection to the people of this world in the form of the Qurʾān. Ahmet the Chosen (Ahmed-i Muḫtâr) is one of the names by which Muhammad is known. His symbol is a red rose and his banner is always green. Also, in one traditional style of illuminating the Qurʾān, each verse is separated from the next by a floral design done in gold ink.
The next couplet effects a transition by continuing the “flowers/vegetation” theme but uncoupling it from the “religion” theme.
10. Jâle ile zeyn olub berg-i benefşe takılur
Tıfl-ı sultân-ı Habeş gûşına lüʾlü-yi ʿAden
[The petal of the violet was adorned by dew
An Ethiopian child-sultan put an Aden pearl on his ear]
Next, the breeze is introduced as a character.
11. Reh-zen-i bâd-ı sabâ ile reyâhîn ceng içün
Subh-dem girmiş silâha bâga olmış encümen
[In early morn, to battle with the highwayman east wind, the herbs
Took up weapons and formed a company for the garden]
12. Hatmî tutmış nîze nîlüfer ele almış siper
Hârdan hançer çeker gül sûsen olmış tîğ-zen
[The hollyhock held a javelin; the water lily took up a shield
The rose drew a dagger of thorn; the iris became a swordsman]
13. Niçeler topraga düşmişler namâzın kılmaga
Saf tutub turur ayag üstine serv-ü-nârven
[Ever so many of them fell to earth in order to pray
The cypress and elm keep standing there holding the line]
The plants and trees are now soldiers some of whom take up arms against a highwayman wind, a robber from the wastelands, who will make off with their leaves and petals. Some plants bend down to pray at the onslaught of the wind while the trees stand firm and tall to block its way.
The next couplet effects another transition by following up on the theme of “trees” while moving away from the “wind as highwayman” theme.
14. Ak çiçeklerle dıraht-ı sebzi zeyn eyler bahâr
Künbed-i hazrâda yılduzlar sanur anı gören
[Spring adorns the green tree with white flowers
Who sees it thinks it stars in the heavens’ green dome]
The image of the flowering tree as a reflection of the visible cosmos hints at Bayezid’s interest in astronomy and, gestures toward the garden party that lasts until dark, leading us gently towards thoughts of the beloved.
15. Gûyiyâ âb-ı revânun gönline tokındı bâd
Kim yüzin dürdi serâser çehresi oldı şiken
[It seems the wind has touched the heart of the flowing water
For its surface puckered and its face became all wrinkled]
16. Gül gül altunlu yeşil dîbâ geyer gûyâ nigâr
Gülbüni kim zeyn ider evrâk-ı sebz-ü-nesteren
[It is as if the beauty donned green brocade strewn with golden florets
When the blossoming branch adorns the green leaves of the briar rose]
The wind has been transformed from a robber of petal and leaf to its equally common role as messenger or go-between for lover and beloved. The message is such that the water is deeply touched and obviously troubled for its surface is wrinkled with distress. What causes this distress is the appearance of the inaccessible beauty, dressed alluringly in a magnificent costume of green brocade embroidered with florets done in gold thread. In a kaside, when the beloved appears, the beloved object of praise—the memduh—is usually not far behind...
