Poetry runs deep in Ottoman life from top to street ISTANBUL Hrriyet Daily News | 5/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | GL DEMR

R and NIKI GAMM

Eighteen out of 37 reigning Ottoman sultans were known for their poetry. And that doesnt take into account any of the Ottoman extended family

How strange it seems today in the 21st century that poetry could play an extraordinary role in the Ottoman Empire and be the means by which one could literally go from rags to riches with a wellpolished verse or clever wordplay.

Take Evliya elebi, a goldsmiths son who was presented to the ruling sultan for the first time in the early 1600s. He was so scared that he could only think to compliment the sultan with some verses, which he thought up on the spot. We dont know what he recited. However, he earned himself the sultans personal concern for his education and, more tangibly, a fur coat, gold and the sultans own copy of the Quran.

In the second half of the 19th century, in a political satire by one of the adherents of the reformers in the Ottoman court, we find the Grand Viziers chief of police complaining that one of his colleagues has been made governor of a sizeable town and another rewarded with a handsome pension because they had each written a short line of poetry praising the grand vizier. The police chief berates himself for not composing, too, so that he could achieve promotion, especially since he was one of the most illustrious poets of the age or so he claimed.

Poetry was the mark of the well-educated man in the Ottoman Empire from the very top to the man on the street. One could almost consider the writing of a book of poetry as the Ottoman equivalent of a civil service examination. Indeed, it showed among other things that the man had the discipline to write a book and clear thinking; and since books werent printed, and few could afford to hire someone to write a book out for them, it also indicated neatness of handwriting, originality and the ability to handle Turkish, Persian and sometimes even Arabic vocabulary and grammar. There are many examples of extemporization as noted above with Evliya elebi.

We know the Ottomans held language and in particular the poetic word as the highest form of artistic expression. In the 11th century, the first Turkish poet to produce a major work, Yusuf Has Hacib, was able to say, Whoever is born must die, but his words live on. Language is the interpreter of thought and science. It gives man dignity. Human beings attain happiness through language. But language can also demean man and cause heads to roll. It is on words that man can rise and acquire power and prestige.

There has yet to be a proper evaluation of the Ottoman poets in a Western language despite the fact that the names of more than 2,000 have been preserved 1,500 in the 100-hundred-year period between 1525 and 1625 alone. Almost all were in Istanbul, so perhaps one should

wonder about other places around the empire and those whose names we would never know.

The only significant attempt was made by E.J.W. Gibb at the end of the 19th century, and even then one has to take his word with a certain amount of skepticism. When he died, he had only completed the first volume and part of the second of his planned six-volume History of Ottoman Poetry. The remaining volumes were completed by a friend who was actually a Persian literature expert. Did the latter really judge Ottoman poetry impartially? Or was he among those who always felt that Ottoman poetry was an imitation of Persian poetry and inferior?

[HH] Ottoman sultan poets

Eighteen of 37 reigning Ottoman sultans were known for their poetry. And that doesnt take into account any of the Ottoman extended family. For example, Sleyman the Magnificent under whom the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest extent, wrote poetry and so did five of his sons. And his father before him, one of the greatest Ottoman warrior-sultans, wrote poetry in Persian as well as Turkish, while the ruler of Persia, his great rival and enemy, wrote poetry in Turkish. In addition, many grand viziers and court officials wrote poetry and/or were patrons of various poets.

The first of the Ottoman leaders, Osman Gazi, might have written poetry even as he was founding the empire, but it was really Sultan Murad II who is acknowledged as the first real sultan poet. But few of his verses have come down to us.

I have no right to dare to crave a kiss of yours,

What need to speak when the wise one knows the moment.

Fatih Sultan Mehmed used the pen name of Avni (Helper) and has left a small collection of poetry to future ages. He is better known for having supported any number of poets who rose to prominence during his reign. One of Mehmeds poems begins:

When the rosebush in the garden dons its coat

It fashions the buttons from rosebuds.

When in speech the tongue weaves roses and buds together

Its words are as nothing compared to her sweet lips. (translated by Babinger)

This leads one to Sultan Sleyman the Magnificent, who wrote as Muhibbi and a book that has recently been published in English. Sleyman was an accomplished poet who composed close to 3,000 poems. Talat S. Halman, chairman of the Department of Turkish Literature at Bilkent University, has just published a book entitled Sleyman the Magnificent Poet, featuring his English-language version of the 16th century Ottoman sultans selected poems. The book is illustrated with a number of visuals, mostly miniature paintings and portraits in color. The book design is by Ersu Pekin, the prominent expert in the production of lavish art books. The book is the first volume ever featuring the selected poems of a single Ottoman classical poet in English translation. Sleyman the Magnificent was also well known for such proverbial lines as:

The people think of wealth and power as the greatest fate,

But in this world a spell of good health is the best state.

The publisher of the new book is the Bilkent Cultural Initiative presided over by Orhan Hallik and Dr. Mehmet Kalpakli, chairman of Bilkents History Department who serves as the coordinator for its Board of Consultants.

Not only did Sultan Sleymans father Selim I write poetry, but so did five of his sons, in particular Selim II. Commentators such as E.J.W. Gibb ranked the two Selims as being among the giants of Ottoman poetry, but not Sleyman, who wrote a number of well-constructed lyrics amid dozens of other competent pieces. Halman subscribes to Gibbs opinion of Sleyman but stresses that what is appealing is the obvious sincerity of feeling in dealing with the main themes of classical Ottoman Turkish poetry: human and divine love. Halman points out in his introduction to the poems that little is known about Sleymans character and sentiments and believes these might be the most reliable sources of insight into the sultans complex personality. He includes the following verses in his book:

Listen, my heart, dont crave silver and gold like a highwayman;

Dont spruce yourself up with satin and trinkets like a woman

Dont stand there, stiff, chest puffed up, like a wrestlers lion.

Never cherish wealth or high office. Dont brag: Im better than everyone!

Others have their own rights: dont stick out your tongue at them like an iris.

Thirteen sultans followed in Sleymans footsteps, not counting any of the assorted sons, daughters and other relatives. Little is known about the women who wrote poetry in the Ottoman Empire. Halman includes a poem by Hrrem Sultan to Sleyman the Magnificent, who adored her. In a letter written in 1717, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the English ambassador, asked to see the apartments set aside for the sultans harem at orlu on her way to Istanbul, and found the walls covered with little distichs of Turkish verse written with pencils. A pity we dont have more examples of poems composed by harem women because we know they existed.

In the 19th century we find a member of the imperial family who had a special interest and ability in poetry and that is Adile Sultan. Her work was similar to that of the men who were poets but perhaps more heartfelt. She used different styles and wrote about her father and other members of her family such as Sultan Abdlaziz, who was murdered according to some or committed suicide according to others. After her death her palace was converted into a high school for girls.

There were others, many others, and hopefully we will see some of these works brought to light and translated into English the way that Talat Halman has produced this book on Suleymans poems.

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