Translation of an excerpt from the "Hilya-i Sharifa"
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Excerpt from "Hilya-i Sharifa" (Hilye-i Şerif) of Mehmet Hakani (d. 1606).
Source: A History of Ottoman poetry, Volume 3. By Elias John Wilkinson Gibb (1857–1901). Luzac, 1904.Google Books
Translation of the section on the detail 'bright of blee':
- All of the folk hereon agree,
- That the Pride of the World[1] was bright of blee,
- Full sheen was the radiance of his face,
- His cheeks were lustrous with lustre's grace.
- One of heart with the rose was his face's hue;
- Like the rose, unto ruddiness it drew.
- Yeled his face in the light of delight,
- 'Twas the Chapter of Light[2] of the dawn of light.
- The scripture of beauty was that fair face;
- The down on his cheek was the verse of grace.
- Shamed by his visage bright as day,
- Life's Fountain hid in the dark away.[3]
- Well may the comrades of joyance call:
- 'The sheen of his visage conquers all!'
- Yon radiant face shone in the sky,
- The light of the harem-feast on high.
- The Portrait-painter of Nature gave
- Thereto all beauty that man may have.
- When the sweat upon that Sultan stood
- He was forsoth like the rose bedewed.[4]
Notes [edit]
- ^1 The Pride of the World is a title of Muhammad
- ^2 Sura XXIV of the Koran is called the Chapter of Light
- ^2 Another allusion to the myth of the Fountain of Life in the Dark Land, which has been interwoven with the Alexander Legend.
- ^4 The blushing cheek studded with perspiration is sometimes compared to a dew-sprent rose.
| This is a translation and has a separate copyright status from the original text. The license for the translation applies to this edition only. | |||
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