Poem #34 in Mihrî Hatun: Performance, Gender-Bending, and Subversion in Ottoman Intellectual History
translated by Didem Havlioğlu
At every moment, good health is fitting for you, the blessed one
At every instant, comfort is fitting for that pure body of yours
In a sublime dwelling, night and day, with joy and pleasure
Converse with a lovely woman in the health-fitting courtyard
May pain be distant from that delicate body of yours,
For your enemy, torment in the house of grief is fitting
Why does a fever grip you, let it grip your infidel rival
For you, good health, for your enemy, pain and degradation are fitting
In order to cut off the head of your enemy with the sword of wrath
For your person, boldness, and for your arm, strength are fitting
May the one who envies you ever wail like the reed-flute
For you, merrymaking with harp and dulcimer is fitting
May God spare your life for your mother
Whose one and only you are, for you, eminence is fitting
Praise God, Mihri, your well-wisher could visit you
Those who see you say,”To you [such] pillars of prosperity are fitting”
Ol mübārek ẕātuña her demde ṣıḥḥat yaraşur
Ol muṭahhar cismüñe her anda rāḥat yaraşur
Dār·ı rifʿatde ṣafā vü zevḳ(i)le leyl ü nehār
Ṣaḥn·ı şıḥḥatde güzel ẖānumla ṣoḥbet yaraşur
Ol vücūd·ı nāzenīnüñden ırāġ olsun elem
Düşmenüñe ẖāne·i ġam içre miḥnet yaraşur
Teb niçün ṭutar seni ṭutsın rakīb·i kāfiri
Saña ṣıḥḥatler ʿadūña renc ü ẕillet yaraşur
Tīġ·i ḳahr ile ʿadūñuñ başını ḳaṭʿ etmege
Ẕātuñā cürˀet vü hem bāzūña ḳuvvet yaraşur
Ney gibi iñleyen her dem ḥasūd olsun müdām
Çeng ü ḳānūn ile her dem saña ʿişret yaraşur
Ḥaḳ baġışlasun ilāhī seni ol vālīdeñe
Kim anuñ bir dānesisin saña rif'at yaraşur
Ḥamdülillāh kim mülāḳāt oldı Mihrī-dāʿīye
Dir görenler ẕātuña erkān·ı devlet yaraşur