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The Ottoman Authority in he Works of Medina’s Poets in the Twelfth/Eighteenth Century

The concept of the khilāfat AllĀh ("the successor of God") is reflected in some of the compositions of Medina’s poets, since it was a concept which was taken seriously by the beginning of the eighteenth century ⁽¹⁾. In his eulogy on the accession of Sultan Mustafā Khān ⁽²⁾, Sayyid Yahyā ibn Sayyid Husayn Hāshim ⁽³⁾ characterized the khalīfa and his office with words like mulk (kingdom), Malīk (king), and sultān (potentate). He borrowed religious concepts to strengthen this authority and so wrote as follows:

على عرش مجد الملك حقاً قد استوى

مليك، شديد البطش، قد طاب عنصره

بسلطنة عظمى، ونصر مؤزر

وفتح مبين، قد سمى فيه مفخره

هو المصطفى السلطان مدت ظلاله

على مفرق الأكوان والسعد مؤزره

ليسمو بنار الدين كالأوج شامخاً

على عاتق الجوزاء، والسيف يشهره ⁽⁴⁾

("On the throne of the kingdom truly sits a king whose birth is noble and whose force is powerful. His pride surveys a great dominion, supports victory, and evident conquest. He is the chosen khalīfa whose shadow spreads over the universe and whose support is good fortune. Then the banner of religion will be raised on the shouders of the Gemini in its high-exalted a pogee and manifest by the sword").

Another poet who contributed to the literary movement in Medina during this period was Ahmad al-Jāmī ⁽⁵⁾. In one of his poems, in which he sought to expose a rival through criticism of himself and his party (since the poet’s own party were supported by firmān) ⁽⁶⁾, the poet clearly praised Sultan CAbd al-Hamīd I ⁽⁷⁾ in a few lines, in one of which he called him zill Allāh ("the shadow of God"):

ولم يُبالِ بِحَامِ المُلْكِ حافِظِهِ

ظِلِّ الإله عَظِيمِ القَدْر والقَدَرِ ⁽⁸⁾

("He did not [i.e. his rival poet] give any consideration to the protector of the kingdom, the shadow of God, whose value and ability is splendid").

In another line he called the Sultan tawq al-khilāfa ("the potency of the khilāfa") and sultān al-basīta ("the ruler of the earth"):

طَوْقُ الخِلاَفَةِ، سُلْطَانُ البَسِيطةِ من

هابته أسد الشَّرَى فضلاً عن البشرِ ⁽⁹⁾

("He is the potency of the Khilāfa and the ruler of the earth, whom wild lions feared, let alone human beings").

In all this verse we find an exaggerated picture drawn by some poets of sultans whom they never saw ot met. The motivation might have been a mixture of religious feeling and some favours bestowed from time to time on certain people or groups. Alongside this, however, there is another picture, which should enable us gain a more balanced view and to approach more closely to reality.

See Ahmad CAbd al-Rahīm Mustafā, Fī Usūl al-Ta’rīkh al-CUthmānī (Beirut/Cairo, 1402) p. 81. "This title appeared notably in letters of congratulation addressed by allies to Ottoman sultans after certain of their successes. Thus Murād I at the end of the 8th/14th century saw fit to call himself "chosen Khalīfa of the Creator", and "shadow of God on the earth"… Nevertheless, it was the masters of the Ottoman empire who finally enjoyed the distinction, in he 18th century, of being presented by their diplomats to foreigners, including European monarchs, as the holders of the 'caliphate' ". (D. Sourdel, art. "Khalīfa", EI, vol. IV, p. 945f). See further on this title, A. Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1789-1939 (Oxford, 1962) p. 27f.; al-Husarī, op.cit., p. 45; T.W. Arnold, The Caliphate (Oxford, 1924) p. 164-6; & R. Levy, The Social Structure of Islam, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, 1957) p. 284.	[1]
The poet mentions in his introduction to the poem that it was recited on the occasion of the enthronement of the great Sultan and chosen Caliph Mustafā khān. Furthermore, in the closing line of the poem, the poet gives the year of the poem’s composition as A.H. 1171/A.D. 1757-8, the year in which Sultan Mustafa III succeeded to the throne. "Mustafā III, the twenty-sixth ruler of the Ottoman Empire, was one of the younger sons of Ahmad III and was born on Safar 14, 1129 = Jaunuary 28, 1717 (Sidiill-I COthmānā, i. 80)… When he succeeded to the throne, after COthman III’s death on october 30, 1757". (J.H. Kramers, art. "Mustafā III", EI, vol. III, p. 761).	[2]
See p. 1, 1.5.	[3]
See Tuhfat al-Dahr, p. 123.	[4]
See p. 66, 1.1.	[5]
See p. 10, 1.5.	[6]
See p. 64, 1.28sh.	[7]
Al-Akhbar, p. 82. L, 19.	[8]
Ibid., L, 21.	[9]