Leyla: The Black Tulip

The Miracle

The next morning, Leyla wakes up with a heavy heart. Although it is the day of the Tulip Festival, she still does not have any fancy clothes to wear, and no slipper money to buy clothes. She feels like what she always wants most is just out of her grasp.

Leyla rolls her mattress and goes to her closet to get dressed for work. Inside, Leyla sees an exquisite blue velvet kaftan poking out. It looks as if it’s meant for someone in the royal family, not her. What is it doing here? Did someone put it in her closet to trick her and get her in trouble? But pulling it out, she sees a note attached. “Do not ask who sends you this gift. Enjoy the blessings of your fate.”

Leyla dresses quickly and hurries out to the garden. And then, her morning gets even better. For underneath her branches, she sees the darkest tulip she has ever seen.

The gardens and fields are filled with jugglers, dancers, acrobats, fire eaters, dwarfs, poets, and wrestlers. There’s silver wax covering the trees, with mirrors, flowers, and jewels draping down. Leyla has never seen anything so beautiful.

The Padishah is sitting in a pavilion on a golden dais, giving out prizes. While every other tulipist steps up to present their tulip, Leyla shields hers with a scarf. Each tulip is unique. Some are solid colors, while others are gradient. Some have rounded petals, while others are frilly. When Master Hyacinth gestures to Leyla, she steps to the front, and proudly unveils her tulip. It is much darker than any other tulip presented, and gasps rise around her. The Padishah smiles with delight as Leyla offers him her tulip. At a clap of the Padishah’s hand, Master Hyacinth presents Leyla with a bag of coins. As he does, he whispers in her ear that the poet was right about her.

Filled with glee, Leyla wishes she could give some of her fortune to her mother and brother. Cengiz, after all, contributed to the black tulip as well. When Leyla turns, she sees the Mistress of the Flowers gazing at her. She looks proud, as she smiles and nods.

As night falls, Leyla feels she’s in a dream. Turtles are released, and galleys with torches cruise along the coast of the river. Fireworks explode in the sky. For the first time in public, Leyla removes the fabric covering her face, alongside the rest of the harem. Leyla hears whispers that İbrahim Pasha recited love verses to his new wife, and in turn, Princess Fatma sang him love songs. Music, poetry, beauty, and light fill the air, and Leyla drifts to sleep that night soundly and happily.

The next morning, there’s sports competitions. Leyla watches Prince Mejnun throw a javelin. He’s very graceful and fast, and Leyla knows this because she used to watch Cengiz with a javelin. After his sport, he comes to find Leyla. He teases her that he won’t cut off her head this time.

Shyly, Leyla barely responds. Prince Mejnun continues that everyone has been talking of her black tulip, since it has given the Padishah such pleasure. In fact, the Prince wonders if she’d like to meet two great artists.

Prince Mejnun guides Leyla over to a poet who is reciting one of Nedim’s famous poems. In fact, it is the same poet who gave Leyla the gold coin. After he is done with his recitation, he turns to Leyla. He says Leyla’s kısmet, or fate, has brought his sauntering cypress to the pleasure gardens. The tulip bulbs she was so generous with carry magic in them.

Prince Mejnun explains that kısmet is written on a person’s forehead when they are born. They cannot change it, and they cannot steal another’s kısmet. When Leyla asks who the poet is, Prince Mejnun explains that the man is none other than the poet Nedim himself! Leyla can barely contain her excitement. The whole time, Nedim was the one who gave her the coin, and Leyla has managed to find favor with the Padishah, the Princess, Prince Mejnun, and Nedim.

Leyla says she’s heard of Nedim, and Prince Mejnun joyously recites another one of his poems. Prince Mejnun explains he agrees with his father that they should be celebrating instead of warring. People should rejoice, dance, and sing—get drunk with life. The Prince says he knows that Leyla feels this, too. He can tell from her beautiful black tulip and her paintings.

Then, the Prince leads Leyla to an old mill that has been converted to an enormous studio. Inside are dozens of artists hunched over tables. Leyla admires their work, especially the paintings of the Padishah himself and the people at the celebration. She has never seen art so realistic before, and the resemblance shocks her.

Then, the Prince introduces Leyla to a man who is sitting surrounded by the most beautiful miniatures Leyla’s ever seen. The man’s name is Master Levni, the greatest Ottoman artist, and recorder of their visual history. Master Levni pulls Leyla’s paintings out of a drawer. So it was the Prince who took her paintings. It’s all making sense now.

Master Levni tells Leyla that her paintings are very good. When he asks where she learned, Leyla explains it was from her father, the best-known artist in Georgia. Leyla explains that he was gone when she left, and is no longer living in Georgia. Master Levni says he knows some of the best artisans of the empire, but has never met her father.

Then, Master Levni goes on to explain that the guilds don’t allow women, but with the Prince’s permission, he’d like to invite Leyla to join his guild. In fact, not only will the Prince allow it, but he’ll work out her arrangements with the Mistress of the Flowers and Princess Fatma.

As Leyla lays in bed that evening, she runs through the events of the last two days in her head. Just a little while ago, she was sitting in prison. Now, she was able to show her face to the entire city, win the tulip competition, walk with the Prince, and meet incredible artists. Leyla truly feels as if she has been living a dream.