In addition to commentary, analysis and dictionary researchs carried out for the purpose of understanding classical literary texts, studies prepared as an article and a paper about the meaning of some words and phrases provide important data on the meaning of classical poetry. These sources, which are referenced during the analysis of classical poetry, may insufficient to understand expressions that do not have meaning in dictionaries and do not have many text witnesses. “Sâye Sultânı” is also that kind of term. It is determined that the term does not have an equivalent in various dictionaries in Ottoman, Persian and Arabic, it has very few text witnesses, and it fell out of use after the 16th century. It is aimed to both reveal an unknown meaning and contribute to the past studies with the meaning determinations to be made based on the context in the couplets in which the "Sâye Sultânı" is mentioned. In this study, nearly a thousand dîvân and poetry journals were scanned and the witnesses of the phrase were compiled. Afterwards, the dictionary meanings of the word “sâye” and the evaluations of some researchers regarding the term were determined. Finally, some meaning suggestions have been made.

Sâye sultânı, sultân, sun, cypress, shadow.