Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün (ilk iki beyit ve ikinci mısralar) / Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün (3. beyitten itibaren birinci mısralar)
Yine medḥ eyleyeyim bir güzeliñ ḥüsn-i cemâlin
İşiden añlaya ol gül-bedeniñ ḳadr ü kemâlin
Öyle bir pâk aṣıl pâk nesil ḫâk-nihâdı
Ṭuysa ‘uşşâḳ-ı zamân ḫᵛâhiş ider bû-yı viṣâlin
‘Âşıḳ-ı ḥüsnüni gördükde mükedder o perî
İltifâtile dilinden siler elbette melâlin
Niçedir ḥâl-i diliñ âteş-i ‘aşḳımla benim
Diyerek ‘arż ider âşüftesine ġunc ü delâlin
Mâ’ilim işvesine nâzına el-ḥaḳ cândan
Gûş-ı cân diñlemek ister anıñ ol ṭatlı maḳâlin
Rûy-ı gül-bûyını keşf eylese bir meclis-i ‘îşe
Der-‘aḳab terk ḳılar ehl-i cüdâ ceng ü cidâlin
Ṣalamaz seyr-i cihâna gözüni dem-be-demi
Kim ki ‘ömründe görüpdür o müzeyyen ḫaṭ u ḫâlin
Mest-i lâ-ya‘ḳıl olur nûş iden ol ḫamr-ı lebin
Hîç ayılmaz dünyeniñ içse de biñ âb-ı zülalin
Öyle bir ‘ârif ü dânâ-yı süḫandır bu güzel
Fehm ider niçe rumûzuñ bir tefekkürde me’âlin
Nükte-dânlıḳda Fużûlî gibi mâhir erdir
Żabṭ ḳılmış bu cihânıñ hemân ol siḥr-i ḥelâlin
Bir nefes görse idi vech-i vecîhin Nef‘î
Anı medḥ itmege ḥaṣr eyler idi cümle maḳâlin
Ḫûb-rûyân-ı zamâna baḳabilmem aṣlâ
Göze göz dir mi ‘aceb seyr iden ol çeşm-i ġazâlin
Cismi cismim gibidir laḥmi de laḥmim gibice
Ḥüsnüne kim baḳanıñ isterim elbette zevâlin
Anıñ evsâfını taḥrîr idebilmez ḫâme
Ehl-i ‘aşḳ ‘add idebilmez anıñ ol ḫûb ḫıṣâlin
Reh-i şevḳında bulunca bu kemâli Kâmil
Câygîr eyledi göñlünde anıñ ‘aşḳ u ḫayâlin
In English
1. Let me once again praise the beauty of a fair one's face, so that whoever hears may grasp the worth and perfection of that rose-bodied one.
2. So pure of origin, so pure of lineage, humble as the earth, that if the lovers of the age heard of it they would long for the scent of union.
3. When that fairy sees a lover of its beauty in sorrow, it surely wipes the weariness from his heart with a kind word.
4. Saying "How is your heart in the fire of my love?", it shows its coquetry and airs to the one infatuated with it.
5. Truly I am drawn from my soul to its charm and its airs; the ear of the soul longs to hear its sweet speech.
6. Were it to unveil its rose-scented face in a gathering of pleasure, those who had fallen out would at once give up quarrel and strife.
7. Whoever has once in his life seen its ornate down and mole can never again cast his eye on the sights of the world.
8. One who drinks the wine of its lips becomes senseless with drunkenness; though he drank a thousand of the world's clear waters he would never sober up.
9. This beauty is such a sage and master of words that it grasps the meaning of many a riddle in a single thought.
10. In wit it is a man as skilled as Fuzûlî; it has taken hold of this world's lawful magic, that is, poetry.
11. Had Nef'î seen its noble face for a single moment, he would have devoted all his words to praising it.
12. I can never look at the fair-faced ones of the age; would the eye that has gazed on its gazelle eyes call any other eye an eye?
13. Its body is like my body, its flesh like my flesh; whoever looks upon its beauty, I surely wish him gone.
14. The pen cannot write its qualities; the people of love cannot count its fine traits.
15. When Kâmil found this perfection on the road of longing for it, he settled its love and its image in his heart.
Literary and Historical Commentary
Structure of the Poem
The poem is a kaside (qasida) of fifteen couplets, and every couplet ends in the sound "-âlin": "cemâlin, kemâlin, viṣâlin, melâlin, delâlin, maḳâlin" and so on. Avni Erdemir established that this kaside is written in two different patterns of aruz. The first two couplets and the second lines of the remaining couplets are in "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün"; from the third couplet on, the first lines are in "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün", one syllable shorter. Erdemir notes that a poem written in two metres is rare in classical poetry. The pen name appears in the last couplet. The kaside is not divided into its classical sections, that is the nesib, the transition and the prayer; it is a single eulogy from beginning to end. To whom it was written is not known.
Meaning and Figures of Speech
The beauty is described with the familiar qualities of divan poetry: rose body, fairy, down and mole, wine lips, gazelle eyes. Alongside these, unusual qualities are also given. In the ninth couplet the beauty is called "‘ârif" (sage) and "dânâ-yı süḫan", a master of words, who solves riddles in a single thought. The tenth couplet says it is as skilled in wit as Fuzûlî and, with the phrase "siḥr-i ḥelâl" (lawful magic) used for poetry, counts it a master of verse. The eleventh couplet names Nef'î: had that master of the kaside seen it, he would have spent all his words in its praise. Presenting the praised beauty as a scholar and poet suggests that the kaside may have been written for a real person, perhaps a learned man from the poet's circle; but the source says nothing of this, and it is only a possibility.
In the sixth couplet the quarrelsome make peace when the beauty's face enters a gathering. In the eighth couplet the wine of the lips is set against the "âb-ı zülâl", the clear water, of the world; whoever drinks that wine will not sober up though he drink every water. In the thirteenth couplet the poet says he regards the one he praises as his own body and is jealous of anyone else looking on it. In the last couplet "kemâl" (perfection) and "Kâmil" come from the same root: the poet who finds perfection on the beauty's road ties his pen name to it. According to Erdemir's assessment of all the poems, the language of love in these couplets too carries a mystical meaning.
Bibliography
- Avni Erdemir, "Amasyalı Abdurrahman Kâmil (Yetkin) Efendi'nin Şairliği ve Türkçe Şiirleri", Amasya İlahiyat Dergisi, 12, June 2019, pp. 184-185 (text), pp. 167-169 (metre), doi:10.18498/amailad.579964. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/amailad/article/579964
- Mecdîzâde Abdurrahman Kâmil, Divançe, National Library of Turkey, Manuscripts Collection, Yz. A 8993, pp. 7-9 (author's autograph).
Online sources
