Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Müfte‘ilün Fâ‘ilün Müfte‘ilün Fâ‘ilün

Pend ile meşġûl iken ḳapdı göñül ṭıflını
Bir güzeliñ ḥüsni kim görmemişem mis̱lini
Eylemek teşbîh ḫaṭâ serve anıñ boyını
Kim degişür ‘anbere ruḫlarınıñ bûyını
Dürr-i ‘aden dişine dinse sezâdır sezâ
Ḳaşına seyf-i Yemen dinmege ġâyet be-câ
Zülf ile setr eylese rûy-ı ḳamer tâbını
Ẓulmet içinde ḳoyar ḳaşları mihrâbını
Medrese-i ‘aşḳda cem‘ olup ehl-i ‘uḳûl
Mes̱’ele-i zülfiniñ ḥalline bulmadı yol
Vaṣfını taḥrîre yoḳ ṭâḳatı hîç ḫâmeniñ
Reşkden ḳapḳaradur iki yüzi nâmeniñ
İşte ‘inân-ı ḫıyâr çıḳdı elimden bu dem
Vaṣlını istemeyüp Kâmilâ ḳande gidem

In English

1. While I was busy giving counsel, the beauty of a fair one carried off the child of my heart; such beauty that I have never seen its like.

2. It is a mistake to liken that one's stature to a cypress; who would exchange the scent of those cheeks for ambergris?

3. If one called those teeth pearls of Aden it would be fitting, fitting indeed; to call those brows swords of Yemen is most apt.

4. Should that one veil the moonlike brilliance of the face with the tresses, the mihrab of the brows would be left in darkness.

5. Men of reason gathered in the madrasa of love, yet found no way to solve the problem of those tresses.

6. The pen has no strength at all to write a description of that one; from jealousy both faces of the letter are pitch black.

7. Now the reins of free choice have slipped from my hand; O Kâmil, if I do not seek union with that one, where am I to go?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This seven-couplet mesnevi is written in the "müfte‘ilün fâ‘ilün müfte‘ilün fâ‘ilün" pattern; Kâmil Efendi's third mesnevi uses the same pattern. Each couplet rhymes within itself ("ṭıflını / mis̱lini", "boyını / bûyını", "tâbını / mihrâbını"). The pairing "‘uḳûl / yol" in the fifth couplet is not a full rhyme; this is our observation. The pen name appears in the seventh couplet. Avni Erdemir chooses his examples of the poet's liberties with the metre from this poem. In the second couplet the closed syllable "-mek" of "eylemek" is read as open, and "bûy" counts as one syllable instead of one and a half. The sixth couplet shows similar shortenings in "hîç" and "reşkden" and lengthenings of several short syllables. In the seventh couplet the second syllable of "ḫıyâr" and the long syllable in "Kâmilâ" are shortened. Erdemir labels this last example "G1/7"; in the text section of his article the couplet is the seventh couplet of this mesnevi.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem opens with the poet, busy giving counsel, having his heart seized by a beauty. According to Erdemir, Kâmil Efendi uses here the similes divan poetry reserves for the beloved, and says that even comparing this beauty's stature to a cypress would be an error. Teeth as pearls of Aden, brows as swords of Yemen, a moon face and tresses dark as night are familiar mazmuns (stock images) of divan poetry. In the fourth couplet the brow is likened to a mihrab; when the tresses veil the face, the mihrab is left in the dark. The words "medrese-i ‘aşḳ" (madrasa of love) and "mes̱'ele" (problem, question) in the fifth couplet are taken from the language of the madrasa: the wise gather, yet cannot solve the "problem" of the tresses. That this image should appear in the poem of a madrasa teacher is worth noting; the observation is ours. In the sixth couplet the two blackened faces of the letter written in ink describe both the blackness of the script and being "black-faced", shamed, from jealousy. In the last couplet the poet says he has lost his will and addresses his own pen name. According to Erdemir's general assessment of all the poems, divine love lies beneath this portrait of beauty too.

Bibliography

  • Avni Erdemir, "Amasyalı Abdurrahman Kâmil (Yetkin) Efendi'nin Şairliği ve Türkçe Şiirleri", Amasya İlahiyat Dergisi, 12, June 2019, p. 178 (text), pp. 168-169 and 171-172 (on the poem), 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. 4-5 (author's autograph).

Online sources