Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün

Varayım aġlayaraḳ pâyına yüzler süreyim
Buña bâ’is̱ ne imiş bâri dilimle ṣorayım
Var ise cürmüm eger dehrde ben ne ṭurayım
Bu şirîn cânımıñ itlâfını lâyıḳ göreyim
Çekeyim tîġımı ben kendime kendim urayım
Cânı cânânıma bir peyk ile tîz göndereyim
Kendim ‘azm itsem eger şimdi ṭaḳup boynuma ṭavḳ
Belki söyletmeden evvel ura bu sîneme oḳ
Ey ṣabâ sen biliñ ol yâr ile var bunca ḥuḳûḳ
Yüz süre pâyiñe var ḥâlimi ‘arż eyle çabuḳ
‘Afv iderse ṣuçumı gerçi bugünden tezi yoḳ
Yoḫsa bir merkez-i ẓulme idecekse o lüḥûḳ
Çekeyim tîġımı ben kendime kendim urayım
Cânı cânânıma bir peyk ile tîz göndereyim
Seyf-i ebrûyı çeküp ḫışmile ol ḥüsn-i melek
Cânımı ister imiş vay baña virmem ne dimek
Söylesün her ne ise söyle benim cürmümi tek
Ḳalmayım bâri ṭeḥayyürde emân maḥşere dek
Râżıyım ben de ne çâre bu deyü ḥükm-i felek
Cümle itdiklerimi dünyede buldum diyerek
Çekeyim tîġımı ben kendime kendim urayım
Cânı cânânıma bir peyk ile tîz göndereyim
Var ṣabâ ṣor bu benim ḳatlime fermân ne imiş
Cânımı istemede maḳṣad-ı cânân ne imiş
Görelim kûy-ı ‘adûda bize bühtân ne imiş
Virse de bir iki gün ḳatlime meydân ne imiş
Kendi isterse eger cânımı bir cân ne imiş
Eylemek cânımı cânânıma ḳurbân ne imiş
Çekeyim tîġımı ben kendime kendim urayım
Cânı cânânıma bir peyk ile tîz göndereyim
Ḫalḳ olunmaḳda iken ins ü melek arż u semâ
Gelmeden ketm-i ‘ademden bu tenim ‘âleme tâ
Alnıma ḫâme-i ḳudretle yazılmış bu ḳażâ
‘Afvımı itme ṣabâ nâfile ol yâre ricâ
Belki ḥaḳḳımda budur çâre ne taḳdîr-i Ḫudâ
Kâmilâ ben de aña göstereyim rû-yı rıżâ
Çekeyim tîġımı ben kendime kendim urayım
Cânı cânânıma bir peyk ile tîz göndereyim

In English

1. Let me go weeping and lay my face at her feet a hundred times; let me at least ask with my own tongue what the cause of this is; if I have committed a fault, what am I to stay in the world for? Let me deem it fit that this sweet soul of mine be destroyed. Let me draw my sword and strike myself with my own hand; let me send my soul to my beloved swiftly by a messenger.

2. If I set out now on my own with a ring about my neck, she might strike my breast with an arrow before even letting me speak. O morning breeze, you know how many claims there are between that beloved and me; go, lay your face at her feet and quickly tell her of my state. If she forgives my fault, there is no sooner time than today; but if she means to join a seat of tyranny, let me draw my sword and strike myself with my own hand; let me send my soul to my beloved swiftly by a messenger.

3. That one of angelic beauty, they say, has drawn the sword of her brow in anger and wants my life; woe is me, what would it mean not to give it? Let her say whatever it is, let her name my fault just once, so that at least I do not remain bewildered until Judgement Day, mercy. I too consent, what remedy is there, saying this is the decree of fate; saying I have found in the world the reward of all I did, let me draw my sword and strike myself with my own hand; let me send my soul to my beloved swiftly by a messenger.

4. Go, O morning breeze, and ask: what is this decree for my execution; what is the beloved's purpose in wanting my life; let us see what this slander cast on us in the rival's quarter is; were she to grant a day or two, what would the field of my execution be? If she herself wants my life, what is one life; what is it to sacrifice my life to my beloved? Let me draw my sword and strike myself with my own hand; let me send my soul to my beloved swiftly by a messenger.

5. While men and angels, earth and sky were being created, before this body of mine came into the world out of the concealment of non-being, this decree was written on my forehead with the pen of divine power. O morning breeze, do not plead with that beloved in vain for my pardon; perhaps this is the remedy in my case, what can be done, it is God's decree. O Kâmil, let me too show her the face of consent. Let me draw my sword and strike myself with my own hand; let me send my soul to my beloved swiftly by a messenger.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

A müsemmen is a musammat whose stanzas have eight lines. This is a refrain müsemmen of five stanzas, written in the "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün" pattern. The first six lines of each stanza rhyme among themselves, and the last two are the refrain "Çekeyim tîġımı ben kendime kendim urayım / Cânı cânânıma bir peyk ile tîz göndereyim". The first stanza has six lines. According to Avni Erdemir two lines of this stanza are missing; the page holding the poem must have been pasted into the manuscript later. The pen name appears in the fifth stanza. Because Erdemir places the poem second among the musammats, its heading in his article reads "2. Müsemmen"; it is Kâmil's only known müsemmen.

Erdemir draws two features of language from this poem. In the first line of the second stanza the poet, following Turkish pronunciation, ignores the Arabic letter ‘ayn in the word "‘azm" and links it to the preceding word. "Sen biliñ" and "bunca ḥuḳûḳ" in the same stanza are given by Erdemir as examples of local idiom.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem is built on the news that the beloved wants the lover's life. The lover first wants to ask what his fault is, then makes the morning breeze his messenger. Erdemir renders the meaning of the fourth stanza thus: the lover tells the breeze, "go and find out what the decree for my execution is, what the beloved's purpose is in wanting my life, what slander has been cast on us in the rival's village"; let the beloved not trouble herself, let him draw his sword, strike himself, and send his soul swiftly to her by a messenger. The morning breeze is a familiar go-between in divan poetry, carrying news between lover and beloved.

In the third stanza the brow is likened to a sword; the beloved has drawn her "seyf-i ebrû", the sword of her brow. In the same stanza the lover consents to the decree of fate, saying that he has found in the world what he did. The fifth stanza ties this consent to pre-eternity: while men and angels, earth and sky were being created, this decree was written on the lover's forehead with the pen of divine power, and the breeze's pleading is in vain. As Erdemir says of all the poems, the words belonging to the beloved carry a mystical meaning here too; the sacrifice of the soul to the beloved and consent to destiny can be read in the language of divine love. The repetition of the refrain in every stanza makes the lover's resolve sound like an oath unchanged throughout the poem; this last assessment is ours.

Bibliography

  • Avni Erdemir, "Amasyalı Abdurrahman Kâmil (Yetkin) Efendi'nin Şairliği ve Türkçe Şiirleri", Amasya İlahiyat Dergisi, 12, June 2019, pp. 188-189 (text), pp. 170 and 173-174 (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. 87-88 (author's autograph).

Online sources