Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Seyre çıḳsa sebzeye ol Yūsuf-ı gül-pīrehen
Ayaġına sebz aṭlas döşer ol laḥẓa çemen
Servler görse ḫırāmın hep ayaġ üzre gelür
Gül yüzin medḥ itmek içün ġoncalar açar dehen
Eşrefi ṣaçar ṣabā aña gül-i bādāmdan
Zer nis̱ār ider başına ol gülüñ şāḫ-ı semen
Berk-i sebzin ‘arż idüp ḫidmet ḳusūrın gösterüp
Ellerin şimşād ile başına ḳorlar nārven
Ol gülüñ ḫār-ı firāḳı ḫavfın idüp ṭañ degül
Şekl-i ḳallāb ile dāmen-gīr olursa yāsemen
Sen bu ḥüsn ile ne ādem ne meleksin ne perī
Bir muṣavver rūḫsın k'olmış cihān sen cāna ten
Hāy ‘Adlī ne ṭurursın vaḳt-i gül faṣl-ı bahār
Görsin ol gül-çehrei bī-zaḥmet-i ḫār isteyen

In English

1. Should that rose-shirted Joseph (the beloved, as beautiful as Joseph) go out for a stroll in the greenery, the meadow would at that moment spread green satin beneath his feet.

2. Should the cypresses see his graceful gait, they would all rise to their feet and come (stand up in respect); to praise his rose face, the buds open their mouths (burst into bloom).

3. The morning breeze (saba) scatters gold coins over him from the almond blossom; the jasmine branch showers gold as an offering over the head of that rose.

4. The pomegranate tree, presenting its green leaves and confessing its shortcomings in service, together with the boxwood, place their hands (branches) on their heads. The couplet can be read in two ways: putting the hands on the head may be a sign of readiness to obey ("on my head", that is, at your command), or a sign of shame at one's shortcomings.

5. It is no wonder if the jasmine, fearing the thorn of separation from that rose, clings to the hem in the shape of a hook (with its twining tendrils).

6. With this beauty you are neither human, nor angel, nor fairy; you are a soul given painted form, so that the world has become the body of you, who are its soul.

7. Hey Adlî, why do you stand still? It is the time of roses, the season of spring; let whoever wants a rose without the trouble of thorns look at that rose-faced one.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets and is written in the remel metre "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". It has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on the sound "-en": pîrehen, çemen, dehen, semen, nârven, yâsemen, ten, isteyen. It stands as no. 102 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB); only couplet 3 is missing from OR. Most of the variants are minor: in couplet 1, T reads "seyrine" for "sebzeye"; in couplet 3, M2 reads "çemen" for "semen"; in couplet 5, T reads "dāmen-gibi" for "dāmen-gīr"; in the last couplet M1 and M2 read "faṣl-ı gül vaḳt-i bahār" for "vaḳt-i gül faṣl-ı bahār". The footnote on couplet 2 records that M1 and M2 read "ḫırāmın" for "ḫırāmān"; yet the edited text itself has "ḫırāmın". This mismatch between text and footnote is not explained in the edition. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal describes a spring outing. The beloved goes out into the greenery, and every plant in the garden performs some service for him. This arrangement makes the whole poem resemble a court ceremony: the meadow spreads a carpet, the cypresses rise to their feet, the morning breeze and the jasmine scatter gold, the pomegranate tree and the boxwood place their hands on their heads. Assigning a graceful cause to these actions of the plants is an instance of hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology, a fanciful explanation of a natural fact).

In the opening couplet the beloved is called "rose-shirted Joseph". The prophet Joseph is the model of beauty in the Qur'an and in classical Ottoman poetry, and his shirt holds an important place in his story. That the shirt is rose-coloured also suggests the redness of the beloved's cheeks. The meadow spreading green satin beneath his feet recalls cloth being laid along the path of a ruler; the words "sebze" (greenery), "sebz" (green) and "çemen" (meadow) build a congruence of images (tenasüp) around the colour green.

In the second couplet the cypress and the bud are personified. In classical poetry the cypress is the upright tree to which the beloved's stature is compared; here, seeing the beloved's graceful gait, it "comes on its feet", that is, rises in respect. The opening of the bud is interpreted as its opening its mouth to praise the beloved's rose face; "dehen", in its dictionary sense, is the mouth. In the third couplet "eşrefî", in its dictionary sense, is a kind of gold coin; the petals of the almond blossom, blown about by the morning breeze, are likened to gold coins showered over the beloved. "Nisâr", too, in its dictionary sense, is the money and jewels scattered over the head of a great person.

In the fourth couplet "nârven", in its dictionary sense, is the pomegranate tree. The tree presents its green leaves like a gift, admits its shortcomings in service and, together with the boxwood, places its hands on its head. The meaning of this gesture has been given above in two readings. In the fifth couplet the twining tendrils of the jasmine are likened to the shape of a "kallâb" (hook). The jasmine, fearing the thorn of separation from that rose, clings to the hem like a hook; "dâmen-gîr olmak", in its dictionary sense, means to cling to someone's skirt, to beseech.

The sixth couplet leaves the garden and turns to the beloved himself. The beloved is neither human, nor angel, nor fairy; he is a soul given the form of a picture, and the whole world has become the body of him who is its soul. There is congruence of images among "âdem" (human), "melek" (angel) and "perî" (fairy), and antithesis between "cân" (soul) and "ten" (body). The closing couplet is an address to Adlî: the time of roses has come, but whoever wishes to see a rose without the trouble of thorns should look at the beloved's face. In classical poetry rose and thorn are inseparable; the beloved's face, however, is offered as a rose without thorns.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 140, poem no. 102 (manuscript variants in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Kur'ân-ı Kerîm, Sura Yûsuf (12).