Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün

Göñül ol serv-i sīmīni görüp cāndan güzel dirsin
Ḳaçan cān virmek istersin aña lāyıḳ ‘amel dirsin
Ṣaçında yüzini gördüm güneşdür burc-ı ‘aḳrebde
Müneccimsin ne vech ile güneş burcın ḥamel dirsin
Namāz u ẕikr ü tesbīḥüñ baña ‘arż itme iy zāhid
Olursañ mübtelā ‘ışḳa Ḥaḳ'a lāyıḳ ‘amel dirsin
Yüzinüñ pertevin ṣūfī görürsüñ erba‘īnüñde
Yaḳañ yırtup urup na‘ra cemāli bī-bedel dirsin
İñen çoḳ söyledüñ vā‘iẓ bu dem vesvās-ı İblīs'i
Eger inṣāf ider olsañ raḳībi bi'l-aḍal dirsin
Lebüñ vaṣfın ṣoram dirsin ki yoḳ yire heves ḳılma
Eger yād eylesem zülfüñ zihī ṭūl-i emel dirsin
Leb ü dendānuñuñ vaṣfın işitdi dir seḥer bülbül
Suḫandan dür dizüp ‘Adlī ne ḫoş şīrīn ġazel dirsin

In English

1. Heart, seeing that silver cypress (the tall, fair-skinned beloved), you say "lovelier than life"; whenever you wish to give your life, you call it a deed worthy of him.

2. I saw the beloved's face within the hair: the sun is in the sign of Scorpio. You are an astrologer; on what grounds do you call the sun's sign the Ram (Aries)? (The curling hair is likened to a scorpion, the face to the sun.)

3. Ascetic, do not parade your prayers, your remembrance of God and your rosary before me; if you are ever smitten with love, you will say that this is the deed worthy of God.

4. Sufi, should you see the radiance of the beloved's face during your forty-day retreat, you will tear your collar, cry out, and say "his beauty is beyond compare".

5. Preacher, you have spoken a great deal just now about the whisperings of Iblis (the devil); if you were fair, you would call the rival "more astray still" (you would say that the real devil is the rival).

6. If I say "let me ask about the qualities of your lip", you say "do not long for nothing"; if I mention your hair, you say "what long hope". (The beloved's mouth is so small that it is counted as "nothing"; the hair is as long as long-drawn hope.)

7. They say the nightingale heard at dawn the praise of your lip and teeth, and said: "Adlî, stringing pearls of speech, what a fine, sweet ghazal you recite." The couplet can be read in two ways: "dir" in the first line can be understood as "they say", or as the beginning of the nightingale's words.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets and is written in the hezec metre "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün". The redif (refrain word) is "dirsin" (you say), and the rhyme is the sound "-el": güzel, ‘amel, hamel, bî-bedel, bi'l-adal, emel, gazel. In the edited text the rhyme word "‘amel" occurs both in the opening couplet and in the third; the OR and İBB manuscripts, however, read "mahal" for "‘amel" in the opening couplet and so remove the repetition. The ghazal stands as no. 103 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB); the last couplet is missing from İBB.

The variants are of particular importance in this ghazal. In couplet 2, T, M1 and M2 read "seḫerde" (at dawn) for "ṣaçında". In OR and İBB the second line of couplet 3 runs "Ger olsañ ‘āşıḳ-ı ṣādıḳ bu andan yeg ‘amel dirsin". In T, M1 and M2 couplet 6 is entirely different: "Dehānuñ yād idem dirsem nihāndur ol ‘ayān olmaz / Müselsel zülfüñi ögsem zihī ṭūl-i emel dirsin". In the last couplet OR reads "ṣaçından" for "suḫandan". To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal's refrain puts words into a different mouth in each couplet. The heart is addressed first, then the astrologer, the ascetic, the Sufi and the preacher; in the sixth couplet the beloved speaks, and in the last the nightingale. The three middle couplets take on, one after another, the religious types of classical Ottoman poetry who keep their distance from love. The ascetic (zâhid) puts forward his prayers, his remembrance of God and his rosary; the poet reminds him that, should he fall in love, he will say that this is the true deed. The Sufi, should he see the radiance of the beloved's face during his forty-day retreat (erba‘în), will tear his collar and cry out. The preacher (vâiz) talks on and on about the whisperings of Iblis; the poet wants him to say that the real devil is the rival.

The second couplet rests on a comparison drawn from astrology. In classical poetry the beloved's curling hair is likened to a scorpion and the face to the sun; the face seen within the hair thus becomes "the sun in Scorpio". The astrologer, however, knows the sun's sign as "hamel", that is, Aries, the Ram. There is congruence of images (tenasüp) among the words "burc" (zodiac sign), "‘akreb" (Scorpio), "hamel" (Aries) and "müneccim" (astrologer). The reading "seherde" (at dawn) in T, M1 and M2 removes the comparison from the hair and ties it to the hour of morning.

The expression "bi'l-adal" in the fifth couplet rests on the Arabic word "edall", which in its dictionary sense means "more astray". The word occurs in the Qur'an, in verse 179 of Sura al-A‘râf, in the phrase "nay, they are more astray still" (bel hüm edall); applying to the rival this expression so fitting to a preacher's language gives the couplet a mocking tone.

The sixth couplet contains a double entendre (tevriye). In classical poetry the beloved's mouth is so small that it is counted as "nothing"; the beloved tells the lover who wishes to ask about the qualities of the lip, "do not long for nothing" (yok yere). These words can be understood both as "do not hope in vain" and as "do not long for something that does not exist". The hair, by its length, is likened to "tûl-i emel", long and endless desire. The different couplet in T, M1 and M2 says the same thing more plainly: the mouth is hidden and cannot be seen.

The closing couplet is one in which the poet praises his own poetry. At dawn the nightingale hears the praise of the beloved's lip and teeth and says that Adlî strings pearls of speech. There is a link between "dendân" (teeth) and "dür" (pearl), and between "leb" (lip) and "şîrîn" (sweet); the comparison of teeth to pearls is one of the familiar comparisons of classical poetry. That the nightingale, famed for its song, should praise the poem gives the praise an added value.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 141, poem no. 103 (manuscript variants in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Kur'ân-ı Kerîm, Sura al-A‘râf (7), verse 179.