Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

‘Ālemi pür ḳılduñ iy dil nāle vü efġāndan
Ne vefā görseñ gerek ol āfet-i devrāndan
Ḫaṭṭı gelmedin gül-i vaṣlın ṭaleb ḳıl iy göñül
Kim ḫazān faṣlında ḫaṭṭ olmaz iñen bustāndan
Deşt-i ġamda ḍarb-ı peykānuñla sīnem zaḫmını
Dest-i cevrüñ pür ḳılupdur lāle-i Nu‘mān'dan
İy dişi dür la‘l-i nābuñ ḥasretiyle gerçi kim
Cān-fezādur el yudum ben çeşme-i ḥayvāndan
Pādşāhum işigüñde ḳullaruñdan kemterīn
Ḳuluñ olmaḳ yeg durur ‘Adlī gibi ṣulṭāndan

In English

1. O heart, you have filled the world with moans and laments; what faithfulness can you expect from that beauty who is the scourge of the age.

2. O heart, ask for the rose of union with him before the down (hat) grows on his cheek; for in autumn little is gained from the garden. The exact reading of the words "hatt" and "iñen" in the second line is not certain; "iñen", in its dictionary sense in Old Anatolian Turkish, means "very, much". What the couplet makes clear is that the coming of the down counts as the autumn of beauty and that the rose must be picked before it.

3. In the desert of grief, the hand of your cruelty has filled the wound in my breast, struck by the head of your arrow, with Nu‘mân tulips (the wounds have turned into red tulips with blood).

4. O beloved whose teeth are pearls, though the water of the fountain of life gives life to the soul, I have washed my hands of it out of longing for your pure ruby lip.

5. My padishah, to be the lowest of your servants at your threshold is better than being a sultan like Adlî.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the remel metre "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is the suffix "-dan" (from); the rhyme rests on the sound "-ân": efgân, devrân, bustân, Nu‘mân, hayvân, sultân. In classical Ottoman poetry the ghazal is a short verse form built on love and beauty, in which the two lines of the first couplet rhyme with each other and the second lines of the other couplets rhyme with this first couplet; the first couplet is called the matla, and the last, which carries the poet's pen name (mahlas), the makta. The ghazal stands as no. 106 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB). The variants are minor: in couplet 3, T reads "zahm" (wound) for "darb"; in couplet 4, M1 and M2 read "yuram" for "yudum", and T reads "bir" for "ben". To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet begins with a reproach addressed to the heart. The heart has filled the world with its cries, but the beloved is the "âfet-i devrân"; "âfet", in its dictionary sense, means calamity, and in classical poetry it is used for a beauty who robs one of reason. To expect faithfulness from such a beauty is vain. The second couplet ties a familiar idea of classical poetry to an image of the seasons: the appearance of down on the young beauty's face is the autumn of beauty, and the rose must be picked before spring ends. There is congruence of images (tenasüp) among the words "gül" (rose), "hazân" (autumn) and "bustân" (garden).

In the third couplet grief is a desert, and the lover's breast has been wounded by the beloved's arrow. The hand of cruelty has filled these wounds with "lâle-i Nu‘mân". In its dictionary sense this name is used for the red tulip or the poppy; the blood of the wounds turns the breast into a place full of red flowers. Tulips blooming in a desert also adds a contrast to the couplet. The words "darb" (blow), "peykân" (arrowhead) and "zahm" (wound) form a cluster.

In the fourth couplet the beloved's teeth are likened to pearls and the lip to pure ruby. The lover has given up even the water of life, which gives life to the soul, because what he wants is the beloved's lip. "El yumak", in its dictionary sense, means to wash one's hands of something, to give it up. The idea that the lip grants life like the water of life is frequent in classical poetry; here the lip is held above the water that grants immortality. The reading "yuram" in M1 and M2 turns the couplet into a statement of resolve.

The closing couplet is one of the clearest examples of the irony frequent in Adlî's poems. The poem's author is a sultan, yet he addresses the beloved as "my padishah" and prefers being the lowest of the servants at his threshold to being "a sultan like Adlî". The choice of "sultân" as the rhyme word puts this comparison in the strongest place of the couplet. There is congruence of images among the words "pâdşâh", "kul" (servant) and "sultân", and a contrast between sovereignty and servitude.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 144, poem no. 106 (manuscript variants in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr