Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Nice ḳan yutmayayın dīde-i ḫūn-bārumdan
Nice zār olmayayın baḫt-ı siyeh-kārumdan
Dil metā‘ını añup zülfi ṭolandurdı beni
İtmedüm fā’ide bir ḳılca bu bāzārumdan
Eşk-i dürr ile naṣīb olmadı la‘lin öpmek
Behremend olımadum yolına is̱ārumdan
Sebeb-i vaṣl degül ṣabr-ı ġama şefḳati yoḳ
Menfa‘at bulımadum bu ġam ile varumdan
Sūz-ı dil şerḥi durur cāna ḥarāret viren
‘Adliyā odlara yansam n'ola eş‘ārumdan

In English

1. How could I not swallow blood because of my blood-raining eye; how could I not moan and weep because of my black fortune.

2. His hair, talking of the goods of the heart, led me round and round and strung me along; from this bargain of mine I gained not a hair's worth of profit. In the reading of T, M1 and M2: his hair took the goods of the heart and led me round and round.

3. Despite my pearl-like tears it was not granted me to kiss his ruby lip; I gained no benefit from what I scattered on his path.

4. Patience in grief brings no union; the beloved has no compassion either. Because of this grief I found no profit in all I have. The first line can be read in two ways: "patience in grief is no cause of union, (the beloved) has no compassion", or "(the beloved) is no cause of union, he has no compassion for one who bears grief".

5. What gives heat to the soul is the commentary (the telling) of the heart's burning; Adlî, is it any wonder if I burn in fires because of my poems.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the remel metre "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is the suffixes "-umdan" (from my ...); the rhyme rests on the sound "-âr": hûn-bâr, siyeh-kâr, bâzâr, isâr, eş‘âr. The word "var" in the fourth couplet joins this rhyme with a short vowel. The ghazal is a short love poem whose opening couplet rhymes within itself and whose other couplets rhyme with it in their second lines. It stands as no. 112 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB). The variants that affect the meaning are these: in couplet 2, T, M1 and M2 read "alup" (taking) for "añup" (mentioning); in couplet 3, M1 and M2 read "olımadı" for "olımadum"; in couplet 4, M1 reads "yoġum ile" (with my want) and M2 "bu ġamla" for "bu ġam ile". According to Bayram's note, in manuscript T couplet 4 has changed places with the second line of couplet 5. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The main feeling of the ghazal is effort that goes unrewarded. The lover sheds tears, is caught in the locks, scatters pearls on the paths and endures grief, but gains nothing from any of it. This thought is expressed in the ghazal in the language of trade. In the second couplet there is congruence of images (tenasüp) among the words "metâ‘" (goods), "bâzâr" (bargain, market) and "fâ’ide" (profit); "menfa‘at" (benefit) and "var" (what one has, property) in the fourth couplet join the same cluster. The hair "leading the lover round" calls to mind both the curling and winding of the hair and keeping someone dangling and deceiving him; "tolandurmak", in its dictionary sense, means to lead around. The phrase "bir kılca" (a hair's worth) continues this congruence connected with the hair.

The opening couplet shows two sides of weeping together. The eye is "hûn-bâr", in its dictionary sense blood-raining, and the lover is forced to swallow this blood. Fortune is "siyeh-kâr"; in its dictionary sense this means of black deeds, ill-omened. The contrast of colour between blood and black adds an antithesis to the couplet. In the third couplet the tears are pearls and the beloved's lip is ruby ("la‘l"). The lover wishes to give his pearl-like tears in exchange for the ruby lip, but the bargain does not take place. "İsâr", in its dictionary sense, means scattering, bestowing; what the lover scatters on the path is again his tears.

The closing couplet ties the ghazal to poetry itself. What gives heat to the soul is the commentary that describes the heart's burning; that is, Adlî's poems are the explanation of his inner fire. For this reason it would be no wonder if the poet burned in fires because of his own poems. In classical poetry the searing, fiery quality of the poet's word is a common form of self-praise; here this self-praise is joined with a complaint. There is congruence of images among the words "sûz" (burning), "harâret" (heat) and "od" (fire).

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 150, poem no. 112 (manuscript variants in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr