Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

‘Işḳa düşdüm dōstlar nāz u niyāzı bilmedin
Nāya dem-sāz oldı göñlüm sūz u sāzı bilmedin
Cān ḳadrin bilmeyince la‘line dil virmedüm
Zülfine ṭolaşmadum ‘ömr-i dırāzı bilmedin
Ka‘be-i kūyına ‘azm itme yüzüñ ḫāk itmedin
Niyetüñden fā’ide olmaz namāzı bilmedin
Ṣūfi ṭa‘n eyler baña esrārdan bilmez diyü
Ben ḥaḳīḳat ehliyin ‘ışḳ-ı mecāzı bilmedin
‘Adliyā ‘ışḳ ile ḳānī ol ki şāh-ı Ġaznevī
Salṭanatdan geçmedi ‘ışḳ-ı Ayāz'ı bilmedin

In English

1. Friends, I fell in love without knowing coquetry and entreaty (the beloved's disdain and the lover's pleading); my heart became the companion of the reed flute without knowing burning and music (it joined its voice to the ney). In the reading of T, M1 and M2: I became the companion of lament without knowing burning and music.

2. I did not give my heart to his ruby lip before I knew the worth of the soul; I did not get entangled in his hair without knowing what long life is.

3. Do not set out for the Kaaba of his street without first making your face dust; without knowing the prayer itself, no good comes of the intention alone.

4. The Sufi reproaches me, saying "he knows nothing of the mysteries". The couplet can be read in two ways: "I am one of the people of truth even without knowing metaphorical love", or, in keeping with the other couplets of the ghazal, "did I become one of the people of truth without knowing metaphorical love", that is, I reached the truth by passing through metaphorical love.

5. Adlî, be content with love; for the king of Ghazna (Sultan Mahmud) did not give up his sovereignty without knowing the love of Ayaz. T, M1 and M2 read "fânî ol" (be annihilated in love) for "kâni‘ ol" (be content).

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 phrase "-ı bilmedin" (without knowing); the rhyme rests on the sound "-âz": niyâz, sâz, dırâz, namâz, mecâz, Ayâz. All the couplets work by the same rule: a thing cannot come about unless another thing that is its precondition is known. The redif recalls this idea anew in every couplet. It stands as no. 116 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB). To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet states, in reverse, the idea that love requires an apprenticeship: the lover fell in love without learning the beloved's coquetry and the lover's entreaty, and accompanied the ney without knowing what burning is. Between "nâz" and "niyâz", and between "sûz" and "sâz", there is both a likeness of sound and a correspondence of meaning; the words ney, sâz and dem-sâz form a congruence of images (tenasüp) drawn from the world of music. "Dem-sâz", in its dictionary sense, means one who sounds together with another, a companion, a partner.

In the second couplet the beloved's lip is paired with the soul and his hair with long life. In divan poetry the lip grants life and the hair is known for its length; the link between "zülf" (hair) and "ömr-i dırâz" (long life) rests on this shared idea of length. The third couplet speaks in a religious language: the beloved's street is the Kaaba, and to set out for it one must first rub one's face in the dust, that is, prostrate oneself. That intention is not enough without knowing the prayer says that in love, too, what is sought is not display but humble effort. There is congruence of images among the words Kaaba, azm (setting out), intention and prayer.

The fourth couplet treats the opposition of Sufi and lover often found in divan poetry. The Sufi considers the lover ignorant of the mysteries; the lover presents himself as one of the people of truth and connects this to "aşk-ı mecâz" (metaphorical love). There is antithesis (tezat) between "hakikat" (truth) and "mecâz" (metaphor). The use of the redif in the other couplets suggests that the main sense here is the idea that "truth is not reached without passing through the metaphorical"; the line taken on its own, however, can also be read as "I am one of the people of truth even without knowing metaphorical love".

The closing couplet alludes (telmih) to a famous story. The love of the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud for his Turkish slave Ayaz is a theme often treated in Persian poetry. The real personality of Ayaz has remained hidden behind the stories; it is known that he was the sultan's chief cupbearer and won his trust. In Sufi works especially, Ayaz is presented as a model of purity and devotion. Adlî recalls this story to show that love is a power that can make one give up even sovereignty: the king of Ghazna gave up his sovereignty only after he had come to know the love of Ayaz. That a sultan, telling himself "be content with love", should hold up another sultan as an example carries an irony that reverses the relation of king and slave in the poem: in the story it is Ayaz who is the slave, but in love it is the sultan who submits.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 154, poem no. 116 (manuscript variants in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Jalal Matini, "Ayāz, Abu'l-Najm", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. III, fasc. 2, 1987, pp. 133-134, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayaz-abul-najm.

Online sources