Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ṣubḥa dek nālānum iy ḫurşīd-ruḫ sen māhdan
Nice bir feryād idem ḳorḳmaz mısın Allāh'dan
Zülfi zencīrin uzatmaz gör nice ser-fitnedür
Açılup Mecnūn olan diller çıḳadur çāhdan
Nālesinden ‘āşıḳuñ yā Rab nice ḫandān olur
Āh elinden ol sitemkāruñ ḳayurmaz āhdan
Ḳapuña varmaġa kūyuñ itlerinden ḳorḳaram
Ben gedā bu ḥürmeti umar mıdum sen şāhdan
Ḫāk-i pāyine yüzüñ bir kerre sür sen ‘Adliyā
Başuña devlet yetürdi saña ol Allāh'dan

In English

1. O sun-cheeked one, I moan until dawn because of you, the moon (the moon-faced one); how long am I to cry out, do you not fear God.

2. See what a ringleader of mischief he is, that he does not lower the chain of his hair; (were he to lower it) the hearts that broke loose and went mad like Mecnun would climb out of the well. As far as can be understood, the well is the beloved's chin dimple, and the chain of hair stands in place of a rope to be let down to the hearts that have fallen into it.

3. O Lord, how he laughs at the lover's moaning; ah, the hand of that tyrant, he cares nothing for sighs.

4. I am afraid of the dogs of your street, so I cannot come to your door; did I, a beggar, expect such hürmet (honour) from a king like you.

5. Adlî, rub your face once in the dust of his feet; that (dust) has brought devlet (good fortune) upon your head from God.

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"; the rhyme rests on the sound "-âh": mâh, Allâh, çâh, âh, şâh. The word "Allâh" is used twice in the rhyme position, in the opening and in the closing couplet. It stands as no. 119 in Bayram's edition and is found in only one of the five manuscripts, M2 (30b); it is absent from OR, T, M1 and İBB. The preceding ghazal (118) is likewise found only in this manuscript, on folios 30a-30b. Since it rests on a single manuscript, no variants are recorded in the edition. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with the lover's reproach to the beloved. In the opening couplet the beloved's cheek is the sun ("hurşîd-ruh") and his face the moon ("mâh"); the lover moans until dawn because of that face. There is congruence of images (tenasüp) between the moaning that lasts all night and the dawn, and between the moon and the sun: the night spent on account of the moon-faced beloved lasts until the sun rises. "Do you not fear God" in the second line is a reproach taken from everyday speech and gives the couplet an intimate tone.

In the second couplet the hair is a chain. In divan poetry the chain is an image with two sides: madmen are put in chains, but a chain can also be a rope let down into a well. Adlî combines these two senses. The hearts have become "Mecnûn", that is, mad with love; were the beloved to lower the chain of his hair, these hearts would climb out of the well. "Ser-fitne", in its dictionary sense, means the head of mischief, one who stirs up trouble; the beloved is a troublemaker because he does not lower the chain that would rescue those in the well. There is congruence of images among the words "zencîr" (chain), "Mecnûn" and "çâh" (well).

The third couplet sets up an antithesis (tezat) between moaning and laughing. The more the lover moans, the more the beloved laughs; the lover's sigh does not touch him at all. The phrase "âh elinden" can be read both as an exclamation of complaint ("ah, from his hand") and as the effect of the lover's sigh; together with "âhdan" at the end of the line, the word "âh" is stressed through repetition.

In the fourth couplet the dogs of the beloved's street are seen, in divan poetry, as guards who watch the beloved's door and keep the lover away. The lover calls himself "gedâ" (beggar) and the beloved "şâh" (king), and says he did not expect such treatment from a king. "Hürmet", in its dictionary sense, means both respect and inviolability, prohibition; in the couplet the word is used with bitter mockery. The antithesis between beggar and king carries an irony in which a sultan presents himself as a beggar.

The closing couplet is advice the lover gives himself. Rubbing one's face in the dust of the beloved's feet is, in divan poetry, the expression of the greatest humility and devotion. "Devlet", in its dictionary sense, means both fortune, happiness and power, sovereignty. Good fortune comes to the head of the lover who rubs his face in the dust; there is antithesis between head and foot, and between dust and fortune.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 157, poem no. 119 (manuscript information in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr