Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ger ġurūb itse ne ġam ḫurşīd-i raḫşān her gice
Gün gibi çünkim ṭoġar ol māh-ı tābān her gice
Ṣaḥn-ı cennetde bulur ḥavrāya ṣankim ittiṣāl
Dil-rübālarla yatan ḫalvetde ‘üryān her gice
Nār-ı ruḫsārında ol servüñ yanar pervānevār
Bir ayaġ üzre ṭurup şem‘-i şebistān her gice
Cevher-i eşkümle çeşmüm ḫānesin zeyn iderem
Tā ki ṣulṭān-ı ḫayālüñ ola mihmān her gice
Gördükçe diyü raḳībi saña hem-dem iy melek
Dil yanup tennūr-ı ġamda oldı büryān her gice
Gitmesün diyü ḫayālüñ gözlerümden ḫᵛāb ile
İderem tā ṣubḥ olınca āh u efġān her gice
‘Adli-i dil-ḫastenüñ derdine olurdı ṭabīb
Dōstum ḳol bilüñe ṭolarsa dermān her gice

In English

1. If the bright sun sets, what does it matter; for that shining moon (the beloved) rises like the sun every night.

2. He who lies every night alone and naked with heart-ravishing beauties finds union, as it were, with the houris in the courtyard of paradise.

3. Every night the candle of the night chamber, standing on one foot, burns like a moth in the fire of that cypress-tall beauty's cheek.

4. I adorn the house of my eye with the jewels of my tears, so that the sultan of your image may be my guest every night.

5. O angel, whenever it sees the rival as your intimate companion (hem-dem), the heart has burned in the oven of grief and been roasted every night. (In manuscripts OR and İBB the line runs: "O moon-faced one, whenever I see that dog as your companion every day".)

6. So that your image may not leave my eyes along with sleep, every night I sigh and lament until morning comes.

7. My friend, if my arm wound around your waist every night, (that) would be the remedy for the pain of heartsick Adlî and would act as his physician.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets and is written in the remel metre "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "her gice" (every night); the rhyme rests on the sound "-ân": rahşân, tâbân, ‘üryân, şebistân, mihmân, büryân, efgân, dermân. It stands as no. 125 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR 30b, T 38a, M1 39b-40a, M2 31b-32a, İBB 21b). There are more differences among the manuscripts in this ghazal than in the neighbouring ones. In manuscript T the fifth and sixth couplets have changed places. In OR the sixth couplet stands in fifth place, and the second line of this couplet is missing in OR; the words "kol bilüñe tolarsa dermân her gice" in the second line of the closing couplet are also missing in OR. The first line of the fifth couplet has the form "Gördükçe saña hem-dem her gün iy meh ol iti" in OR and İBB; T reads "bu" instead of "diyü" and "felek" instead of "melek". "Eşkümle" in the fourth couplet is "yaşumla" in OR, T and İBB. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The redif "her gice" ties the ghazal to the theme of night, and each couplet gives a scene of the night. The opening couplet reverses the contrast between night and day. The setting of the sun is no loss for the lover, because the moon that is the beloved rises like the sun every night. The antithesis (tezat) between setting and rising, sun and moon, is the support of the couplet; the beloved is a light that turns night into day.

The second couplet is the most outspoken place in the ghazal. He who lies every night alone and naked with heart-ravishing beauties has, as it were, attained the houris in the courtyard of paradise. Earthly union is likened to the bounty of paradise; a congruence of images (tenasüp) is set up between paradise, courtyard and houri on the one hand and privacy, night and dilrübâ (heart-ravisher) on the other. The couplet carries an open depiction of union of the kind seen from time to time in the divan ghazal.

In the third couplet the motif of the candle and the moth is turned inside out. In divan poetry the moth throws itself into the candle's flame and burns; here, however, the candle of the night chamber is burning like a moth in the fire of the beloved's cheek. The candle "standing on one foot" points both to the shape of the candle and to the state of someone standing on his feet while waiting for another. There is congruence of images among cypress stature, the fire of the cheek, candle and moth.

In the fourth couplet the lover entertains the beloved of his imagination as a sultan. The eye is a house, the tears are jewels adorning this house; the house is furnished so that the image, which is a sultan, may come as a guest every night. In the fifth couplet the rival's closeness to the beloved burns the lover; the heart is roasted in the oven of grief. "Tennûr", in its dictionary sense, means oven, and "büryân" roasted over fire. In the sixth couplet the reason for the lover's sleeplessness is explained: if he falls asleep, the beloved's image too will leave his eyes; so he sighs and laments until morning. The couplet turns sleeplessness into a watch the lover has chosen for himself.

The closing couplet ends with a wish. The only thing that could be a physician to the lover's pain is his arm winding around the beloved's waist every night. The words tabîb (physician), derd (pain), dil-haste (heartsick) and dermân (remedy) set up a congruence of images from the field of illness and cure. The open depiction of union in the second couplet appears again in the closing couplet, and the ghazal closes the frame that began with night with the image of night and embrace. That most of the second line of the closing couplet is missing in manuscript OR shows that the couplet remained incomplete in that manuscript.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 163, poem no. 125 (manuscript information in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr