Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün

Dil viren ol yüzi gül ü ḳaddi ṣanavbere
Bir ẕerre mihri ḳalmadı ḫurşīd-i envere
Rengīn söz ile yaşuma meyl itmedi nigār
Ḳıymet bulınmadı n'idelüm dür ü gevhere
Ḳaddüñ ḥalāvetini lebüñ şehdi ḳıldı telḫ
Zülfüñ kesād vireli bāzār-ı ‘anbere
‘Āşıḳlaruñ çoġ olduġına dostum incünme
Lāzım degül mi ḫayl ü ḥaşem cem‘i beglere
Dūd-ı dil ile dāġuma raḥm eyledi nigār
Meyl eylese ‘aceb mi perī būy-ı micmere
Nār-ı ġam ile fürḳat odı baġladı beni
Döndüm miyān-ı āteş-i ġamda semendere
Yār işiginde ‘Adli varup bende olıgör
Şāh olmaġ ise ger ġarazuñ yedi kişvere

In English

1. In one who has given his heart to that beloved whose face is a rose and whose stature is a young pine, not a mote of love has remained for the radiant sun. ("Mihr", in its dictionary sense, means both love and sun; whoever has seen the beloved's face no longer looks at the sun.)

2. The beloved did not incline to my tears, (shed) with colourful words; what can we do, pearl and jewel found no value. (The tears are likened to pearls and the ornate poetry to jewels; both have remained worthless in the beloved's eyes.)

3. Ever since your tress brought slackness to the market of ambergris, the honey of your lip has made bitter the sweetness of your stature. (The sweetness of the lip leaves every sweetness behind, and the scent of the hair leaves ambergris behind. With the reading "kand" in manuscript T, the first line means "the honey of your lip has made bitter the sweetness of your sugar".)

4. My friend, do not be offended that your lovers are many; is it not necessary for lords to gather retinue and servants? (The beloved is like a lord, and the lovers are his retinue.)

5. The beloved took pity on my wound because of the smoke rising from my heart; is it any wonder if a fairy inclines to the scent of the censer? (The lover's burning heart is like a censer and his sighs like its smoke; the fairy-faced beloved is drawn to this scent.)

6. The fire of grief and the fire of separation have hemmed me in; in the midst of the fire of grief I have turned into a salamander. (The semender, in its dictionary sense, is the legendary creature believed to live in fire.)

7. Adlî, if your aim is to be king of the seven climes, go to the beloved's threshold and become a slave.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets and is written in the muzâri‘ metre "mef‘ûlü fâ‘ilâtü mefâ‘îlü fâ‘ilün". In the edition this metre is printed with a typesetting error; its correct form is as given above. The rhyme rests on the sound "-er" and the redif (refrain word) on the dative suffix (-e): sanavbere, envere, gevhere, ‘anbere, beglere, micmere, semendere, kişvere. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. It stands as no. 130 in Bayram's edition. It is found in OR (29b), T (40a) and İBB (20b), and is absent from M1 and M2. In OR and İBB the first line of the fourth couplet reads "‘Âşık gerek çoġ olduġına'ncünme dōstum". Manuscript T reads "bulındı" instead of "bulınmadı" in the second couplet, "kandüñ" instead of "kaddüñ" in the third and "işigüñde" instead of "işiginde" in the last. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet there is a double entendre (tevriye) in the word "mihr". The word, in its dictionary sense, means both love and sun. The words "hurşîd-i enver" (radiant sun) and "zerre" (mote) in the second line bring the meaning sun forward; motes become visible in sunlight. What is really meant, however, is love: whoever gives his heart to the rose-faced, pine-statured beloved does not feel even a mote of love for the sun. Rose and sanavber (pine) are comparisons often used in divan poetry for the beloved's face and stature.

In the second couplet "rengîn söz" (colourful, ornate words) stands for poetry, and "dür ü gevher" (pearl and jewel) for both tears and poetry. Finding no value and the word "kıymet" (value) belong to the language of the market; this language continues in the third couplet with the words "kesâd" (slackness of trade) and "bâzâr". The beloved's hair smells so sweet that the market of ambergris has gone slack. In the first line there is a choice between the edition's reading "kadd" (stature) and T's reading "kand" (sugar). The reading "kand" forms a tighter congruence of images (tenasüp) with the words "halâvet" (sweetness), "şehd" (honey) and "telh" (bitter); the edition, however, has taken the reading "kadd" into the text. There is also an antithesis (tezat) between sweet and bitter.

In the fourth couplet the beloved is likened to a lord with a large retinue. "Hayl ü haşem", in its dictionary sense, means horsemen and servants, that is, the crowd around a great man. The multitude of lovers befits the beloved's renown. In the fifth couplet the heart is a censer, and the smoke of the fire within the lover reaches the beloved. The link between the fairy (perî) and the scent of incense is the basis of the couplet; the beloved's being fairy-faced carries this comparison. "Dâğ", in its dictionary sense, is a brand-wound; in divan poetry it is spoken of as the burn-mark that love leaves on the heart.

In the sixth couplet the lover turns into a salamander that lives unburnt in the midst of the fires of grief and separation. This hyperbole (mübalağa) says that pain has now become the element in which the lover lives. The words nâr, od and âteş (all meaning fire) are gathered in the same couplet and form a congruence of images. In the last couplet Adlî shows himself a way: whoever wishes to be king of the seven climes, that is, of the whole world, must become a slave at the beloved's threshold. The antithesis between "bende" (slave) and "şâh" (king) carries the couplet. The irony often seen in Adlî's poems is plainly present in this couplet. The man who shows that the way to kingship of the world lies in accepting servitude was, in reality, a sultan.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Publications, 2018, p. 168, poem no. 130 (manuscript information in the footnote on the same page).

Online sources