Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Bu ḳaş mıdur ya ḳażā naḳş-ı bend pergārı
Ki naḳş ḳıldı yüzüñ şemsesiyle gülzārı
Cihānda yüz ṣuyını ḥāṣıl itdi içeliden
Ṣu gibi ḳanumı bir demde tīġ-i ḫūn-bārı
Elin ṭutup ayaġ altından anı almazdı
Nesīm zülfüñüñ olmasa ger hevādārı
Daḫı tezelzül-i dehr itmez idi hīç gezend
Göñül ḫarābesinüñ yār olaydı mi‘mārı
Ümīd-i dergeh-i mey-āşam olsalar rindān
Unutmayalar o dem ‘Adli-i günehkārı

In English

1. Is this an eyebrow, or the pattern-drawing compass of fate, which with the şemse of your face has painted a rose garden? (The arched eyebrow is likened to a compass; the şemse is a round, sun-shaped motif in the decorative arts, and here it stands for the beloved's face, round as the sun.)

2. Ever since that blood-raining sword drank my blood like water in a single moment, it has gained honour in the world. ("Yüz suyu", literally "water of the face", means honour, repute; the "water" of a sword is the lustre of its steel. By drinking the lover's blood the sword has both gained its lustre and won fame.)

3. If the morning breeze were not a devotee of your lock, it would not take it by the hand and lift it from under the feet. (The beloved's hair is so long that it touches the ground; the wind lifts it. "Hevâdâr" means both lover, devotee, and evokes something connected with the air.)

4. If the beloved were the architect of the ruin of the heart, the earthquake of fortune could do it no harm at all.

5. If the libertines come in hope to the threshold where wine is drunk, let them not forget sinful Adlî at that moment.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the müctes metre "mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilâtün mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilün". There is no separate redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on the sound "-âr" followed by the suffix "-ı": pergârı, gülzârı, hûn-bârı, hevâdârı, mi‘mârı, günehkârı. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. It stands as no. 144 in Bayram's edition, among the ghazals of the divan ending in the letter yâ; in the edition this ghazal is followed by the murabba and the short poems. According to the edition's footnote it is found in the manuscripts OR (32a-32b), T (41a-41b) and İBB (22b), and is absent from M1 and M2. The only variant is in the second couplet: İBB reads "yudmada" (while gulping) instead of "bir demde" (in a moment). To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built in the language of the decorative and book arts. The words nakş (pattern), nakşbend (pattern-maker), pergâr (compass) and şemse form a congruence of images (tenasüp). In its dictionary sense a şemse is a round, sun-shaped ornamental motif, used on bookbinding covers and in illumination. The poet likens the beloved's eyebrow to a compass in the hand of fate and says that this compass has drawn a rose garden with the round şemse of the face. The question form of the couplet can be read as an example of feigned ignorance (tecâhül-i ârif), as if the poet could not tell the eyebrow from the compass. The arch of the eyebrow and the angle of the compass, the roundness of the face and the circle of the şemse, correspond to each other; the rose garden conveys the redness and freshness of the cheek.

In the second couplet the word "su" (water) works in three ways. "Yüz suyu" means honour, repute, in its dictionary sense; "like water" conveys that the blood was drunk easily, in one gulp; and the "water" of a sword is, in its dictionary sense, the lustre and temper of its steel. The blood-raining sword has drunk the lover's blood like water and has therefore won fame in the world. The owner of the sword is not named in the couplet; since the whole ghazal is addressed to the beloved, the sword can be understood as the beloved's.

In the third couplet the morning breeze behaves like a lover. The beloved's long hair touches the ground; the wind takes it by the hand and lifts it from under the feet. The poet attributes this to the wind's longing for the lock; since a poetic cause is given for a natural event, this is a poetic aetiology (hüsn-i ta‘lîl). "Hevâdâr" means devotee, lover, in its dictionary sense; but since "hevâ" also means air, there is a double entendre (tevriye) in this word chosen for the wind.

In the fourth couplet the heart is likened to a ruin, and the shocks of the world to an earthquake. Had the beloved been the architect of the ruin, the earthquake could not have harmed it. There is a congruence of images between "tezelzül" (quaking), "harâbe" (ruin) and "mi‘mâr" (architect). Gezend means harm, damage, in its dictionary sense. The last couplet ends with a customary prayer that moves around libertines (rind), wine and the tavern threshold: the libertines who come in hope to the door where wine is drunk should not forget sinful Adlî. "Dergâh" means, in its dictionary sense, both door, threshold and dervish lodge; here it is applied to the door of the place where wine is drunk. The poet's calling himself "sinful" sets a humble identity in place of the epithet "şeh" (shah) met in other ghazals.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 182, poem no. 144 (manuscript information in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr