Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün

Ṣoḥbetde müyesser olur ise neġam olmaḳ
Dīvāne vü āşüfte vü rüsvā ne ġam olmaḳ
‘Āşıḳ ki lebüñ yādına mey nūş ide ṭañ yoḳ
Cem kendü olup sāġar aña cām-ı Cem olmaḳ
Ser-‘asker olursam ne ‘aceb ehl-i cünūna
‘Ālemlere dīvāneliğile ‘alem olmaḳ
Ġam deştini kim ḳat‘ iderem mümkin olur mı
Mecnūn ile Ferhād baña hem-ḳadem olmaḳ
‘Adlī deheni sırrına irmek diler iseñ
Lāzım durur evvelde vücūduñ ‘adem olmaḳ

In English

1. If melodies (music) are granted in the gathering, what grief is there in being mad, distraught and disgraced? (The word "neġam", melodies, at the end of the first line carries the same sound as "ne ġam", what grief, at the end of the second. Manuscript OR reads "muhabbetde" for "sohbetde".)

2. No wonder that the lover who drinks wine in memory of your lip should himself become Cem, and his goblet become for him the cup of Cem. (In Iranian legend Cem is the king held to have owned the cup that showed the whole world.)

3. Is it any wonder if I become commander-in-chief of the mad, and with my madness become a banner to the worlds (become the talk of everyone)? (In manuscript M2 the first line of this couplet is missing; OR reads "olur isem" for "olursam", and T "dîvâneliğe" for "dîvâneliğile".)

4. I cross the desert of grief in such a way that could Mecnun and Ferhad ever keep pace with me? (Mecnun is the lover who wandered into the deserts for Leylâ; Ferhad is the lover who cut through the mountain for Şirin. OR and İBB read "ile hem" for "baña".)

5. Adlî, if you wish to attain the secret of that mouth, your being must first turn to nothingness. (In divan poetry the beloved's mouth is so small that it is counted as "non-existent"; to attain the secret of that nothingness the lover too must cease to be.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the hezec pattern "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün". The redif (refrain word) is "olmak" (to be, to become), and the rhyme is the sound "-em": neğam, ne gam, câm-ı Cem, alem, hem-kadem and adem. In the edition the ghazal is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB). It is the last poem in the section of the divan for refrains ending in the letter "kâf"; with the next ghazal the section of the letter "kef" begins. The most important manuscript variant is the absence of the first line of the third couplet in M2; the other variants are differences of a single word. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built on a play of sound. "Neğam" at the end of the first line means, in its dictionary sense, melodies, tunes; "ne gam" at the end of the second line means "what does it matter". The two expressions are very close in writing and in pronunciation, and this likeness forms a pun (cinas) in which one word is answered by two. The meaning of the couplet rests on this play as well: if the gathering has its music, there is no worry in being mad, distraught and disgraced. The contrast between music and grief is lodged inside the likeness of sound.

The second couplet raises the gathering to a legendary kingship. The lover who drinks wine in memory of the beloved's lip becomes Cem himself; the goblet in his hand turns into Cem's world-revealing cup. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among lip, wine, sâgar (goblet) and câm (cup); the use of the name "Cem" twice in one line also gives the couplet weight. In the third couplet madness is imagined as an army. The lover is the commander-in-chief of the "ehl-i cünûn", the mad, and with his madness becomes an "alem", a banner, to the worlds. In its dictionary sense "alem olmak" means to become known for something, to be on everyone's tongue. There is a congruence of images between ser-asker (commander) and alem (banner), and a closeness of sound between "âlem" (world) and "alem" (banner).

The fourth couplet names the two great lovers of divan poetry. Mecnun fell into the deserts for love of Leylâ, and Ferhad cut through the mountain for Şirin. The lover is crossing the desert of grief in such a way that even these two famous lovers seem unable to keep pace with him. This is a boast (tefahür) that sets the lover's own pain above all the legends. A congruence of images is formed between desert and Mecnun, foot and road.

The closing couplet rests on the motif of the tiny mouth. In divan poetry the beloved's mouth is so small that it is counted as non-existent and is thought of as a secret. If Adlî wishes to attain this secret, he must first do away with his own being. There is a plain antithesis between vücûd (being) and adem (nothingness). The couplet also recalls the idea of "fenâ", which means "passing away" in its dictionary sense and is used in Sufism for the effacement of the self; but this word does not occur in the poem, and the first meaning of the couplet is the love motif.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Publications, 2018, p. 90, poem no. 52 (manuscript variants in the footnote on p. 90; beginning of the section of the letter "kef" on p. 91).

Online sources