Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ol dil-bere mümkin ola mı bir naẓar itmek
Yüz üzre anuñ ḫāk-i derinden güẕer itmek
Ḫarc ideyidüm yollarına la‘li gözümden
Kūyına anuñ olsa müyesser sefer itmek
Āhumuñ oḳı geçdi felekden senüñ iy dōst
Sengīn dilüñe olmadı mümkin es̱er itmek
Tā ṣubḥa degin nālem ile ḫalḳa niçe bir
Sevdāsiyile sünbülüñüñ derd-i ser itmek
Cānı ala dir ġamzeleri dil ḥaẕer eyler
Aṣṣı ide mi uġrıdan iy dil ḥaẕer itmek
Ḫışm ile gözüñ tīġ çeker merdüm-i şūḫuñ
Mest olsa ḳaçan ‘ādetidür şūr u şer itmek
‘Adlī gibi ger ḳaṣd ide ‘uşşāḳ arasında
Geldükçe müjeñ tīrine sīne siper itmek

In English

1. Could it be possible to cast a single glance at that heart-stealer, to pass, face down, over the dust of that one's door? (The lover longs to pass by rubbing his face on the dust of the beloved's threshold. T, M1 and M2 read "the road to that one's door" for "the dust of that one's door"; T and M1 have "hazer" (shunning) for "güzer" (passing).)

2. Were it granted me to journey to that one's quarter, I would spend on its roads the ruby from my eyes. (The ruby is a red precious stone; here it stands for the lover's bloody tears.)

3. O friend, the arrow of my sigh has passed beyond the heavens, yet it could make no mark on your heart of stone. (T reads "dilüñi" for "dilüñe", and M2 "hergiz", "never", for "mümkin".)

4. How long, until the dawn, shall I give the people a headache with my moaning, through my passion for your hyacinth hair?

5. The glances say "let us take the soul", and the heart is on its guard; but O heart, what use is it to guard against a thief? (In divan poetry the glance of the beloved is spoken of as a thief that steals hearts and souls. T, M1 and M2 read "cān ala deyü", "saying, let me take a soul", for "cānı ala dir".)

6. The coquettish pupil of your eye draws the sword in anger; whenever it is drunk, its habit is to stir up brawls and mischief. (The beloved's languid eye is counted as drunk.)

7. If one among the lovers, like Adlî, should resolve to make his breast a shield against the arrow of your lashes whenever it comes... (The consequence of the condition is not stated in the couplet; it is understood by completing it so that the true lover is the one who acts in this way. T, M1 and M2 read "sînem", "my breast", for "sîne".)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets and is written in the hezec pattern "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün". The redif (refrain word) is "itmek" (to do, to make), and the rhyme is the sound "-er": nazar, güzer, sefer, eser, derd-i ser, hazer, şer and siper. In the fifth couplet the word "hazer" is used both in the first line and in the rhyme position. In the edition the ghazal is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB) and opens the section of the divan for refrains ending in the letter "kef". The manuscript variants are spread over several couplets; the most striking is in the opening couplet: T and M1 read "hazer" (shunning) for "güzer" (passing) in the second line, so that the rhyme becomes the same as the word in the fifth couplet. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with a question in which even a single glance at the beloved seems impossible. The lover's wish is to pass by rubbing his face on the dust of the beloved's door; the dust of the threshold is among the things the lover values most in divan poetry. The second couplet turns this wish into a journey. Were it granted to go to the beloved's quarter, the lover would scatter on its roads the ruby flowing from his eyes. The ruby is a red precious stone and stands for bloody tears; there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among journey, road and spending. Scattering tears like coins strewn on the road is worked in the couplet as a metaphor.

In the third couplet the sigh is likened to an arrow. This arrow has pierced and passed through the heavens, but it cannot penetrate the beloved's heart of stone. This contrast between the heavens and stone carries the meaning of the couplet: the arrow that passes the highest sky leaves no mark on the nearest heart. In the fourth couplet the lover moans until dawn with passion for the beloved's hyacinth hair and disturbs the people. "Derd-i ser" means, in its dictionary sense, headache, that is, giving trouble to others. The word "sevdâ" also means, in its dictionary sense, both love and the colour black; taken together with black hair, both meanings are heard at once. There is a congruence of images among hyacinth, hair, head and sevdâ.

The fifth couplet shows the glance as a thief. The beloved's glances say "let us take the soul" and the heart takes precautions; but the poet reminds the heart that guarding against a thief is of no use. The use of the word "hazer" twice in one couplet underlines that all the heart's precautions come to nothing. In the sixth couplet "merdüm" means, in its dictionary sense, both a person and the pupil of the eye; the coquettish pupil is described like a person who draws the sword in anger. The eye is drunk, and in its drunkenness its habit is to stir up a brawl. The words sword, anger, drunkenness and brawl set up the scene of a quarrel at a drinking gathering.

The closing couplet returns to the image of archery. The lashes are the beloved's arrows; the lover makes his breast a shield before these arrows. The conditional sentence of the couplet is left incomplete and its consequence is left open: among the lovers, the one who acts thus can only be someone like Adlî. With the words arrow (tîr), shield (siper) and sword (tîğ), the last two couplets of the ghazal turn into a battle scene.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Publications, 2018, p. 91, poem no. 53 (manuscript variants in the footnote on p. 91).

Online sources