Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gülşen-i kūyuñ göñül murġına kim me’vā degül
Anuñ içün bülbül-i dil lāldür gūyā degül
Rā ḳaşuñla dal zülüfüñ ḥasretidür dōstum
Zāhidüñ ḳaddini lām iden ġam-ı ferdā degül
Kāse-i ḫūnīn çeşmümdür elinde sāḳinüñ
Devr iden meclis içinde sāġar-ı ṣahbā degül
Lāle daḫı dāġdār-ı ḫadd-i gül-gūnuñ durur
Gözlerüñ bīmārı ancaḳ nergis-i şehlā degül
‘Adli daḫı ol şeh-i ḫūbāna cāndan ḳul geçer
İşiginde bende olan Ḫusrev u Dārā degül

In English

1. Since the rose garden of your quarter is no nest for the bird of the heart, the nightingale of the heart is mute and does not sing.

2. My friend, what bends the ascetic's stature like the letter lâm is not worry over tomorrow (the hereafter); it is longing for your brow, shaped like the letter râ, and your curl, shaped like the letter dâl.

3. What is in the cupbearer's hand is the bowl of my blood-filled eye; it is not the cup of wine that goes round the gathering.

4. The tulip too bears the wound of your rose-coloured cheek; the languid narcissus is not the only one sick for your eyes.

5. Adlî too is counted a servant, heart and soul, of that shah of the fair; those who are slaves at the threshold are not only Hüsrev and Dârâ.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the remel pattern "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "degül" (is not) and the rhyme is the sound "-â": me’vâ, gûyâ, ferdâ, sahbâ, şehlâ, Dârâ. Its refrain is the same as that of the preceding ghazal (68), but its metre and rhyme are different. According to Bayram's apparatus the ghazal is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB), and no variants are recorded. The edition has no separate section for the letter lâm; the ghazal stands towards the end of the kef section (Ḥarfü'l-kâf), before the section of mim. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Each couplet of the ghazal rejects one thing with the refrain "is not" and puts another in its place. In the opening couplet the heart is likened to a bird and the beloved's quarter to a rose garden. Because the bird of the heart finds no nest in this garden, it does not sing, though it is a nightingale. In its dictionary sense "lâl" means mute and "gûyâ" speaking, one who utters words; there is antithesis between the two words. Congruence of images (tenasüp) is formed among rose garden, bird, nest and nightingale.

The second couplet is built on comparisons with letters. In poetry written in the Arabic script the shapes of letters are often the subject of comparison. The curved letter "rā" (ر) is likened to the brow and the angular letter "dāl" (د) to the twisted curl; the tall letter "lām" (ل), whose end curls round, describes a stature bent double. In the couplet the zahid, the ascetic who has renounced the world, is mocked. The ascetic's back is bent; on the face of it the reason is "gam-ı ferdâ", worry over tomorrow, the hereafter. The poet rejects this: what bends the ascetic's stature is longing for the beloved's brow and curl. So it is implied that a hidden love lies beneath the ascetic's piety.

The third couplet uses the image of the drinking party. The sâkî is the cupbearer who serves wine to the gathering. What goes round in the cupbearer's hand is not the wine cup but the lover's blood-filled eye. The eye that weeps blood is likened to a bowl full of red wine, and the couplet turns this comparison around, putting the eye in place of the cup. In its dictionary sense "sâgar" is a cup and "sahbâ" red wine. There is congruence of images among bowl, sâgar, sâkî, gathering and sahbâ.

In the fourth couplet the flowers are put in the lover's place. The black spot in the middle of the tulip is thought of in divan poetry as a burn mark (dâğ); the poet says this mark is the wound opened by the beloved's rose-coloured cheek. The narcissus, in turn, is likened to the eye in divan poetry and thought of as a languid, sick eye. "Şehlâ" in its dictionary sense is a dark bluish-hazel eye with a slight cast, considered beautiful. It is not only the languid narcissus that is sick for the beloved's eyes; the lover too is sick for them. Since the tulip and the narcissus are counted as lovers like human beings, the couplet contains personification (teşhis).

The closing couplet develops the image of shah and servant. The beloved is "şeh-i hûbân", the shah of the fair; Adlî too is counted a servant to the beloved, heart and soul. Among those who are slaves at the beloved's door are Hüsrev and Dârâ, names that appear as those of Iranian kings. In divan poetry these two names are used as symbols of great kingship; that even they are slaves at the beloved's door shows beauty being held above every kingship. There is a real irony in the couplet: the author of the poem is an Ottoman sovereign, and he places himself, beside kings such as Hüsrev and Dârâ, among the servants of the shah of the fair.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Publications, 2018, p. 107, poem no. 69 (manuscript information in the footnote on p. 107).

Online sources