Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dām-ı zülfüñle başa her dem belā eksük degül
Ḫışm-ı çeşmüñle dile dā’im cefā eksük degül
Serverā serv-i bülendüñ ser-firāz olmaġiçün
Cān u dilden rūz u şeb vird ü du‘ā eksük degül
Sen vefā vü ḫulḳ ile ‘ālemde meşhūr olalı
Māh-rūlardan saña medḥ ü s̱enā eksük degül
Nice kim gün yüzüñe oldı muḳābil didiler
Şem‘-i ḥüsnüñde senüñ günden żiyā eksük degül
Ḥüsn ile ḫurşīd-i enver çākerüñ lāyıḳ mıdur
Meclisüñde dem-be-dem bir bed-liḳā eksük degül
Vaṣl ile ‘ayş eylemiş gerçi raḳībüm hicr ile
Ḥamdüli'llāh bizde de ẕevḳ u ṣafā eksük degül
Öldürürse ġam seni yāre ne ġam çün her zamān
Biñ senüñ gibi gedā ‘Adlī aña eksük degül

In English

1. Through the snare of your locks, calamity never fails to fall on my head; through the anger of your eye, torment never fails to reach my heart.

2. O lord, so that your tall cypress stature may always stand high, the litany and prayer offered day and night from the soul and heart never fail.

3. Ever since you became famous in the world for faithfulness and good nature, praise and laud never fail to come to you from the moon-faced beauties.

4. Whenever the sun came face to face with you, (those who saw) said: the candle of your beauty lacks nothing of the sun's light. (The line is understood as "the light of the candle of your beauty is no less than the sun's".)

5. Is even the radiant sun worthy to be your servant in beauty? (Yet) in your company there is never a moment without some ill-favoured face. (While even the sun is not worthy to be your servant, ill-favoured rivals never leave your side.)

6. My rival, it is true, has enjoyed himself in union; thank God, we too, in separation, do not lack pleasure and delight.

7. Adlî, if grief kills you, what does the beloved care? For at all times he never lacks a thousand beggars like you.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets and is written in the remel metre "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "eksük degül" (is not lacking), and the rhyme is the sound "-â / -a": belâ, cefâ, du‘â, senâ, ziyâ, bed-likâ, safâ and "aña" in the final couplet. Because the redif is long, every couplet ends with the same judgement: something is never lacking. According to Bayram's article on spelling, this word is written in the divan's British Library manuscript both as "eksik", as today, and as "eksük". In Bayram's edition it is number 75 and it is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB). In T, M1 and M2 "her dem" and "dâ’im" change places in the opening couplet; the same three manuscripts read "mâh-rûlarda" (among the moon-faced) instead of "mâh-rûlardan". T has "meclisinde" instead of "meclisüñde", and OR and İBB have "beni" instead of "seni" in the final couplet. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet consists of two parallel lines: the snare of the locks brings calamity to the head, the anger of the eye brings torment to the heart. In divan poetry the lock and the snare are often joined as a net that catches hearts. In the second couplet the words "serverâ" (O lord), "serv" (cypress) and "ser-firâz" (with head held high) follow one another; this sequence, built on the repetition of the sound "ser" (head), is a play on sound. The lover prays day and night that the beloved's cypress stature may always stand high; "vird", in its dictionary sense, means a prayer recited regularly.

The third and fourth couplets describe the beloved's fame. Even the moon-faced beauties praise him; according to the reading in T, M1 and M2, praise is not lacking among the moon-faced either. In the fourth couplet the sun is compared with the beloved's face, and those who see it say that the light of the candle of his beauty is no less than the sun's. The word "gün" occurs in both lines in the sense of sun; there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between face and sun, candle and light.

In the fifth couplet a complaint begins. Even the sun is not worthy to be the beloved's servant in beauty; yet in his company there is at every moment some "bed-likâ", that is, someone ill-favoured. These ill-favoured ones are the rivals who surround the beloved in divan poetry; the antithesis between the sun and the ugly face is what the couplet rests on. The sixth couplet names the rival directly: the rival has enjoyed himself in union, while the lover finds pleasure even in separation. The antithesis between union and separation turns, with the words "thank God", into a mocking consolation.

In the final couplet the lover sees himself as one of a thousand beggars. If grief kills him, nothing happens to the beloved, for at his door there are a thousand beggars like Adlî. This is a clear example of a notable situation in Adlî's poems: the one who speaks the couplet is a ruler, yet he names himself a "gedâ", a beggar, at the beloved's door. In OR and İBB the line reads "beni" instead of "seni"; Bayram adopted the reading "seni" in the text.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 113, poem no. 75 (manuscript information in the footnote on p. 113). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Yavuz Bayram, "Sultan İkinci Bâyezîd-i Velî (Adlî) Dîvânı'nın British Library Nüshasında İmlâ Husûsiyetleri", Turkish Studies 3/6 (Fall 2008), pp. 109-142 (the spelling "eksik/eksük" p. 128).

Online sources