Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḳollarumı dāġ-ı hicrān ile tezyīn eyledüm
Boynuña bu heykeli aṣmaġa zerrīn eyledüm
Ṭa‘n ṭaşından girüp göñlüne olmadum ḫalāṣ
Melce’ vü me’vāmı ben gerçi ki sengīn eyledüm
Zülfüñ ucından neler çekdügümi işidenüñ
Her ne deñlü şād ise göñlüni ġamgīn eyledüm
‘Işḳ pīrinden ġam irşādın temennā eyledüm
Her du‘ā kim ḳıldı ol ben daḫı āmīn eyledüm
Zülfi vaṣfında mu‘aḳḳaddur kelāmuñ ‘Adliyā
Lebleri vaṣfında görseñ nice şīrīn eyledüm

In English

1. I adorned my arms with the brands of separation (scars burned by the pain of separation); I made this heykel (amulet) golden to hang around your neck. The couplet can be read in two ways: "heykel" can be understood as an amulet hung at the neck or as the branded arms themselves; in the second reading the poet says he has prepared his arms, which are to embrace the beloved's neck, like a golden amulet.

2. Though I entered your heart for refuge, I was not saved from the stones of reproach; it is true that I had made my refuge and shelter of stone (in a heart hard as stone).

3. Whoever hears what I have suffered from the tips of your locks, however happy he may be, I have made his heart sorrowful.

4. I asked the elder (pîr) of love to guide me on the path of grief; to every prayer he made I too said "amen".

5. Adlî, in describing the beloved's locks your speech became knotted and intricate; see how sweet I made it in describing those lips.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the remel metre "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "eyledüm", "I made"; the rhyme is the sound "-în": tezyîn, zerrîn, sengîn, gamgîn, âmîn, şîrîn. In Bayram's edition it is number 82 and it is the ghazal that opens the section of the letter mim (Harfü'l-mîm) in the divan. It is found in all five manuscripts (OR, T, M1, M2, İBB). In the second couplet T reads "gerçi" instead of "gerçi ki", and in the fourth couplet İBB reads "bir" instead of "her". It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet presents the lover's body as an ornament. "Dâğ", in its dictionary sense, is branding, the burn mark left by a hot iron; in divan poetry this is the name for the wounds the lover burns into his body in the pain of love. The poet says he has "adorned" his arms with the brands of separation; the mark of pain turns into an ornament. In the second line "heykel", in its dictionary sense, means an amulet or charm case hung at the neck. What this amulet stands for is not clear: if the arms are meant, the arms that are to embrace the beloved's neck have been prepared like a golden amulet. "Zerrîn" means made of gold, golden in colour. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among arm, neck, ornament and amulet.

The second couplet carries the finest conceit of the ghazal. The lover has taken refuge in the beloved's heart to escape the stones thrown by those who reproach him (ta‘n taşı). But the place where he has taken refuge is itself of stone: "sengîn", in its dictionary sense, means made of stone, hard as stone, and points to the beloved's hard heart. A lover fleeing from stones who takes refuge inside a stone sets up a paradox in the couplet and explains why there was no escape. "Melce’" and "me’vâ" are used one after the other in the sense of refuge and shelter. The appearance of the word stone with two different loads in the two lines binds the couplet together.

The third couplet says that the lover's suffering is contagious. Even the happiest of those who listen to what has been suffered from the tips of the locks grows sorrowful. The tangle of the locks corresponds in divan poetry to the confusion of the lover's troubles. There is antithesis between "şâd" (glad) and "gamgîn" (sorrowful).

The fourth couplet uses the language of Sufism. A pîr is the guide of a Sufi order; "irşâd" means showing the right path, and "du‘â" (prayer) and "âmîn" are words that express the disciple's devotion to his sheikh. The poet thinks of love as a pîr and asks it to show him the path of grief; to every prayer of the elder of love he says "amen". That the path love teaches is one of grief rather than joy gives the couplet a sorrowful tone. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among pîr, irşâd, prayer and amen.

The final couplet speaks about the poem itself. The poet first addresses himself as "Adlî", then continues in the first person. "Mu‘akkad", in its dictionary sense, means knotted, intricate, hard to understand. Since the locks are knotted, the speech that describes the locks has become knotted too. The speech that describes the lips, however, has become "şîrîn", sweet; in divan poetry the lip is known for its sweetness. The quality of the subject passes into the expression: knotted hair gives knotted speech, a sweet lip sweet speech. There is a reciprocal order between locks and lip, intricate and sweet.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 120, poem no. 82 (manuscript information in the footnote on p. 120). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr