Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Gün yüzüñ nūrıyile oldı münevver ‘ālem
İy ḳamer rūşen olursa n'ola çeşm-i ādem
Yoḳ ‘aceb mürdelere irse ḥayāt-ı ebedī
Söze başladı meger nāz ile ol ‘Īsi-dem
Ḳıble ḥaḳḳı ṣanemā Ka‘be olaldan kūyuñ
Gözlerüm yaşını ḳıldum o ḥaremde zemzem
İy perī-şān perīşān olalıdan zülfüñ
Ḳalmadı ‘ālem içinde daḫı ḳalb-i bī-ġam
‘Adliyā ayaġı topraġına cān eyle fedā
Pāy-būsı o şehüñ çün ele girmez her dem

In English

1. The world has been lit by the light of your sun-like face; O moon, what wonder if the eye of man is brightened?

2. It is no wonder if eternal life reaches the dead; it seems that beloved with the breath of Jesus has begun to speak, coyly. (Jesus is believed to have raised the dead with his breath; the beloved's speech too gives life enough to raise the dead.)

3. O idol of beauty, by the right of the qibla, ever since your street became the Kaaba I have made the tears of my eyes the water of Zemzem in that sacred precinct.

4. O fairy-faced one, ever since your locks were dishevelled no heart free of grief has remained in the world.

5. O Adlî, sacrifice your life to the dust of her feet; for the chance to kiss the feet of that shah does not come to hand at every moment.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the remel metre "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün". It has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the sound "-em": âlem, âdem, dem, zemzem, gam, dem. The word "dem" occurs twice as a rhyme, but with two different meanings: "breath" in the second couplet and "moment, time" in the final couplet. It is number 90 in the edition and is found in all five manuscripts (OR 22a, T 29b, M1 30a, M2 23b, İBB 15a). The edition records no manuscript variants for this ghazal. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet begins with the sun and the moon. The beloved's face is the sun and has lit up the world; the poet addresses her as "O moon". Thus in the same couplet the beloved is likened both to the sun and to the moon. "Rûşen", in its dictionary sense, means bright, and "çeşm-i âdem rûşen olmak", the brightening of a person's eye, expresses both seeing by light and rejoicing; the Turkish expression "gözün aydın" (may your eye be bright, i.e. congratulations on the good news) carries this second meaning too. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among sun, light, illumined, moon and bright.

The second couplet is an allusion (telmih) to Jesus. According to the Turkish literature section of the article "Îsâ" in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Jesus's healing of the sick and raising of the dead with his potent breath is one of his most frequently mentioned traits in divan poetry; poets use this trait to describe the beloved's lip, breath and speech. Adlî too calls the beloved "Îsî-dem", one with the breath of Jesus. It is no wonder that eternal life reaches the dead, for that beloved has begun to speak, coyly. Presenting the beloved's speech as the reason the dead come back to life is an example of hüsn-i talil (a fanciful attribution of cause).

The third couplet is built from words belonging to Mecca: qibla, Kaaba, sacred precinct and Zemzem. The beloved's street has become the Kaaba for the lover; in that sacred precinct the lover makes his tears the water of Zemzem. According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Zemzem is the water drawn from a well near the Kaaba in the Masjid al-Haram, held in great esteem by Muslims. "Harem", in its dictionary sense, means a precinct regarded as sacred and inviolable. Beside these words comes "ṣanemâ" (O idol), the address to the beloved; the antithesis between the Kaaba and the idol, together with the customary calling of the beloved an "idol" in divan poetry, gives the couplet a sharp contrast. There is a congruence of images among Kaaba, qibla, sacred precinct and Zemzem.

The fourth couplet rests on a cinas (paronomasia). "Perî-şân", in its dictionary sense, means fairy-like in appearance, of fairy-like grace; "perîşân" means dishevelled, scattered. The same sounds form two different words and stand side by side at the beginning of the line. Once the beloved's locks are dishevelled, no heart free of grief remains in the world; the scattered hair is the cause of the scattered hearts. This link between the locks and the heart is common in divan poetry, and the couplet strengthens it with the cinas.

The final couplet counsels Adlî to sacrifice his own life to the dust of the beloved's feet, because the "pây-bûs" of that "shah", in its dictionary sense the chance to kiss his feet, does not come to hand at every moment. There is a congruence of images between foot and hand, and a contrast between dust and life. Calling the beloved "shah" is common in Adlî's poems; here a padishah counsels himself not to miss the chance of kissing the feet of another "shah".

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 128, poem no. 90 (manuscript information in the footnote on p. 128). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr

Academic studies

Online sources