Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Mest olupdur bāde-i la‘linden ol māh-ı temām
Nāzdandur ṣanmañ anuñ şīvesin vaḳt-i ḫırām
Mīve-i vaṣluñ heves ḳılan senüñ nā-puḫtedür
Sā‘id-i sīmīnüñi öpmek durur sevdā-yı ḫām
Geh yüzüñ şevḳı gehi zülfüñ perīşānlıḳları
İşümi ḫavf u recā itmiş durur her ṣubḥ u şām
Sünbül oldı ca‘d-ı müşk-efşānuñuñ efgendesi
Fülfül oldı ḫāl-i ‘anber-bāruña hindī ġulām
‘Adli'ye vaṣluñ ümīdi dōstum emr-i ba‘īd
Bir selāmuñdur recāsı senden ancaḳ ve's-selām

In English

1. That full moon (the moon-faced beloved) has grown drunk on the ruby-coloured wine of its own lip; do not take the grace of its swaying walk for coquetry (it comes from drunkenness).

2. Whoever longs for the fruit of union with you is still unripe, a raw novice; to kiss your silver-white arm is a raw fancy.

3. Now longing for your face, now the disarray of your locks, every morning and evening, have left my affairs suspended between fear and hope.

4. The hyacinth has become the fallen servant of your musk-scattering curls; and black pepper has become an Indian slave to your ambergris-scented mole.

5. My friend, for Adlî the hope of union with you is a very distant matter; all he hopes for from you is a single greeting, and that is all (ve's-selâm).

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". It has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the sound "-âm": temâm, hırâm, hâm, şâm, gulâm, selâm. It is number 94 in Bayram's edition and is found in all five manuscripts. The variants recorded in the edition are these: in the opening couplet T reads "la‘lüñden" (from your lip) instead of "la‘linden" (from its lip); in OR "vakt-i hırâm" is missing from the second line of the opening couplet; in the second couplet T has "vaslın" instead of "vasluñ"; in the fourth couplet OR reads "hâr" (thorn) instead of "hâl" (mole); T, M1 and M2 have "hind ü" instead of "hindî"; the same three manuscripts read "‘Adli vü" instead of "‘Adli'ye" at the beginning of the closing couplet; in M2 "artuk" occurs instead of "ancak". It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet calls the beloved "mâh-ı temâm", that is, the full moon, and finds a reason for the beloved's swaying walk. The graceful gait should not be taken for coquetry, for the beloved has grown drunk on the wine of its own lip. The words "bâde" (wine), "la‘l" (ruby) and "mest" (drunk) come together around wine; la‘l is used both for a red precious stone and for the lip, and its colour calls up wine. The edition's reading "la‘linden" presents the beloved as a being intoxicated by its own beauty; in T's reading "la‘lüñden" the line addresses the beloved directly.

The second couplet is built on the image of fruit. Union is a fruit; whoever longs for it is "nâ-pühte", that is, uncooked, unripened. Kissing the silver arm is likewise "sevdâ-yı hâm", a raw desire. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among "mîve" (fruit), "nâ-pühte" and "hâm" (raw): fruit ripens, and a person matures in love. The couplet says that even wishing for union counts as a sign of inexperience in love.

In the third couplet two antitheses stand side by side: face and lock, fear and hope. The beloved's face gives the lover hope, the disarray of the locks gives him fear; the phrase "her subh u şâm" (every morning and evening) carries this duality to the two ends of the day. A correspondence can also be sensed between the brightness of the face and morning, and the darkness of the lock and evening. The fourth couplet is a tableau of beauty. The hyacinth is likened to hair for its scent and curl, black pepper (fülfül) to the mole for its blackness; but the poet reverses the comparison and makes these plants servants of the beloved's hair and mole. "Sünbül" and "fülfül" are close to each other in sound; "müşk" (musk) and "anber" (ambergris), two fine scents, form a congruence of images. The expression "hindî gulâm" (Indian slave) links the colour of black pepper to a dark-skinned slave.

The closing couplet (makta) ends with a play on words. Adlî has given up hope of union and expects only a greeting from the beloved. The line ends with "ve's-selâm"; in its dictionary sense this phrase means "and that is all, there it is", and it comes from the same root as the word "selâm" (greeting) just before it. Thus the one thing awaited and the end of the speech both become "selâm". The occurrence of the words "ümîd" and "recâ" (both meaning hope) in the same couplet recalls the "havf u recâ" (fear and hope) pairing of the third couplet.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 132, poem no. 94 (manuscript information in the footnote on the same page). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr