Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mefâilün feilâtün mefâilün feilün (müctes). Doğan states no metre; we identified the same pattern as in the previous ghazal.

Makâm-ı me’men-i meyhâne pîr-i deyr-i şefîk
Kime ki ola müyesser nasîbidür tevfîk
Melâl-i devri göñülden refîk-i mey giderür
Velî dirîğ ki yokdur bu devr içinde refîk
Bu meste keyfiyyet-i bâdeden suâl itmeñ
Belî hakîkat-ı deryâyı kande bile garîk
Ne deñlü zühd-i riyâ hâletini gösterseñ
Tasavvur eyleme sûfî ki eyleyem tasdîk
Visâl-i yâr dilerseñ fenâyî ol ‘Avnî
Ki bahs-i ‘ilm ü amel ser-be-ser olur tirzîk

In English

1. Whoever is granted the safe station of the tavern and the kindly elder of the Magian temple, his lot is (God's) help and success.

2. The companion of wine drives the sorrow of the age from the heart; but alas, in this age there are no companions.

3. Do not ask this drunkard about the nature of wine; yes, how should the drowned man know the truth of the sea?

4. However much you show a state of asceticism free of hypocrisy, O Sufi, do not imagine that I will believe it.

5. O Avnî, if you wish for union with the beloved, choose the path of annihilation (fenâ); for the debate over learning and works is idle talk from beginning to end.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It shares the metre of the previous ghazal, the müctes, and like it uses the tavern as a figure for the dervish lodge. There is no redif; the rhyme is the "-îk" sound of the words "şefîk, tevfîk, refîk, garîk, tasdîk, tirzîk". The five couplets follow a sequence of counsel: that reaching the tavern is a matter of fortune, the companionship of wine in an age without friends, the indescribability of love, the hypocrisy of the Sufi, and the path of annihilation.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the tavern is "makâm-ı me'men", a safe refuge, and the "pîr-i deyr" is the old and kindly master of the Magian temple, that is, of the tavern. In Doğan's commentary these words stand for lodge and sheikh: entering a Sufi order and reaching a spiritual guide is possible only with God's help, "tevfîk". The second couplet is a simple complaint. The companion of wine drives away the sorrow of the age, but no trustworthy friend is left in this age; Doğan also sees in the couplet a reference to the bans on drink that were at times severely enforced.

The third couplet is the most memorable in the ghazal. One who is drunk on wine is not asked about the nature of wine, for the man who has drowned in the sea cannot know the truth of the sea. Doğan counts wine as the symbol of divine love; one immersed in love cannot describe it. He compares the couplet with Hayâlî Bey's line "Ol mâhîler ki deryâ içredir deryâyı bilmezler" (the fish that are in the sea do not know the sea).

The fourth couplet once again accuses the Sufi. However hard the Sufi tries to show that he is free of hypocrisy, this display itself turns into hypocrisy and loses its credibility. The final couplet turns to a term of Sufism. "Fenâ" in the dictionary means to pass away, to be transient; in Sufism it is the last station reached by the disciple who disciplines his self under the guidance of a master, the annihilation of the self in the being of God, and it is named together with "bekâ" (subsistence). Doğan says that in this state worldly knowledge, learning and works are left behind. This is why Avnî advises the one who seeks union with the beloved to choose the path of annihilation, counting the debate over learning and works as "tirzîk", empty and groundless talk.

Bibliography

  • Fâtih Sultan Mehmed (Avnî), Fâtih Dîvânı ve Şerhi / Dīwān of Sultan Mehmed II with Commentary, ed. Muhammet Nur Doğan, English trans. Michael D. Sheridan, 3rd ed., Istanbul: Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı, 2023, poem 35, pp. 289-291 (manuscript: Millet, Ali Emîrî Manzum 305, fol. 11b). https://ekitap.yek.gov.tr/urun/fatih-divani-ve-serhi--ucuncu-baski-_794.aspx

Online sources