Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilün (remel). Doğan leaves the metre of this ghazal unstated; we found the remel ourselves.

Kasd-ı cânum eyleyüpdür yine hicrân var ise
Hey müselmânlar demidür baña dermân var ise
Yine sevdâyî göñül haylî perîşândur bu gün
Sünbülini dağıdupdur ol perî-şân var ise
Öldügüm bilüp mahalleñ itleri feryâd idüp
Beni ağlar cem‘ olup bir yire yârân var ise
Sen dür-i meknûn firâkında gözüm yaşın görüp
Baña taklîd idüp ağlar ebr-i nîsân var ise
Yüzüñe ‘âşık olana münkir imiş dôstum
Zâhidüñ göñlinde yokdur nûr-ı îmân var ise
Ol şeh-i hüsn ü cemâle çün kul olduñ ‘Avnîyâ
Saña olmışdur müsellem mülk-i ‘Osmân var ise

In English

1. Separation, it seems, has once more designed against my life; hey Muslims, if there is a cure for me, now is the time.

2. The passionate heart is once again greatly distraught today; it seems that fairy has scattered her hyacinth locks.

3. The dogs of your street, thinking me dead, are crying out (barking with joy); it seems that my friends too (if any are left) have gathered somewhere and are weeping for me.

4. Seeing the tears of my eye in separation from you, the hidden pearl, it seems the April cloud too weeps in imitation of me.

5. My friend, the ascetic, it is said, rejects whoever is in love with your face; it seems there is no light of faith in his heart.

6. O Avnî, it seems that because you became the slave of that king of beauty and grace, the realm of Osman (the Ottoman land) has been granted to you.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The redif "var ise" works with two senses: in the dictionary it means "if there is", but, as Doğan explains, it also carries the sense "it seems, probably". The poet uses the first sense only in the second line of the opening couplet, in the words "if there is a cure for me"; in the other couplets the redif shifts to the sense "it seems". In the third couplet, however, the two senses work together: it seems the friends are weeping, but "if any friend of mine is left". Rhyming on "-ân" are the words "hicrân, dermân, perî-şân, yârân, nîsân, îmân, 'Osmân". The ghazal is six couplets of remel.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is a call for help: separation has again designed against the lover's life, and the Muslims are asked for a cure. In the second couplet the heart's distress is tied to the beloved's scattering her hyacinth locks; the rhyme "perî-şân" plays on the word "perişan" (distraught), fairy and distress sharing the same sound. The third couplet carries a subtle mockery. The dogs of the street, that is, the rivals, are crying out because they think the lover is dead; Doğan takes this crying as a figure for their barking with joy. The friends, meanwhile, are gathered somewhere weeping, provided, of course, any friend is left. As for the fourth couplet, the "dür-i meknûn", the pearl hidden in its shell, is the beloved; the April cloud sheds rain in imitation of the lover's weeping.

The fifth couplet once again criticises the ascetic: there is no light of faith in the heart of the ascetic who disapproves of those in love with the beloved's face. Since in divan poetry the beloved's face is counted a mirror of divine beauty, denying the love felt for it is, on this reading, a sign of faithlessness.

Historical Context

This last couplet has a place of its own in the divan, because here Mehmed II names his own state: "mülk-i 'Osmân", the realm of Osman, the Ottoman land. Avnî says that because he became the slave of that king of beauty and grace, the Ottoman land has been granted to him, made "müsellem". Doğan reads "şeh-i hüsn ü cemâl" (the king of beauty and grace) as God, the absolute owner of all beauty, and sees in the couplet the faith of a world ruler who finds the sole reason for his sovereignty in being God's willing servant. The couplet can also be read as a love couplet: the lover who has become the beloved's slave has, in return, become the owner of a realm. Whichever reading is chosen, this final couplet is the only place in the divan where the poet names his throne and his state; together with the phrase "king of Istanbul" in the fourteenth ghazal, it is among the plainest references in Mehmed II's poetry to his own sovereignty.

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 67, pp. 482-484 (manuscript: Millet, Ali Emîrî Manzum 305, fol. 21a). https://ekitap.yek.gov.tr/urun/fatih-divani-ve-serhi--ucuncu-baski-_794.aspx

Online sources