Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gül eger buyısa baña gül-‘iẕārum gül yiter
‘Ārife bir gül yiterse baña yarım gül yiter
Sen temāşā-yı gül it baña gözümden düşdi ki
Ḳaṭre ḳaṭre ḳan yaşum ey gül-‘iẕārum gül yiter
Lāle-zārı n’eylerem gülşen gülinden isterem
Açılan bāġ-ı ruḫundan lāle-zārum gül yiter
Hiç meyl itmez göñül naḫle ey bāġbān
Yüri gül-zāruñ saña baña nigārum gül yiter
Ey Basīrī n’eylerem pür-gül kenār u dāmeni
Kim tolu ḫūn-ı ciger birle kenārum gül yiter

In English

1. If this is what they call a rose, then you, my rose-cheeked one, are rose enough for me; if one rose is enough for the gnostic, half a rose is enough for me. (In Latîfî's text the line reads "baña yârüm gül yiter", "my beloved is rose enough for me"; the first line there reads "Gerçi kim dirler cihânda ‘ârife bir gül yeter", "though they say in the world one rose is enough for the gnostic". The phrase "one rose is enough for the gnostic" recalls the proverb "a hint is enough for the gnostic", that is, the wise need few words.)

2. You go and gaze at the rose; for me, my rose-cheeked one, the tears of blood falling drop by drop from my eyes are rose enough. (The drops of bloody tears are likened to red rose petals.)

3. What should I do with a tulip garden; should I want the rose of the rose garden? From the blossoming garden of your cheek both my tulip garden and my rose are enough for me. (The couplet can be understood in two ways: "gülşen gülinden isterem" can be read as a question or as a wish, "I want the rose from the rose garden"; in both readings the beloved's cheek takes the place of every garden.)

4. O gardener, the heart inclines to no sapling at all; go, keep your rose garden, my beloved is rose enough for me.

5. O Basîrî, what should I do with a skirt and lap full of roses; my lap, filled with the blood of my heart, is rose enough for me. (Bloody tears fill the lap and turn it into a skirt full of roses.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of five couplets in the remel family of aruz (quantitative metre), "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün"; the edition does not state the metre. The redif (refrain word) is "gül yiter", a rose is enough, and the rhyme is the sound "-ārum": gül-‘iẕārum, lāle-zārum, nigārum, kenārum. The ghazal is number XII in Ahmet Kartal's edition. The first line of the fourth couplet appears one syllable short in the edition; the text has been left as it stands.

The opening couplet of the ghazal is one of Basîrî's lines most often cited in the biographical anthologies. Latîfî gives it with the note "Velehu" among Basîrî's sample opening couplets; Gelibolulu Âlî also quotes it in the Künhü'l-ahbâr; and Hüseyin Hüsameddin takes it from Latîfî in his History of Amasya. The text in the anthologies, however, differs from the text in the divan manuscript. In Latîfî the first line reads "Gerçi kim dirler cihânda ‘ârife bir gül yeter" and the second line ends "baña yârüm gül yiter". In the text Kartal gives from the divan manuscript the second line reads "yarım gül". Since both lines of an opening couplet must rhyme, the reading that fits the ghazal's rhyme "-ārum" is "yārüm"; the reading "yarım" breaks the rhyme. In that case the same word in the divan manuscript too may need to be read "yārum". Kartal notes the difference in a footnote but does not explain his choice.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

All the couplets of the ghazal rest on the idea that the beloved takes the place of the real rose. The opening couplet is built on a proverb. In Turkish one says "ârife bir işaret yeter", a hint is enough for the gnostic: the knowing need no long explanation. Basîrî changes the saying by putting "rose" in place of "hint": if one rose is enough for the gnostic, the beloved is rose enough for the lover. The phrase "Gerçi kim dirler cihânda" (though they say in the world) in Latîfî's text states openly that this utterance rests on a known saying. With the reading "yârüm" the second line means "my beloved is rose enough for me"; with the reading "yarım" a meaning emerges like "if one rose is enough for the gnostic, half a rose is enough for me", as if to say "I am more of a gnostic than the gnostic". Both readings rest on a poetic conceit, but the rhyme scheme supports the reading "yârüm".

From the second couplet on, the rose shifts from the beloved's cheek to the lover's bloody tears. Let the beloved gaze at the rose; the bloody tears falling drop by drop from the lover's eyes are enough for him. In the last couplet this image is worked once more: a skirt full of roses means nothing beside a lap filled with the heart's blood. The word "kenâr" means both lap and edge or shore; "dâmen" means skirt. A likeness is drawn between rose-gatherers filling their skirts with roses and the lover's lap filling with blood. In the fourth couplet the gardener is addressed: the heart inclines to no sapling; let the garden be the gardener's, the beloved is enough for the lover.

The word "gül", rose, occurs at least once, and often twice, in every couplet; garden words such as "gül-‘iẕâr", "gül-zâr", "gülşen" and "lâle-zâr" support this repetition. This manner of expression, based on the repetition of words, gives the ghazal the flow of a song. The assessment in the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam, which states that the subtle play on meaning practised by most of Basîrî's contemporaries is seldom found in him and that his expression is easy, accords with the plain and flowing structure of this ghazal as well.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Latîfî, Tezkiretü'ş-şu'arâ ve Tabsıratü'n-nuzamâ, ed. Rıdvan Canım, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018 (e-book), p. 148, entry on Basîrî. ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
  • Gelibolulu Mustafa Âlî, Künhü'l-ahbâr'ın Tezkire Kısmı, ed. Mustafa İsen, Ankara: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi, 1994, pp. 152-153, entry on Basîrî.
  • Abdizâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddin Yasar, Amasya Tarihi 6-8. Cilt, ed. Songül Keçeci Kurt - Recep Orhan Özel - Metin Hakverdioğlu, Amasya: Amasya Belediyesi, 2022, p. 419. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

Books

Online sources