Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Būm-ı meyüm k’ola bu vīrānile ülfetüm
Sidre üzre āşıyān itmiş hümā-yı himmetüm
Yārdan özge bu göñlüm ḫānesinde kimse yoḳ
Şükr kim aġyārdan ḫālī olupdur ḫalvetüm
Ḫalvet-i ins içre tenhā ṣanma ey zāhid beni
Ḳudsī vü rūḥānīlerdür her gice hem-ṣoḥbetüm
Ben fenā meyḫānesinüñ rindiyüm ey muġbeçe
İdilecek ḫışt-ı serḫum ile levḥ-i türbetüm
Çūb-i rezden baña tābūt eyle ey pīr-i muġān
Bāde-i ‘ışḳ olıcaḳ āḫir nefesde şerbetüm
Dergeh-i pīr-i muġāndan kim sa‘ādetkānidür
Ey Baṣīrī gitme kim bu bābdandur devletüm

In English

1. I am the owl of the tavern's ruin; let my intimacy be with this ruin; yet the huma of my aspiration has built its nest upon the Sidra tree. (The owl lives in ruins; the huma is a lofty bird believed to bring good fortune. The Sidra is the tree at the farthest end of the seventh heaven.)

2. In this house of my heart there is no one but the beloved; thank God my retreat has been emptied of rivals and strangers.

3. O ascetic, do not think me alone in this retreat where I have withdrawn from people; every night holy and spiritual beings are my companions.

4. O tavern boy, I am the libertine of the tavern of annihilation; let my gravestone be made of the brick that seals the mouth of the wine jar.

5. O elder of the tavern, make me a coffin of vine branches; at my last breath let my sherbet be the wine of love.

6. O Basîrî, do not leave the lodge of the elder of the tavern, which is a mine of bliss; for my fortune comes from this door.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of six 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 the possessive suffix "-üm", my, and the rhyme is the sound "-et": ülfet, himmet, ḫalvet, ṣoḥbet, türbet, şerbet, devlet. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is number XXXII in Ahmet Kartal's edition. Kartal notes that Sufism holds an important place in Basîrî's poems and cites this ghazal in full as a poem "written entirely in Sufi thought". To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal uses divan poetry's figure of the "rind" (the libertine) and the language of the tavern with a Sufi meaning. In this language the tavern is the master's lodge; the elder of the tavern ("pîr-i muġân") is the spiritual guide; and wine is divine love or spiritual ecstasy. The rind is one who pays no heed to outward appearance and rules and has bound his heart to God alone. Basîrî describes himself within this language.

The opening couplet is built on a contrast. The poet likens himself to an owl; the owl lives in ruins, and the poet too has made friends with the ruin of this world. But his bird of aspiration is a huma, and it has nested on the Sidra tree, the tree at the highest point of the heavens. This antithesis (tezat) between owl and huma, ruin and Sidra, expresses the condition of the rind, outwardly ruined and inwardly exalted. The second and third couplets work the idea of retreat. In the house of the lover's heart there is no one but the beloved; his retreat has been emptied of strangers. The ascetic may think him alone, but every night holy and spiritual beings are his companions. Here the familiar ascetic of divan poetry, the pietist content with outward worship, is set against the rind.

The fourth and fifth couplets carry the most striking images of the ghazal. The rind imagines even his death with the furnishings of the tavern: let his gravestone be of the brick that seals the mouth of the wine jar, his coffin of vine branches; let the sherbet he drinks at his last breath be the wine of love. The links drawn between death and wine, coffin and vine, gravestone and jar express that both life and death are dedicated to divine love. The phrase "fenâ meyhânesi", the tavern of annihilation, also points to the Sufi concept of fena, a person's passing away from his own self. The closing couplet ends with a counsel the poet gives himself: he must not leave the lodge of the elder, which is a mine of bliss, for his fortune comes from that door. "Bâb" means door; waiting at the door of the lodge is a familiar expression of devotion to the master.

Historical Context

Kartal notes that besides love, Sufism holds an important place in Basîrî's poems, and gives examples from other ghazals as well: the thought in couplets such as "Ey Basîrî ger basîret ehliyiseñ gözüñ aç / Kim toludur nûr-ı Ḥaḳdan mescid ü meyḫâne hem", which shows mosque and tavern filled with the same light, runs on the same line as this ghazal. Considering that the biographers present Basîrî as a wit sought after in gatherings for his jests, this ghazal shows a more serious and inward-looking face of his poetry.

Bibliography

Online sources