Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Devleti tîr-i felek verse no’la nâdâne
Gâh olur pâre-i lahmi sege kassâb verir

In English

1. If the Tîr of the heavens (the planet Mercury in the sky, and also the arrow of fate) grants fortune and rank to an ignorant man, what is there to wonder at; the butcher too sometimes gives a piece of meat to a dog.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Hüsameddin gives this couplet too with the words "Bu da onundur" (this too is his). Since its two lines do not rhyme, it is not an opening couplet (matla); it is a single couplet taken from inside a ghazal or a kaside, or perhaps a couplet composed on its own. It is not known to whom or on what occasion it was addressed. The source does not indicate the metre of the couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet voices a complaint often treated in divan poetry: the heavens, which distribute the goods of the world, most often grant them to the undeserving. "Devlet" here has its old sense of fortune, happiness and rank. "Nâdân" is an ignorant, unlearned man. The word "tîr" in the first line means in Persian both arrow and the name of the planet Mercury. In the old astronomy Mercury was regarded as the secretary of the heavens and was named as the star of men of the pen. On this reading the couplet marvels that even the star that stands for learning and the pen should give fortune to the ignorant; in the sense of arrow, it suggests that fortune falls like an arrow striking at random. Reading these two senses together is our own observation.

The second line supports the judgement of the first with an example from everyday life: the dog in front of the butcher's shop is also sometimes thrown a piece of meat. Proving an idea with an example of proverbial force is called irsâl-i mesel in divan poetry. "Seg" means dog in Persian, "pâre-i lahm" a piece of meat. The example also implies that the rank that falls into the hands of the ignorant is less a favour than a mere alms; the bitter irony of the complaint lies here.

Bibliography

Online sources