Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün

'Işkuñ odı oldı çün nâr-ı Halîle bir [okunamadı]
Bu dil-i pür-derde dermân eyle ey 'îsî-nefes
'Ârızuñ âb u hevâsı şevkına ey serv-i nâz
Gözlerümden nice demdür kim akar cûy ermes
Hey ne zîbâ serv olur kaddüñ cihân bağında kim
Pâyuña yüz sürmege yil gibi yiler bunca kes
Ey gül-i ra'nâ cemâlüñ olmak içün ber-kemâl
Dâmen-i pâkiyle el uzatmasun her hâr u has
'Işkuñuñ bâzârı germ oldukça dil-i büryânına
Muhtesib hükm itmeyüp dahi eylemez bir dem 'abes
Kûs-ı rıhlet çalınup bağlandı mahmil bilürem
Üştür-i 'ışkuñdan irdi güşuma bang-ı ceres
Bir mürîdüm kim murada irmeğe şeyhüm didi
Çünki irdük bu yola gel ey Harîmî sözi kes

In English

1. The fire of your love has become a [illegible] like the fire of Halîl (Abraham); O you whose breath is like Jesus, bring a cure to this sorrowful heart.

2. O cypress of coquetry, for longing for the water and air of your cheek, a stream has flowed from my eyes for so long. The reading and meaning of the rhyme word "ermes" are uncertain.

3. Ah, what a lovely cypress your stature is in the garden of the world, that so many run like the wind to rub their faces at your feet.

4. O lovely rose, so that your beauty may reach perfection, let no thorn and no rubbish stretch a hand toward your pure skirt.

5. As the market of your love grows hot for my burnt heart, the market inspector (muhtesib) passes no judgement and does nothing in vain even for a moment. The couplet is not entirely clear; this reading is ours.

6. The drum of departure has been struck and the litter (mahmil) tied on, I know; the sound of the bell has reached my ear from the camel of your love.

7. I am such a disciple that my sheikh, so that I might reach my goal, said to me: Since we have reached this path, come, O Harîmî, cut your words short.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a ghazal of seven couplets and the only example among the poems ending in the letter sîn of the Arabic alphabet. The metre is the remel pattern Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün. There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the "-es" of "nefes, ermes, kes, has, 'abes, ceres, kes". The text is damaged in two places in the digital version. The end of the first line appears to have been wiped out with dots and could not be read; the word "Haille" in the same line has been read as "Halîle". The sixth couplet fell in the digital text just below the heading of Ghazal 11. The "-es" rhyme and the jump in the edition's numbering from five to seven show that this couplet belongs here; the placement is ours. The word "has" (rubbish) in the fourth couplet came out in the text as "bas". The poet's life, works and the state of the Dîvânçe are discussed in Şehzade Korkut (Harîmî): Literary Persona, Works and Poems.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet alludes to two prophetic stories. Halîl is the epithet of Abraham; the fire into which Nimrod threw him turned into a rose garden. The beloved with the breath of Jesus is the one who can cure pain, like the breath of Jesus that raised the dead. The contrast between the fire and the healing breath expresses both the burning and the healing side of love. In the third and fourth couplets the beloved is seen as cypress and rose: those who run to the cypress's feet are like the wind, and no thorn or rubbish should reach toward the rose's skirt. In the fifth couplet love is likened to a market, and the muhtesib, who supervised the morals of the town, to the officer of that market. In the sixth couplet the drum of departure, the litter and the camel bell describe a caravan setting out. The mahmil is the decorated litter or canopy loaded on a camel in pilgrim caravans. The last couplet is a Sufi close: the sheikh tells his disciple that once the path is reached, words come to an end and silence is required.

Historical Context

The image of the caravan and the litter in the sixth couplet recalls the pilgrimage journey. Korkut is known to have gone to Egypt in 1509 with the intention of making the pilgrimage. Since it is not known when the ghazal was written, however, no link can be drawn between this couplet and that journey; the resemblance can be mentioned only as a possibility.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Harîmî (Şehzade Korkut), Dîvânçe, Millet Library, Ali Emîrî, Manzum Eserler nr. 104.

Academic studies

  • Filiz Kılıç, "Osmanlı Hanedanında Bir Şair: Şehzade Korkut", Bilig (Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi), 2, Summer 1996, pp. 203–219 (Dîvânçe text pp. 209–218; ghazal 13, pp. 211-212). teis.yesevi.edu.tr
  • Feridun Emecen, "Korkut, Şehzade", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, Ankara 2002, pp. 205–207. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/korkut-sehzade

Books

Online sources