Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef'ûlü Mefâ'îlü Mefâ'îlü Fe'ûlün

Sevdaya salar cânumı ol gözleri meftûn
Leylî ṣaçına eyleyeliden dili Mecnûn
Zülfi resenine tolaşur cân acısından
Çâh-ı zenahında bu gönül olalı mescûn
Ağladıguma şâd oluben gülmesün agyâr
Dem düşe benüm gibi ola hâli diger gün
Âhı tutanın görse o dem göge boyanur
Göz yaşını döke döke efğân ide gerdûn
Nazm itdi Harîmî yine bir tâze cevâhir
Bağrını deler işidir ise dür-i meknün

In English

1. Those captivating eyes cast my soul into passion; since the heart was bound to hair as black as Leylâ's it has been Mecnun.

2. Since the heart was imprisoned in the well of the beloved's dimpled chin, it has clung in the pain of the soul to the rope of the locks.

3. Let the rivals not laugh in delight at my weeping; the time will come when their state too will turn to another colour, like mine.

4. If the sky saw the one who holds back my sigh, it would at once be dyed blue; the heavens would moan, shedding tears.

5. Harîmî has once again strung a fresh set of jewels; if the hidden pearl hears it, it will pierce its own breast.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a ghazal of five couplets and the first of the poems ending in the letter nûn of the Arabic alphabet. The metre is the hezec pattern Mef'ûlü Mefâ'îlü Mefâ'îlü Fe'ûlün. There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the "-ûn" of "meftûn, Mecnûn, mescûn, gün, gerdûn, meknûn". Kılıç quotes the fourth and fifth couplets, the doubling "döke döke" in the fourth as an example of word repetition and the fifth as an example of the poet praising his own verse. According to Kılıç's note the ghazal is also found in Pervâne Bey's nazire anthology (fol. 431a), where the first line of the fifth couplet reads "tâze silk-i cevâhir" (a fresh string of jewels). The letters ṣ (sad) and s̱ (se), which came out as ş in the digital text, have been restored according to the original spelling of the words. 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 first couplet again alludes to the story of Leylâ and Mecnun; Leylâ's name, through the word "leyl" (night), calls up black hair. The second couplet has an image reaching back to the story of Joseph. The dimple of the chin is a well (çâh-ı zenah), and the locks the rope (resen) let down into it; the heart, imprisoned in the well, clings to the rope to escape. The third couplet is a warning that when fortune turns the rivals too will one day weep. In the fourth couplet "göge boyanmak" means to be dyed blue; in old Turkish tradition blue, the colour of the sky, is connected with mourning. The sky that sees the lover's sigh puts on mourning, and the heavens moan. The last couplet likens the poem to strung jewels. Since pearls are pierced to be strung, "pierces its breast" means both the heart burning with envy and the piercing of the pearl, which is a tevriye (double entendre).

Historical Context

The presence of the ghazal in Pervâne Bey's nazire anthology shows that it was read together with poems by other poets in the same metre and rhyme. The anthology's reading "silk-i cevâhir" makes the image of strung pearls in the last couplet clearer.

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 23, p. 213). teis.yesevi.edu.tr

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