Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dişlerüñ nazmın tuyup bâğrın deler dürr-i 'Aden
Kâkülün büyın alup hâke düşer müşk-i Huten
Bâg-ı hüsn içre şehâ kadd-i hırâmânuñ görüp
Dâ'im ayag üzre sergerdân turur serv-i çemen
Ka'be-i kûyuñda her hâr-ı mugaylânuñ senüñ
Yâ gül-i terdür bana yâ nesterendür yâ semen
Gönlüme virür tarab sevdâ-yı zülfün dem-be-dem
Cânuma virür ferah yaraşur ol sîb-i zekan
Gül yüzi şevki ile ölür ise ey 'andelîb
Verd-i terden eylesünler bu Harîmîye kefen

In English

1. Hearing of the string of your teeth, the pearl of Aden pierces its breast; catching the scent of your forelock, the musk of Khotan falls to the ground.

2. O king, the cypress of the meadow that sees your swaying stature in the garden of beauty always stands on its feet, dizzy and bewildered.

3. Every acacia thorn in your street, which is like the Kaaba, is to me a fresh rose, a wild rose or a jasmine.

4. The passion for your locks gives my heart joy every moment; that apple-like chin gives my soul delight, and how well it becomes you.

5. O nightingale, if this Harîmî dies of longing for your rose-like face, let them make him a shroud of fresh roses.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a ghazal of five couplets. The metre is the remel pattern Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün. There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the "-en, -an" of "'Aden, Huten, çemen, semen, zekan, kefen". The prayer in the heading is "Nevverallâhü merkadehû" (may God illuminate his grave). The word "tarab" (joy) in the first line of the fourth couplet came out in the digital text as "tarah". Since the letters b and h are often confused in the text of the Dîvânçe and the word pairs in sense with "ferah" (delight) in the second line, it has been read as "tarab". 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 brings together two famous places of origin: Aden is known for its pearls and Khotan for its musk. The beloved's row of teeth humbles the pearl and the scent of the forelock humbles the musk; the pearl pierces its breast in envy and the musk falls to the ground. That pearls are pierced to be strung adds a further sense to the image. In the second couplet the cypress that sees the beloved's swaying stature is imagined as standing transfixed in admiration; the fact that the cypress never sits is explained as a state of admiration, which is a hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology). In the third couplet the beloved's street is likened to the Kaaba. Mugaylân is the acacia thorn growing in the deserts on the road to the Hejaz, a motif expressing the hardship of the pilgrimage; to the lover even the thorn on that road is rose and jasmine. In the last couplet nightingale and rose take the place of lover and beloved. A shroud made of roses would have even death covered with a beauty that belongs to the beloved.

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 25, pp. 213-214). teis.yesevi.edu.tr

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