Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün (not given in the edition; our scansion)

'Işk bahrine tal ey dil iresüñ yek-dâneye
Câna kıymayan kaçan vâsıl ola cânâneye
Baña ne mülk-i cihân yâhûd bana ne nâm u neng
Ben harâbâtî oluben düşmüşüm meyhaneye
Nâṣıhâ kes dilüñi benden beni ko hâlüme
Kim es̱er kılmaz nasihat 'ışk ile dîvâneye
'Akl nâkısla 'avâma yol degül ta'n ideler
'Işk râhında bu gün kâmil olan merdâneye
Ey Harîmî lâübâli ol bu gün 'ışk eyle kim
Vaz' ile hergiz vakâr olmaz imiş mestâneye

In English

1. O heart, dive into the sea of love so that you may reach the matchless pearl; when will one who will not risk his life ever reach the beloved.

2. What is the kingdom of the world to me, what are name and honour to me; I have become one of the tavern folk and fallen into the tavern.

3. O counsellor, stop wagging your tongue at me and leave me to my state; for advice has no effect on one made mad by love.

4. It does not become the people of deficient reason to reproach the hero who has reached maturity on the path of love today.

5. O Harîmî, be carefree today and love; for, it seems, dignity never comes to the drunkard through a grave manner.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a ghazal of five couplets. The metre is not given in the digital text; by our scansion it is the remel pattern Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün. The redif (refrain word) is the dative "-ye" (to), and the rhyme is the "-âne" of "yek-dâne, cânâne, meyhane, dîvâne, merdâne, mestâne". The prayer in the heading is "Tâbe s̱erâhû". The second couplet fell in the digital text below the heading of Ghazal 29. Its rhyme is the same as this ghazal's, and the edition's numbering passes from the first couplet to the third; these two signs show that the couplet belongs here. The placement is ours. 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

In the first couplet love is a sea and the beloved the matchless pearl (yek-dâne) at its bottom; to reach the pearl one must dive, that is, risk one's life. The second couplet is the most striking of the ghazal. "What is the kingdom of the world to me" is the word of a rind who has put aside worldly possession and fame and fallen into the tavern. Coming from a prince's pen it draws particular attention, though scorning worldly sovereignty for love is a common attitude in divan poetry. In the third couplet the counsellor is told to be silent, since advice does not work on one maddened by love. In the fourth the people of deficient reason are set against the hero matured on the path of love. In the last couplet a contrast is drawn between being "lâübâli" (carefree) and "vakar" (dignity). This judgement, that a drunkard cannot be grave, closes the ghazal in the voice of a rind.

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 32, pp. 214-215). teis.yesevi.edu.tr

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