Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ'îlün Mefâ'îlün Fe'ûlün

Tolaldan 'âleme gavğâ-yı Leylî
Beni Mecnûn ider sevdâ-yı leylî
Harâb u mest olupdur sâki-i 'ışk
Ṣunaldan câna pür-ṣahbâ-yı leylî
Gözümden katre katre dökilen yaş
Olısar cem' olup deryâ-yı leylî
Cihân endîşesinden pâk ol ey dil
K'ola tâ zaviyen mâvâ-yı leylî
Harîmîden es̱er kalmadı illâ
Hem ân şevk ile hûy u hây leylî

In English

1. Since Leylâ's quarrel spread through the world, passion for Leylâ makes me Mecnun.

2. Since the cupbearer of love offered the soul Leylâ's brimming wine, the soul has been ruined and drunk.

3. The tears falling drop by drop from my eyes will gather and become Leylâ's sea.

4. O heart, be cleansed of the care of the world, so that your corner may become Leylâ's shelter.

5. Nothing is left of Harîmî but the cries and laments raised in longing for Leylâ.

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 yâ of the Arabic alphabet. The metre is the hezec pattern Mefâ'îlün Mefâ'îlün Fe'ûlün, the metre of the first ghazal as well. The redif (refrain word) is "-yı leylî" (of Leylâ), and the rhyme is the "-â" of "ğavğâ, sevdâ, ṣahbâ, deryâ, mâvâ, hây". 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 word "leylî" in the redif means both "of Leylâ" and "of the night", since the name Leylâ is connected with "leyl", the Arabic word for night. Throughout the ghazal the story of Leylâ and Mecnun can also be read, as often in the Sufi tradition, as a story of divine love: Mecnun stands for the lover who turns to God and Leylâ for the beloved he longs to reach. In the first couplet passion for Leylâ makes the lover Mecnun. In the second love is a cupbearer and the wine it offers is Leylâ's wine. In the third the tears falling drop by drop become a sea; the doubling "katre katre" (drop by drop) is an example of the repetitions Kılıç emphasizes. The word "zâviye" in the fourth couplet means both a corner and the small lodge where dervishes stayed; the heart is asked to be cleansed of worldly care so that it may become the shelter of Leylâ, the beloved. In the last couplet only "hây u hûy" is left of the lover, a phrase that suggests both cries and clamour and the sound "hû" of the dervishes' remembrance.

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 37, p. 215). teis.yesevi.edu.tr

Books