Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe'ilâtün Fe'ilâtün Fe'ilâtün Fe'ilün

Ey ṣabâ zülfine el urma dilin şâne gibi
Kesmesün tîğ-i cefâ bağruñı dendâne gibi
Güher-i eşkümi besler ṣadefi gözlerümüñ
Ki ayağına nis̱âr eyleye dürdâne gibi
Zülf ü ruhsârı hayâlini giceler o mehüñ
Yakarum cân u dili şem'ine pervâne gibi
Yalıñuz ben degülüm nâr-ı firâkıyle yanan
Hicrinüñ odına bu cümle cihân yana gibi
Beydak-ı hâli ruhı nat'ına şâh oldığıçün
Ṣaldı fil ile feres üstüne ferzâne gibi
Bu revâ mı ki Harîmî giceler ṣubha degin
Meclis-i gamda kalup kan yuta peymâne gibi

In English

1. O morning breeze, do not stretch your heart, riddled like a comb, toward the beloved's locks; let the sword of cruelty not cut your breast like the teeth of a comb.

2. The shell of my eyes nourishes the pearl of my tears, to scatter like great pearls at the beloved's feet.

3. With the image of that moon's locks and cheek, I burn my soul and heart at night like a moth at the beloved's candle.

4. I am not the only one burning in the fire of your separation; the whole world too seems to burn in the fire of your absence.

5. On the chessboard of the cheek, since the pawn of the mole has become king, it has fallen upon the bishop and the knight like a queen.

6. Is it right that Harîmî should stay night after night until morning in the gathering of sorrow and swallow blood like a cup?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a ghazal of six couplets. The metre is the remel pattern Fe'ilâtün Fe'ilâtün Fe'ilâtün Fe'ilün. The redif (refrain word) is "gibi" (like), and the rhyme is the "-âne" of "şâne, dendâne, dürdâne, pervâne, yana, ferzâne, peymâne". The prayer in the heading is "Nevverallâhü s̱erâhû". The ghazal is written in the same metre and redif as Ghazal 47 before it; the rhymes "şâne gibi, pervâne gibi, peymâne gibi" are shared by the two poems. 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 the comb (şâne) and the teeth of a comb (dendâne) are used together. The morning breeze reaching for the locks is again likened to combing; the sword cutting the breast like comb teeth conveys a heart riddled with holes. In the second couplet the eye is a shell and the tear the pearl growing inside it, to be scattered at the beloved's feet. In the third and fourth couplets the motif of the candle and the moth spreads to the whole world; not only the lover but all the world burns in the fire of separation. The fifth couplet is the most interesting of the ghazal and is built in the language of chess. "Nat'" is the chessboard, "beydak" the pawn, "fil" (bishop) and "feres" (knight) pieces, and "ferzâne" the queen, which was the vizier in the old game. In chess a pawn that reaches the opponent's last rank becomes a queen; so the mole on the board of the cheek has gained power, become king and attacked the other pieces like a queen. In the last couplet the lover, swallowing blood like a cup, awaits the morning in the gathering of sorrow.

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 48, p. 217). teis.yesevi.edu.tr

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