Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilün

Bu reh-i ‘aşḳ üzere hem-tâyı bulmaḳdır hüner
Nice ḥikmet içre dür-yektâyı bulmaḳdır hüner
(Bu) cihânda künc-kanâ‘at mülkünüň şâhı olup
Semt-i ‘âlî devlet-i Dârâyı bulmaḳdır hüner

In English

1. On this path of love the true skill is to find one's match; amid so much wisdom the true skill is to find the matchless pearl. In this world, to become king of the realm of the corner of contentment and so to find the lofty fortune of Darius: that is the true skill.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The quatrain is the beginning of a poem recorded under the pen name Hayrî on page 29 of the Merzifon Cönkü. Hakverdioğlu calls the poem a "dîvânî". In folk poetry the divan is a form sung in aruz, usually in the pattern "fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilün"; nineteenth-century minstrels also composed poems in aruz forms such as the divan, the semâî and the kalenderî. The first, second and fourth lines share the redif "bulmakdır hüner" (the true skill is to find); "hem-tâyı, dür-yektâyı, Dârâyı" carry the rhyme. The third line, ending in "şâhı olup", stays apart. The "Bu" in brackets is an addition of the article. The lines follow the pattern "fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilün"; the identification of the metre is ours.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The quatrain is a didactic poem built around the word "hüner" (skill, true accomplishment), and each line says what true skill is. In the first line skill is finding a "hem-tâ", a match and equal, on the path of love. In the second line the "dür-i yektâ", the single, matchless pearl, is the most precious thing to be found among the many forms of wisdom; in divan poetry the pearl is mostly used for a precious word or a peerless beloved. The last two lines are built on a contrast. "Künc-i kanâat", the corner of contentment, is where one who is content with little withdraws from the world. Dârâ is the ancient Persian king Darius and in poetry a symbol of great kingship and wealth. The poet joins becoming king of the corner of contentment with finding the fortune of Darius: this idea, that true wealth is contentment, is common in Sufi poetry. The redif "hüner" gives the stanza the certainty of a piece of advice.

Historical Context

The poem is recorded in the Merzifon Cönkü under the pen name Hayrî. Hakverdioğlu gives no information about this poet, and his identity has not been established in any other source; no link can be made with the known poets who used the same pen name. The poem is therefore attributed to this poet solely on the strength of the record in the cönk. Since the cönk is thought to have been compiled in Merzifon in the nineteenth century, the poem was among the words recited in the Merzifon gatherings of that period. The state of the sources is described in the article Hayrî.

Bibliography

Online sources