Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Only the following two couplets of this poem have been published in the source; the complete poem has not been published.

‘Uşşâḳ-zâde Efendi ki bu ‘âlî aña dir
Bu ṭab‘-ı pâk u ẕekâ bende sendedir ancaḳ
Götür yaḳında bizi Mekke’ye bile zirâ
Bu şevḳ-i beyt-i Ḫudâ bende sendedir ancaḳ

In English

1. Uşşâkzâde Efendi, of whom this lofty word is said: this pure nature and intelligence in me (this servant) come only from you. (The couplet can be read in two ways: the word "bende" can be understood as "in me" or as "your servant".)

2. Take us soon to Mecca as well; for this longing for the House of God in me comes only from you.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplets are the 10th and 11th couplets of the 23rd ghazal in Âkif's divan. According to Öntürk and Tunçadam, this 18-couplet ghazal is a nazire (response poem) to a ghazal by the teacher whom the poet addresses as Uşşâkzâde Efendi, and it is a müzeyyel ghazal: its last ten couplets are an appended section (zeyl) in which the teacher is praised in the manner of a kaside. The two couplets quoted come from this appended section. The words "sendedir ancaḳ" (is only in you, comes only from you) repeated at the end of both lines are the redif (refrain word) of the ghazal to which they belong. The article did not publish the whole ghazal; the metre is not stated.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first couplet is praise: the poet says that he owes his pure nature and intelligence to his teacher. The word "bende" means both "in me" and, in Persian, "servant"; the line can therefore be read in two ways, "in this servant" or "in me", and this ambiguity gives the couplet the subtlety of a double entendre (tevriye). In the second couplet the praise becomes a request: the poet asks his teacher to take him soon to Mecca, for he says that he received from him his longing for the Kaaba as well. A nazire is a poem written in reply to another poet's poem in the same metre and rhyme; adding an appended section turns this reply into an offering of respect.

Historical Context

Öntürk and Tunçadam note that in the appended section of this response poem the poet praises his teacher and asks to be taken on the pilgrimage. The identity of Uşşâkzâde Efendi is not explained further in the article. According to the sources Âkif made the pilgrimage three times, and according to Hüsameddin he was dismissed in 1144 (1732), while mufti of Amasya, for going to the Hejaz without permission; before which journey this ghazal was written is unknown. For the poet's life, see the article Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi.

Bibliography

Online sources