Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün

Gelüp geçmekde emvâc-ı ḳażâ seyl-i revân-âsâ
Ḳonup göçmekde eczâ-yı cihân hep mihmân-âsâ
Firîb-reng ü bûy-ı dehr ile ḫandân olan çün gül
Ṣabâdan terk-i berg ider bahârında ḫazân-âsâ
Bugün ben zâre yâr olsañ gidersin yârın aġyâre
Vefâsız bir ḳarâra ṭurmadıñ gitdiñ zamân-âsâ
Leṭâfetden zemîn ṣahbâ olup sâyeñ döner ‘akse
Ṣalınsañ âl-i dîbâlar ile naḫl-i erġuvân-âsâ
Bülend-âvâzıla gûş-ı güle bülbül ider taḳrîr
Şitâb-ı fırṣat-ı devr-i bahârı tercemân-âsâ
Ḳaçar fersaḫ-be-fersaḫ tîr-veş ol deñlü ‘âşıḳdan
Ne deñlü semte çekem ol ḳaşı yâyı kemân-âsâ
Sevâd-ı cebhe-i a‘mâl olur taḳlîd ‘ale’l-taḥḳîḳ
Şu lu‘b-ı tâcda pûşende tâc-ı digerân-âsâ
Görüñ i‘câzı şi‘r-i âteşîn-i kilk-i ‘Âkifde
Şerer-pâşân gezer neyzârda şîr-i jiyân-âsâ

In English

1. The waves of destiny keep coming and passing like a flowing flood; the parts of the world keep camping and moving on, all like guests.

2. Whoever laughs like the rose at the deceptive colour and scent of the world sheds his leaves to the morning breeze in his own spring, like autumn.

3. Today you may be the friend of wretched me, tomorrow you go to the rivals; faithless one, you never kept to one resolve, you went like time.

4. If you swayed in red silks like a Judas-tree sapling, the ground would turn to red wine from your grace, and your shadow into a reflection.

5. In a loud voice the nightingale, like an interpreter, tells the rose's ear how quickly the chance of springtime passes.

6. That beauty whose brow is a bow flees league upon league from the lover like an arrow; however much I draw her to my side, as one draws a bow (she still flees).

7. Imitation in place of verification blackens the brow of deeds; it is like one who wears others' crowns in the crown game. (The couplet is not wholly clear.)

8. See the miracle in the fiery poetry of Âkif's pen: scattering sparks, it roams the reed bed like a ferocious lion.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of eight couplets written in the hezec pattern "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün" of aruz (quantitative metre). The redif (refrain word) is the Persian suffix "-âsâ", meaning "like"; the rhyme is the sound "-ân" in the words "revân, mihmân, ḫazân, zamân, erġuvân, tercemân, kemân, digerân, jiyân". Such a refrain obliges every couplet to end in a comparison and gives the ghazal the appearance of a chain of similes from beginning to end. The number is the order of the sample poem in the article by Öntürk and Tunçadam; the poem's number among the ghazals of the divan is not given in the article.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first two couplets speak of the transience of the world: the waves of destiny flow like a flood, the parts of the world camp and move on like guests, and whoever is deceived by the world's colour and scent and laughs like the rose sheds his leaves in his own spring like autumn. In the third couplet the faithlessness of the beloved is compared to time itself; thus love and the world meet in the same sense of transience. In the sixth couplet a congruence of images (tenasüp) links the beauty "whose brow is a bow" and the phrase "kemân-âsâ çekmek", to draw towards oneself as one draws a bow; the beloved, however, flees like an arrow. The seventh couplet reflects a scholar's outlook: deeds done by imitation instead of verification are likened to playing a game wearing someone else's crown. The reading of this couplet is not wholly clear. In the pen-name couplet the poet praises his own poetry: since the pen is made of reed, the word "neyzâr", reed bed, is in congruence with the pen, and the spark-scattering poem is likened to a lion roaming the reeds.

Historical Context

When and on what occasion the ghazal was written is unknown. The themes of the transience of time and of faithlessness, which Öntürk and Tunçadam bring to the fore in Âkif's poetry, are clearly visible here. For the poet's life, see the article Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi.

Bibliography

  • Tolga Öntürk and Özcan Tunçadam, "Amasyalı 'Îdî-zâde Âkif Mustafa ve Divanı", Hikmet-Akademik Edebiyat Dergisi, 6(12), 2020, pp. 259-281 (text: pp. 275). https://doi.org/10.28981/hikmet.683811

Online sources