Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün

Câm-ı ġafletle dil-i âgehi mest eyleme yâ Rab
Dürdî-i şerm ile peymâne be-dest eyleme yâ Rab
Sâlik-i ḳalbi ḳılup vâṣıl-ı füsḥatgeh-i kudsî
Tengnâ-yı emeli cây-ı nişest eyleme yâ Rab
Eyle murġ-ı dili âzâde per-i evc-i ṣalâḥ
Dâm-ı ‘iṣyânda beni ḳademi best eyleme yâ Rab
Lenger it baḥr-ı ḥavâdiẟde ẟebât u ṣabırımı
Fülkimi mâhye-i üftâde beşüst eyleme yâ Rab
Şâhid-i fikriñi lüṭf eyle bes efkâr-ı sevâ
Ḳalb-i meyyâlimi cânâne-perest eyleme yâ Rab
Bulmadın ṭarḥ-ı ḳaranfiliñe âẟârı şüküfte
Bu sifâl-i ten-i ḥâliñi şikest eyleme yâ Rab
Dest-i lüṭfuñla çıḳar ‘azfe-i ġufrâna mededi
Çâh-ı ‘iṣyânda bu üftâdeyi pest eyleme yâ Rab
‘Âkifiñ ḳıl nefes-i vâpesini ḫayr ile ḫatm
Ḫançer-i ‘uḳdeyi sen ḥancere ḫast eyleme yâ Rab

In English

1. O Lord, do not make the wakeful heart drunk with the cup of heedlessness; do not make me one who holds a cup in hand with the dregs of shame.

2. Bring the traveller of the heart to the holy expanse; do not make the narrowness of worldly desire his seat, O Lord.

3. Set the bird of the heart free with the wing of the summit of righteousness; do not let my foot be bound in the snare of sin, O Lord.

4. Make my constancy and patience an anchor in the sea of events; do not make my ship like a fallen fish caught on a hook, O Lord. (The reading of the second line is not wholly clear.)

5. Grant me the beauty of Your own thought, enough of evil thoughts; do not make my inclining heart a worshipper of the beloved, O Lord. (The couplet is not wholly clear.)

6. Before works have been found blossoming in Your carnation pattern, do not break this earthen vessel of my body, O Lord. (The couplet is not wholly clear.)

7. With the hand of Your grace raise me to forgiveness, help; do not bring this fallen one low in the well of disobedience, O Lord.

8. Bring Âkif's last breath to a good end; do not let the dagger of the knot wound the throat, O Lord.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of eight couplets. The edition gives the metre as "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün". The redif (refrain word) is "eyleme yâ Rab" (do not make, O Lord); the rhyme rests on the sound "-est" in the words "mest, dest, nişest, best, perest, şikest, pest, ḫast". Since every couplet ends in a request addressed to God, the ghazal is a münacat, a poem of supplication, in content. 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

In every couplet the same supplication is repeated with a different image. The cup of heedlessness and the dregs of shame come from the drinking party, the bird and the snare from hunting, the anchor and the ship from the sea, the earthen vessel from pottery. All these prayers meet in the wish to be kept from attachment to the world and from falling into sin. In the fourth couplet there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between the sea of events, the anchor of constancy and patience and the ship; the word "beşüst" at the end of the line seems connected with "şest", fishing hook, but its reading is not wholly clear. In the sixth couplet the body is likened to an earthen vessel; the poet asks that it should not be broken before the works his Creator wills have come forth. In the last couplet a pun is formed between the words "ḫançer" (dagger) and "ḥancere" (throat); the poet asks that his last breath end well and that the moment of death should not become a knot tightening round the throat. The meaning of the fifth and sixth couplets is given approximately.

Historical Context

Öntürk and Tunçadam note that poems with religious content stand out among Âkif's ghazals. The life described by Hüsameddin and by the poet's grandson, of a scholar who withdrew into worship at the end of his life, is in keeping with this supplication; but the date of the ghazal is unknown. 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. 275-276). https://doi.org/10.28981/hikmet.683811

Online sources