Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün

Ey bulan ḥabîb ṣadef nîsân-ı lüṭfından güher
Dürd-i dendândan ḫalâṣ eyle yeter çekdim yeter
Eyler olduḳca lekedzen tevsen-i tünd-i veca‘
Üstüḫânkârı serâ-yı sinnimi zîr u zeber
Ṣan külünkdü dü ṣaf-ı dendânım ammâ neyleyem
Bâz ebz-i bâz idüp aġzın gelür bir bir ḳapar
Derd-i sinn dirler ‘aẕâb-ı ḳabrdendir ṣadr imiş
Cismimi gör teng ḳıldı cânıma şeb tâ seher
Pek maḥaldir şimdi çek zehrâb-ı derd-i sini kim
Olmadı şehd-i lebinden etmediñ ‘Âkif ḥaẕer

In English

1. O beloved whose oyster finds pearls from the April rain of your kindness, save me from the pain of my teeth; enough, I have suffered, enough.

2. Whenever the wild horse of pain kicks, it turns the palace of bone of my years (my teeth) upside down.

3. You would think my two rows of teeth were pickaxes; but what can I do, the pain comes opening its mouth wide and snaps them up one by one. (The couplet is not wholly clear.)

4. They say toothache is a part of the torment of the grave, and it is true; look at my body, from night till dawn it has tormented my soul.

5. Âkif, now is the very time to drink the poisoned water of toothache, for you did not beware of the honey of the beloved's lip.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a short ghazal (gazel) of five couplets written in the remel pattern "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün" of aruz (quantitative metre). There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on the sound "-er" in the words "güher, zeber, ḳapar, seher, ḥaẕer". The second line of the opening couplet also ends with "yeter" (enough). 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

Öntürk and Tunçadam find it noteworthy that Âkif wrote a ghazal on so particular a subject as toothache; this poem is that ghazal. The poet combines the familiar conceits of divan poetry with an everyday complaint in an amusing way. In the opening couplet the teeth are linked to the belief that April rain falling into the oyster turns into pearls: the teeth are pearls, and the one whose kindness gave these pearls is now asked for relief from the pain. The word "sinn" in the second couplet means both "age" and "tooth"; the pain kicking like a wild horse and overturning "the palace of bone of my years" rests on this double entendre (tevriye). The fourth couplet cites the popular saying that toothache is part of the torment of the grave. The pen-name couplet ends in a jest: since the beloved's lip is likened to honey, it is only right that the poet who did not beware of that honey should have toothache. The reading of the third couplet is not wholly clear.

Historical Context

According to Âkif's grandson, the poet was knowledgeable in medicine, had treated many patients and lit a great many candles in front of him to protect his eyes. That a scholar so attentive to his own body should turn his toothache into poetry fits this portrait. 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. 277). https://doi.org/10.28981/hikmet.683811

Online sources