Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün

Dâmen-i miyânsız yine reftâra mı ḳaṣdıñ
Ey serv-i seher ṭoġrı di gülzâra mı ḳaṣdıñ
Ey ġonca cebîniñ yine pür-çîn-i ġażabdır
Nâlende hezâr-ı dili âzâra mı ḳaṣdıñ
Ey kalle rif‘at-ı ṭaleb-i süllem-i iḳbâl
Tâ çend ser-i nîze-i edbâra mı ḳaṣdıñ
Bu ṭarz-ı tebessüm bu tekellüm nedir ey şûḫ
Sînemde nihân râzımı izhâra mı ḳaṣdıñ
Ey ġamzesi zehr ü lebi tiryâk ṭabîbim
Aġyâra mı yâ ‘Âkif-i bimâra mı ḳaṣdıñ

In English

1. With your waistless skirt are you again intending to sway as you walk; O cypress of dawn, tell me straight, are you intending to go to the rose garden?

2. O rosebud, your brow is again full of the furrows of anger; are you intending to hurt the moaning nightingale of the heart?

3. O head that seeks the height of the ladder of fortune, how long will you aim for the tip of the spear of misfortune? (The couplet is not wholly clear.)

4. O coquette, what is this manner of smiling, this way of speaking; are you intending to reveal the secret hidden in my breast?

5. O my physician whose glance is poison and whose lip is the antidote; are you intending to go to the rivals, or to the sick Âkif?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of five couplets written in the hezec pattern "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün" of aruz (quantitative metre). The redif (refrain word) is "mı ḳaṣdıñ" (is it your intention); the rhyme rests on the sound "-âra" in the words "reftâra, gülzâra, âzâra, edbâra, izhâra, bimâra". Every couplet ends with a question addressed to the beloved. 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 ghazal turns every movement of the beloved into a question about intentions. In the opening couplet the beloved is likened to a cypress swaying at dawn; "ṭoġrı di", "tell me straight", is in congruence (tenasüp) with the cypress's straight stature. In the second couplet the frowning beloved is an unopened rosebud that looks wrinkled; her anger hurts the nightingale of the heart. In the fourth couplet the beloved's smile and speech are read as a threat to reveal the lover's hidden secret. The pen-name couplet carries the most compact image of the ghazal: the beloved's glance is poison and her lip the antidote; she is a physician who both makes him ill and cures him. The poet asks whether this physician will go to the rivals or to the sick Âkif. The reading of the word "kalle" in the third couplet, and of the couplet as a whole, is not wholly clear; its meaning is given approximately.

Historical Context

To whom and when the ghazal was written is unknown. Likening the beloved to a physician is a common conceit in divan poetry; according to Âkif's grandson, the poet himself practised medicine and treated patients. 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. 279). https://doi.org/10.28981/hikmet.683811

Online sources