Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Meyl itme sîme olma bahâda ḫaẕef gibi
Dür daḫı olsa göz yaşın alma ṣadef gibi

In English

1. Do not set your heart on silver, do not become as cheap in worth as a potsherd; even if it be a pearl, do not take anyone's tears as the oyster does.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This couplet is the opening couplet (matla) of a ghazal (gazel); both its lines end in the sounds "-ef gibi". The redif (refrain word) is "gibi" (like), and the rhyme is the sound "-ef" in "ḫaẕef" and "ṣadef". Sehî Bey, in his Heşt Bihişt completed in 1538, gives the couplet on its own with the words "bu maṭlaʿ anuñ eşʿârındandur", this opening couplet is among his verses. Âşık Çelebi and Beyânî, however, record the same opening couplet, together with a second couplet following it, among the poems of another Kâmî. This second couplet counsels generosity and avoidance of greed. The edition of the tezkire does not indicate the metre. To whom and on what occasion it was written is unknown.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is a couplet of counsel and treats the theme of contentment. In the first line silver is set against "ḫaẕef", that is, a potsherd or worthless fragment of stone. Whoever sets his heart on silver lowers his own worth and makes himself as cheap as a broken shard. The second line rests on a well-known belief: according to old lore, the oyster takes a drop of April rain into its shell and turns it into a pearl. The poet turns this lovely belief into a moral warning. Though the oyster makes the drop into a pearl, it is taking another's tear; so a person should not acquire anything by making others weep, even if the gain is as precious as a pearl. The likeness of colour and shape between tear and pearl is often used in divan poetry; here it is tied to an ethics of gain. A congruence of images (tenasüp) is built in the couplet through precious and worthless things: silver, pearl, oyster and shard. This analysis is ours.

The Question of Attribution

To whom the couplet belongs is disputed. Sehî Bey gives it in his entry on "Mevlânâ Kâmî" and introduces this Kâmî as from Karaman, a relative of Şeyh Cemâl Halife; that is, he ties it to the Kâmî who is the subject of these pages. Âşık Çelebi and Beyânî, on the other hand, count the same couplet among the poems of Kâmî Efendi of Edirne. This Kâmî is Mehmed, son of the reciter of the Mesnevi at the Muradiye Mevlevi lodge; as a candidate under Ebussuud Efendi he served as a müderris and as judge of Edirne, and presented odes to Süleyman the Magnificent. Âşık Çelebi knew him personally and relates that he wrote him a letter. He also gives the couplet together with a second couplet, as a more complete fragment. The couplet is therefore more probably the work of Kâmî Efendi of Edirne. Since Sehî's tezkire is earlier, his record cannot be dismissed altogether either. The couplet is given here with the note that its attribution is disputed.

The couplet has no connection with Prince Ahmed's Amasya circle. Such a connection could be made only if Sehî's record is correct and if the Kâmî mentioned by Hüseyin Hüsâmeddin Yasar is Şeyh Cemâl's nephew. The question of identity is discussed in detail in the article Kâmî (Prince Ahmed's Circle).

Bibliography

Primary sources

Official sources

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