Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilün

Gevher-i vaṣluña hergiz olmadı cān āşinā
Baḥr-ı baḥrüñde nice demdür ider cān āşinā
Āşinā olmaḳ dilerseñ iy göñül bīġāne ol
Her zamān bīġāneye olur o cān āşinā
Āşinālıḳ isteme var iy dil ol bīġāneden
Kim görüpdür kim gedāya ola sulṭān āşinā
‘Aḳl u ṣabrum āh kim yād oldı benden dōstlar
Oldı her yād ile tā ol şāh-ı ḫūbān āşinā
Fażlī’yi yād eyleme yād ile luṭf it iy ḳamer
Çünki olur ẕerreye ḫurşīd-i raḫşān āşinā

In English

1. The soul has never been acquainted with the pearl of your union; for a long time now it has been swimming in the sea of separation from you. (The word "āşinā" also means "swimming" in Persian; the second line has been read in this sense.)

2. O heart, if you wish to become acquainted with him, become a stranger; that dear one is always acquainted with strangers.

3. O heart, go, do not seek acquaintance from that stranger; who has ever seen a sultan acquainted with a beggar?

4. Ah, friends, since that shah of beauties became acquainted with every stranger, my reason and my patience have become strangers to me.

5. O moon, do not treat Fazlî as a stranger; remember him and be kind; for the shining sun is acquainted even with the mote.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of five couplets, written in the "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün" pattern of the remel family of aruz (quantitative metre). The redif (refrain word) is "āşinā" (acquainted, familiar); the rhyme is formed by the sound "-ān" in the words "cān, cān, sulṭān, ḫūbān, raḫşān". In the opening couplet the word "cān" is used as the rhyme in both lines. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is the tenth in Özkat's edition and is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 218b) of the miscellany in the Hazine collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library. According to Özkat, love is foremost among the subjects of Fazlî's ghazals, and the beloved's faithlessness is constantly stressed within this frame. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The whole ghazal rests on a play between the word "āşinā" in the redif and its opposites "bīgāne" and "yād" (stranger). The lover wishes to become acquainted with the beloved, but the beloved forms acquaintance only with strangers. The second couplet turns this situation into a paradox: whoever wishes to be acquainted must become a stranger. The third couplet says the reverse: it is vain to seek acquaintance from that stranger, for a sultan does not become acquainted with a beggar. In the fourth couplet the paradox turns back on the lover's own state: since the beloved became acquainted with every stranger, the lover's reason and patience have become strangers to him. This contrast, moving back and forth between acquaintance and stranger, gives the short five-couplet ghazal a tight unity.

In the first couplet there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between "gevher" (pearl) and "baḥr" (sea); union is a pearl and separation a sea. Since the word "āşinā" also has the sense of swimming in Persian, the second line can be read as the soul swimming on and on in the sea of separation; thus the same word forms a double entendre (tevriye) with the senses of both "acquainted" and "swimming". In the third couplet there is a contrast between "gedā" (beggar) and "sulṭān", and in the last between "ẕerre" (mote) and "ḫurşīd" (sun). In the last couplet a pun (cinas) is formed between "yād eyleme" (do not treat as a stranger) and "yād ile" (remembering). The sun's light reaching even the mote is brought as proof that greatness should not shut out the small; with this proof the lover asks the beloved for kindness.

Bibliography

  • Mustafa Özkat, Kara Fazlî'nin Hayatı, Eserleri, Edebî Kişiliği ve Dîvânı (İnceleme-Tenkitli Metin), MA thesis, Marmara University Institute of Turkic Studies, Istanbul 2005, p. 290, ghazal no. 10 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 218b); also pp. 61-62 (on the ghazals) and pp. 119-120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources