Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilātün Fā‘ilün

Ḳāl-i devletdür yüzüñ yoḳ ‘itirāż
Ẓāhir oldı çünki şeklinde beyāż
Sen mey-i ‘ışḳ ile kesb it inbisāṭ
Zāhid-i nādān ḳo çeksün inḳıbāż
Sen riyāżet çek bucaḳda ṣūfiyā
‘Āşıḳ itsün nūş mey geşt-i riyāż
Ḳāmetüñ ṭūbā durur kūyuñ behişt
Dīde-i ‘uşşāḳdur anda ḥıyāż
Fażluña inkār ider her bü’l-fużūl
Fażliyā olsañ Fużā’il bin ‘Iyāż

In English

1. Your face is a word of fortune (an auspicious omen), there is no objecting; for whiteness has appeared in its form. (The word "ḳāl" is understood with the reading "fāl", omen.)

2. Gain expansion (of the heart) with the wine of love; let the ignorant ascetic suffer contraction.

3. O Sufi, practise your austerities in your corner; let the lover stroll in the gardens and drink wine.

4. Your stature is the Tuba tree, your street is paradise; the pools there are the eyes of the lovers.

5. O Fazlî, even if you were Fudayl ibn Iyad, every meddler would deny your merit.

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‘ilün" pattern of the remel family of aruz (quantitative metre); since each line has only three feet, its expression is brief. It has no redif; Özkat counts this ghazal among those with rich rhyme. The rhyme is formed by the sound "-āż" in the words "‘itirāż, beyāż, inḳıbāż, riyāż, ḥıyāż, ‘Iyāż". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet in the form "Fażliyā". The ghazal is the hundred and sixth in Özkat's edition and is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 244a) of the miscellany in the Hazine collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library. It is the ghazal that opens Özkat's section of the letter żād. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is obscure. The text reads "Ḳāl-i devlet"; "ḳāl" means "word", and the phrase can be understood as "a word of fortune", but the reading "fāl-i devlet" (an auspicious omen) fits better with the word "beyāż" (whiteness) in the couplet. Since in Turkish whiteness is counted a sign of good luck and goodness, the whiteness of the beloved's face is like a good omen. This reading is our own inference. The second couplet sets two terms of Sufism against each other: "inbisāṭ" (bast) is the opening and expansion of the heart, "inḳıbāż" (kabz) its narrowing and contraction. The lover gains ease of heart through the wine of love, while the ignorant ascetic suffers distress. In the third couplet there is a likeness of sound between the words "riyāżet" (austerity) and "riyāż" (gardens): while the Sufi practises austerities in his corner, the lover strolls in the gardens. This is our own observation.

In the fourth couplet the beloved's stature is likened to the Tuba tree of paradise and his street to paradise; the "ḥıyāż" (pools) are the lovers' eyes, full of tears. The words Tuba, paradise and pool form a congruence of images (tenasüp). In the last couplet the name of Fudayl ibn Iyad, one of the early ascetics, is mentioned; in the text the name appears as "Fużā'il". In the couplet the words "Fażl" (merit), "Fażlī", "fużūl" (in "bü'l-fużūl", meddler) and "Fużā'il" gather round the same sequence of sounds; playing on the meaning of his own name, the poet teases those who deny his merit. This play of sound and meaning is our own observation.

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. 347, ghazal no. 106 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 244a); also p. 69 (rhyme) and pp. 119-120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources