Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ūlü Mefā‘īlü Mefā‘īlü Fe‘ūlün

A‘rāż ider ol şem‘ ḳaçan ‘arż ide ‘ārıż
Ṣūfī gözine oldı raṣad var ise ‘ārıż
Çāk itmez idi bād gelüp perde-i ‘ırżın
Gül olmasa ger ‘ārıż-ı dil-dāra mu‘ārıż
Basṭ eyle bisāṭ-ı keremi ḫāk-ı basīṭe
Ḳabż eylemeden rūḥuñı iy ḫᵛāce o ḳābıż
‘Ayb eyleme ṣūfī o büte secdeler itsem
Lāyıḳ mı k’ide mü’min olan terk-i ferāyiż
İy Fażlī bu şi‘r āb-ı ḥayāt oldı hemānā
Feyż itdi saña çeşme-i feyżinden o ḳābıż

In English

1. Whenever that candle (-like beloved) shows his cheek, he turns away (from everyone); to the Sufi's eye, if there is any watching (a forbidden glance), it has become an affliction. (The second line of the couplet is obscure.)

2. Had the rose not been a rival to the beloved's cheek, the wind would not have come and torn the veil of its honour.

3. O master, before that taker of souls (the angel of death) takes your soul, spread the carpet of generosity over the broad earth.

4. O Sufi, do not blame me if I bow down to that idol; is it fitting for a believer to abandon what is obligatory?

5. O Fazlî, this poem has become as it were the water of life; that (holder of grace) has poured grace on you from the fountain of his grace. (The meaning of the last rhyme word here is not clear.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of five couplets, written in the "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün" pattern of the hezec family of aruz (quantitative metre). It has no redif; Özkat counts this ghazal among those with half rhyme. The rhyme is formed with the words "‘ārıż, ‘ārıż, mu‘ārıż, ḳābıż, ferāyiż, ḳābıż"; the two lines of the opening couplet end with the same word "‘ārıż", and the third and fifth couplets with the same word "ḳābıż". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is the hundred and seventh in Özkat's edition and is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 244b) of the miscellany in the Hazine collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is one Özkat cites among his examples of derivation (iştikak): the words "a‘rāż" (turning away), "‘arż" (showing) and "‘ārıż" come from the same root. The two occurrences of "‘ārıż" in the two lines of the opening couplet have different meanings: in the first it means "cheek", in the second something that befalls, an affliction or obstacle; this is the figure of the pun (cinas). The joining of the candle with the cheek, and of the cheek with light, shows the beloved as a bright candle. The construction of the second line is obscure; with the word "raṣad" (watching) it can be understood that the Sufi's secret glancing at the beloved has become an affliction to his eye; this is our own interpretation. In the second couplet there is a fanciful aetiology (hüsn-i ta‘lîl): the wind's opening and scattering of the rose's petals is explained as the punishment for the rose's rivalry with the beloved's cheek. The word "‘ırż" (honour) is also related in sound to the words of the opening couplet.

In the third couplet "basṭ" (spreading), "bisāṭ" (carpet) and "basīṭ" (the broad earth) come from the same root, while "basṭ" (spreading) and "ḳabż" (taking, contracting) form an antithesis. "Ḳābıż" is used in the sense of the one who takes souls, that is, the angel of death. Al-Bāsiṭ and al-Qābiḍ are also among the names of God; the choice of words in the couplet recalls this relation too; this is our own observation. The couplet counsels generosity before death comes. The fourth couplet is a daring libertine's (rind) utterance: the lover regards bowing down to the beloved as an obligation and tells the Sufi that it would not befit a believer to abandon what is obligatory. In the last couplet the poem is likened to the water of life, and the word "feyż" (grace, abundance) is used twice. It may be thought that the rhyme word "ḳābıż" is used here in the sense of the one who holds grace in his hand, but the meaning of the couplet built on this word is not clear.

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, pp. 347-348, ghazal no. 107 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 244b); also p. 69 (rhyme), p. 83 (derivation) and pp. 119-120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources