Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün Mefā‘īlün

Şeb-i ġafletde gel ālūde-i ḫᵛāb olma bīdār ol
Gözüñ aç her ṭarafdan nāẓır-ı dīdār-ı dil-dār ol
Sülūk-ı rāh-ı ‘ışḳ itdüñ ser ü destārı terk eyle
Behey ṣūfī sebük-bār ol sebük-bār ol sebük-bār ol
Hevādur mā-sivā meyli anı iy bü’l-heves terk it
Hevā-yı ‘ışḳa cān ile hevā-dār ol hevā-dār ol
Egerçi lengdür pāy-ı ṭaleb rāh-ı maḥabbetde
Hele sen pāy-dār olduḳça luṭf ile ṭaleb-kār ol
Saña yār āşnādur līk sen bīgānesin andan
Yüri var āşnālıḳ ḥāṣıl eyle yār ile yār ol
Egerçi ṣūretā varsın [velīk] yoḳsun ḥaḳīḳatde
Yüri var yoḳluġuñ fehm eyle yoḳluḳ ḥāṣıl it var ol
Ḥaḳīḳat birdür iy münkir ki Fażlī eyledi taḳrīr
Gerek sen i‘tirāf eyle gerekse ehl-i inkār ol

In English

1. In the night of heedlessness come, do not be steeped in sleep, be awake; open your eyes and be one who beholds the face of the heart-stealer on every side.

2. You have set out on the path of love, abandon head and turban; O Sufi, travel light, travel light, travel light.

3. Inclining to what is other than God is mere desire; O you who follow your whims, give it up; long with all your soul for the air of love, long for it.

4. Though on the road of love the foot of seeking is lame, still, as long as you can stand firm, be a seeker with grace.

5. The beloved is a friend to you, but you are a stranger to him; go, become acquainted, be a friend with the friend.

6. Though in appearance you exist, in truth you do not; go, understand your nonexistence, attain nonexistence, and exist.

7. O denier, the truth is one, as Fazlî has plainly declared; whether you confess it or remain among the deniers.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of seven couplets, written in the "mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün" pattern of the hezec family of aruz (quantitative metre). The redif (refrain word) is the verb "ol" (be); Özkat counts this ghazal among those with a Turkish word as redif. The rhyme is formed by the sound "-ār" in the words "bīdār, dil-dār, sebük-bār, hevā-dār, ṭaleb-kār, yār, var, inkār". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is the hundred and twentieth in Özkat's edition and is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 246a) of the miscellany in the Hazine collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library; in the edition it opens the section of the letter lâm. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

In the manuscript the first line of the sixth couplet appears in the form "Egerçi ṣūretā sen varsın yoḳsun ḥaḳīḳatde", which is faulty in metre; Özkat has established the line by adding "[velīk]" in square brackets in place of the word "sen". In Özkat's edition square brackets indicate words added for the sake of the metre.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal proceeds in the imperative, like the counsels of a spiritual guide to his disciple, and every couplet ends with the verb "ol". In the opening couplet heedlessness is likened to night, and awakening to seeing the beloved's face everywhere. The second couplet is the one Özkat cites as an example of the figure of apostrophe (nidâ): calling out "behey ṣūfī" (O Sufi), the poet repeats the words "sebük-bār ol" (travel light) three times. To travel light means that one who has entered the path of love gives up head and turban, that is, rank and display. In the third couplet the word "hevā" is used in both its senses, desire and air: to incline to anything other than God is mere desire, while what the heart should truly long for is the air of love. The use of these two senses together is our own observation.

In the fourth couplet a congruence of images (tenasüp) is built around the foot between the foot of seeking, which is "lenk" (lame), and the word "pāy-dār" (standing on one's feet, steadfast); this is our own observation. In the fifth couplet "āşnā" (acquaintance) and "bīgāne" (stranger) are set against each other; the beloved is near to man, and it is man himself who is far. The sixth couplet states the mystical idea of annihilation (fena) concisely: man, who exists in appearance, does not exist in truth; one who understands his nonexistence and attains it reaches true being. The repetition of the words "var" (existent) and "yoḳ" (nonexistent), and the play between "var" (go) in "yüri var" and "var" (existent) in "var ol", create the music of this couplet; this play is our own observation. In the last couplet the poet says that the truth is one and leaves his listener to his own choice, whether he accepts it or denies it.

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. 355-356, ghazal no. 120 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 246a); also p. 69 (redifs) and p. 86 (figures of speech), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources