Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Müfte‘ilün Mefā‘ilün Müfte‘ilün Mefā‘ilün

Sen bu kemāl-i ḥüsn ile mihr-i felek misin nesin
Nev‘-i beşerde görmedük yoḫsa melek misin nesin
Ḳuṭb-ı murādum üstine dönemedüñ yıḳıl yıḳıl
İy başum üzre devr iden çerḫ-i felek misin nesin
Gözlerüm içre oynayan sensin iki gözüm benüm
Bilsem iki gözümdesin yoḫsa bebek misin nesin
Dünye ġamın ‘alef gibi gel yime ‘işret it dirin
Hīç ḳulaḳ ḳabartmaduñ ṣūfi eşek misin nesin
Leẕẕetini kelāmuñuñ ehl-i meẕāḳ olan bilür
Yoḫsa be Fażlī sözde sen kān-ı nemek misin nesin

In English

1. With this perfection of beauty are you the sun of the sky, or what are you; we have not seen (the like) among humankind, are you perhaps an angel, or what are you?

2. You did not turn upon the pole (axis) of my desire, go to ruin; O you who turn above my head, are you the wheel of the heavens, or what are you?

3. It is you who play within my eyes, O my two eyes; I do not know, are you in my two eyes, or are you the pupil, or what are you?

4. I say, "Do not eat the grief of the world like fodder, come and drink"; you never pricked up your ears, O Sufi, are you a donkey, or what are you?

5. Only those who have taste know the savour of your words; otherwise, O Fazlî, are you a mine of salt in speech, or what are you?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of five couplets, written in the "müfte‘ilün mefā‘ilün müfte‘ilün mefā‘ilün" pattern of the recez family of aruz (quantitative metre); the frequency of short syllables gives the lines a quick, playful rhythm. The redif (refrain word) is the phrase "misin nesin" (are you ..., or what are you); Özkat counts this ghazal among those with a Turkish word group as redif. The rhyme is formed by the sound "-ek" in the words "felek, melek, felek, bebek, eşek, nemek". Özkat cites the double rhyming of the word "felek" in the first and second couplets as an example of the repetition of rhyme words within a poem. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is the hundred and thirtieth in Özkat's edition. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

The principal manuscript of the ghazal is a fifteen-leaf poetry miscellany, Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine 1055 (fol. 4a); according to Özkat's description this miscellany contains one ghazal by Fazlî among selected ghazals by such poets as Hayderî, Ubeydî, Hayâlî, Hayretî, İshak, Behiştî and Riyâzî. The ghazal also appears in the biographical anthologies of poets (tezkire) of Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi and Âşık Çelebi, and Özkat has collated the text with these anthologies. In both anthologies the second and third couplets have changed places. In the anthologies the word "üstine" in the second couplet is "üzresin", and the word "benüm" in the third couplet is "müdām". The first line of the fourth couplet is written in the manuscript without the word "gel"; in the anthologies the line ends with "didüm" instead of "dirin". In Âşık Çelebi the last line says "naẓmda" (in verse) instead of "sözde" (in speech). The citing of a ghazal in two separate anthologies shows that it was admired in Fazlî's time; this assessment is our own inference.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal proceeds through questions put to the beloved, to the heavens, to the Sufi and to the poet himself. In the opening couplet the beloved is likened to the sun and to an angel; his like has not been seen among men. In the second couplet the address turns to the heavens: the wheel turning above the lover's head has not turned upon the pole of his desire, and the lover curses it with "go to ruin". The words pole and turning form a congruence of images (tenasüp) related to the revolution of the heavens. In the third couplet the beloved is one who plays within the lover's eyes; the word "bebek" means both the pupil of the eye and a doll or a child, and together with the verb "oynamak" (to play) calls up these senses. This double entendre (tevriye) is our own observation.

The fourth couplet is the most playful of the ghazal. Özkat cites it as an example of the figure of istifham (rhetorical question) and of the use of the idiom "kulak kabartmak" (to prick up one's ears). The lover advises the Sufi not to eat the grief of the world like "‘alef" (fodder) but to drink; when the Sufi does not prick up his ears, he asks him, "are you a donkey?" The use of fodder, ears and donkey together belittles the Sufi with a mocking comparison; this congruence of images is our own observation. Özkat quotes the last couplet as an example of Fazlî's assessments of his own poetry: only those with taste understand the savour of his words, for he is like a mine of salt that gives savour to food. In divan poetry "nemek" (salt) is also used in the sense of the flavour and wit of speech.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi, Tezkiretü'ş-Şu'arâ, ed. İbrahim Kutluk, TTK, Ankara 1981, II, pp. 756-757 (as cited by Özkat).
  • Âşık Çelebi, Meşâ'irü'ş-Şu'arâ or Tezkere of 'Âşık Çelebi, ed. G. M. Meredith-Owens, London 1971, fol. 198a (as cited by Özkat).

Academic studies

  • 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. 362, ghazal no. 130 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine 1055, fol. 4a); also p. 42 (view of poetry), p. 69 (redifs), p. 71 (rhyme), p. 85 (figures of speech), p. 93 (idioms) and p. 120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources