Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Başuma ḳavs-i ḳaderden yār-içün tīr-i ḳażā
Her ne deñlü kim gelürse dönmezem virdüm rıżā
Dilberüñ ġāyet cefā-kār olduġın ‘ayb eylemeñ
Neylesün yār olduġı-y-çün ḥüsne oldur muḳteżā
Kāfirem māyil olursam bāġ-ı firdevse baña
Ger teferrüc-gāh ola ol dergeh-i gerdūn-feżā
Zühd ü taḳvāyı ḳomazdum ben de elden zāhidā
Neyleyem kim pādişāh-ı ‘ışḳdan yoḳdur rıżā
Fażlī’ye raḥm eyleyüp öldür raḳīb-i kāfiri
Gel ‘Alīlik eyle arslanum be-ḥaḳḳ-ı Murtażā

In English

1. However many arrows of fate come at my head from the bow of destiny for the beloved's sake, I do not turn back; I have given my consent.

2. Do not blame the heart-stealer for being utterly cruel; what can he do, since he is the beloved, this is what beauty requires.

3. If that threshold, wide as the heavens, becomes my promenade, I am an unbeliever should I incline towards the garden of paradise.

4. O ascetic, I too would not let go of abstinence and piety; but what can I do, the padishah of love does not consent to it.

5. Take pity on Fazlî and kill the unbelieving rival; O my lion, come, by the right of Murtazâ, act as Ali did.

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). It has no redif; Özkat counts this ghazal among those with rich rhyme. The rhyme is formed by the sound "-żā" in the words "ḳażā, rıżā, muḳteżā, feżā, rıżā, Murtażā"; "rıżā" of the opening couplet is repeated in the fourth couplet. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is the thirty-sixth in Özkat's edition and is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 248a) 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 central idea of the ghazal is consent: the lover consents to every calamity that comes for the beloved's sake. In the first couplet the words "ḳavs" (bow), "tīr" (arrow), "ḳażā" (fate) and "ḳader" (destiny) form a congruence of images (tenasüp); the arrows of fate shot from the bow of destiny cannot turn the lover back. The second couplet excuses the beloved's cruelty: cruelty is what beauty requires, and the beautiful one must be cruel. In the third couplet the beloved's threshold, wide as the sky, is set above paradise; having reached it, the lover counts any inclination towards paradise as unbelief. In the fourth couplet the ascetic is addressed: the lover too would not wish to give up abstinence and piety, but the padishah of love does not consent to it. The consent of the opening couplet here turns into the consent of the beloved.

The last couplet is cited by Özkat in three separate places. In the first, it appears, in the account of the subjects of the ghazals, among the examples concerning the beloved and the rival. In the second, Özkat says that Fazlî, who felt deep reverence for the four caliphs, used their names mostly as elements of comparison, and gives this couplet as an example. In the third, the couplet is given as an example of the congruence of images. The words "‘Alī", "Murtażā" and "arslan" (lion) are used together in the couplet; Murtazâ is an epithet of Ali, and the lion an attribute linked to his valour. The lover addresses the beloved as "my lion" and asks him to show against the unbelieving rival the valour Ali showed against the unbelievers. Calling the rival "kāfir" (unbeliever) ties in with the language of faith and unbelief that runs through the ghazal from its opening.

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. 305-306, ghazal no. 36 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 248a); also p. 63 (subjects of the ghazals), p. 69 (rhyme), p. 75 (the four caliphs), p. 83 (congruence of images) and pp. 119-120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources