Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dirseñ ki ṣafā ile ola ṣafvete bā‘is̱
Ḳıl ṣūfi ṣafā ile yine ṭoluyı s̱ālis̱
Dil pādişeh-i ‘ālem-i ‘ışḳ idi ḳadīmī
Olmamış idi ‘ālem-i fānī daḫı ḥādis̱
Bilseñ bize ne ṭoġduġını duḫter-i zerden
İy ṣūfi dimezdüñ sen aña ümm-i ḥabā’is̱
Yüz yirden olursa n’ola ġam ṣūreti ẓāhir
Dil āyinesin pāreledi seng-i ḥavādis̱
Varum yaşumuñ sīmidür ancaḳ daḫı nem var
İy Fazlī ‘aceb ben ölicek nem ala vāris̱

In English

1. O Sufi, if you wish delight to be the cause of purity, then with delight drink the full cup once more, for the third time (fill the third cup).

2. Before the transient world had yet come into being, the heart was from of old the padishah of the world of love.

3. O Sufi, had you known what was born to us of the daughter of the vine (wine), you would not have called it "the mother of foul things".

4. Is it any wonder if the image of grief appears in a hundred places? The stone of events has shattered the mirror of the heart.

5. O Fazlî, all I have is the silver of my tears; what else do I have? I wonder what the heir will take of mine when I die.

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 by the sound "-is̱" at the end of the words "bā‘is̱, s̱ālis̱, ḥādis̱, ḫabā’is̱, ḥavādis̱, vāris̱"; that this sound is written with the letter se places the ghazal in the section of the divan rhyming in se. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet in the form "Fazlī". The ghazal is the forty-sixth in Özkat's edition and is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 233b) 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 ghazal sets out the libertine's (rind) stance against the Sufi through plays on words of Arabic origin. In the first couplet the words "ṣafā" (delight), "ṣafvet" (purity) and "ṣūfī" call to one another in sound; the Sufi is counselled to find the purity he seeks in the delight wine gives, and to drink the third cup. In the second couplet there is a contrast, from the language of theology, between "ḳadīm" (without beginning) and "ḥādis̱" (come into being): the heart's sovereignty in the world of love precedes the creation of the transient world. In the third couplet wine is named "duḫter-i rez", the daughter of the vine; the name "ümm-i ḫabā’is̱" (mother of foul things) the Sufi gives it is answered by this daughter being called a "mother". Daughter, mother and being born form a congruence of images (tenasüp).

The fourth couplet rests on the image of the broken mirror: the stone of events has shattered the mirror of the heart, and since the image of grief appears in every fragment, grief shows itself in a hundred places. The last couplet is one that Özkat cites separately among the subjects of the poems. According to Özkat, Fazlî here touches on the popular saying "Ölüm hak, miras helâl" (death is certain, inheritance is lawful), and says that he has no wealth but his tears that resemble silver, and, using the word "nem" as a pun, that when he dies he will leave nothing to his heirs. The word "nem" means both "what of mine" and "moisture, tears"; the only thing the heir will take is the moisture of the tears. The closeness of sound between "varum" (all I have), "nem var" (what do I have) and "vāris̱" (heir) strengthens the cadence of the couplet.

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. 310-311, ghazal no. 46 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 233b); also p. 69 (rhyme), p. 80 (the thought of death and inheritance) and pp. 119-120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources