Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ūlü Mefā‘īlün Mef‘ūlü Mefā‘īlün

Şehr içre göñül oldı ẓāhir yine bir meh-rū
Ḫūrşīd-i cihān ẕerre mihr-i ruḫına ḳarşu
Bu ḥüsn ile olmışdur bir şehr-i semen-ber o
Ol bedr-i cihān-ārā Maḥmūd-ı hilāl-ebrū
V’Allāhi anuñ gibi bir māh-ı münīr olmaz
Ḫūrşīd-i cemāline dünyāda naẓīr olmaz
Billāh gel inṣāf it aña kim esīr olmaz
Ol bedr-i cihān-ārā Maḥmūd-ı hilāl-ebrū
Bir dilber-i ra‘nādur bir serv-i dil-ārādur
Bir ben degülüm el-ḥaḳ hep ḫalḳ aña şeydādur
Gün gibi cihān içre ḥüsn ile hüveydādur
Ol bedr-i cihān-ārā Maḥmūd-ı hilāl-ebrū
Pür-şūr ider cānum ḳaldıḳça şeker-ḫande
Lā‘lī şekeri aġzı dadını virür ḳande
Āzāde iken ḳıldı ‘ışḳına beni bende
Ol bedr-i cihān-ārā Maḥmūd-ı hilāl-ebrū
İy Fażlī görüp sevdüm biñ cān ile ol māhı
Eflāke irişdürsem her-dem yiridür āhı
Öldürse ḳomaḳ yoḳdur dāmānına v’Allāhi
Ol bedr-i cihān-ārā Maḥmūd-ı hilāl-ebrū

In English

1. O heart, once again a moon-faced one has appeared in the city; the sun of the world is a mere mote before the light of his cheek; with this beauty he has become a jasmine-breasted beauty of the city. That world-adorning full moon, crescent-browed Mahmud.

2. By God, there is no moon as bright as he; his sun-like beauty has no equal in the world; for God's sake, come, be fair: who would not become his captive? That world-adorning full moon, crescent-browed Mahmud.

3. He is a lovely charmer, a heart-adorning cypress; truly I am not the only one smitten with him, all the people are mad for him; with his beauty he is as plain to see in the world as the sun. That world-adorning full moon, crescent-browed Mahmud.

4. As long as his sugar smile laughs, it fills my soul with rapture; his ruby lip is sugar, his mouth gives its taste to candy (the sweetness of candy comes from him); he made me, who was free, a slave to his love. That world-adorning full moon, crescent-browed Mahmud.

5. O Fazlî, I saw that moon and loved him with a thousand souls; it is fitting if I raise my sighs to the heavens at every moment; by God, even if he kills me there is no letting go of his skirt. That world-adorning full moon, crescent-browed Mahmud.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba (quatrain stanza poem) of five stanzas. The first three lines of each stanza rhyme among themselves; the fourth is repeated in every stanza as the refrain "Ol bedr-i cihān-ārā Maḥmūd-ı hilāl-ebrū". In the first stanza the words "meh-rū, ḳarşu, o" rhyme with "ebrū" in the refrain. The rhymes of the other stanzas are "-īr olmaz" (münīr, naẓīr, esīr; redif "olmaz"), "-ādur" (dil-ārādur, şeydādur, hüveydādur), "-ande" (ḫande, ḳande, bende) and "-āhı/-āhi" (māhı, āhı, v'Allāhi). The metre is the "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlün mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlün" pattern of the hezec family, divided into two equal halves; this pattern gives the lines a lilting, song-like rhythm. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza.

Özkat publishes the poem as the twenty-first musammat of the divan. The text is found only in the Fazlî divan section (fol. 227a) of the miscellany in the Hazine collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library; according to Özkat, this part was copied in 1149 (1736).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Özkat connects this murabba with a beauty called Mahmud, among the poems of praise Fazlî wrote for the famous beauties of the time. The first line states the poem's subject directly: once again a moon-faced one has appeared in the city. All the poem's comparisons come from the heavenly bodies. In the refrain the beauty is "bedr", the full moon, and his eyebrow is "hilāl", the crescent. The full moon and the crescent, two different phases of the moon, meet in the same face. In the first stanza the sun of the world is a mere "ẕerre" (mote) before the light of his cheek; in the second and third stanzas the beauty is called a bright moon and one as plain to see in the world as the sun. These images of moon, sun and mote form a congruence of images (tenasüp).

The fourth stanza is given to images of sweetness: "şeker-ḫande" (sugar-smiling), the "lā‘l" (ruby) lip, "ḳand" (lump sugar). The lip's giving its taste to candy reverses the familiar order: the beloved's lip is not likened to sugar; sugar takes its sweetness from it. Özkat cites the words "dadını virür" (gives its taste) in this stanza among the examples of the idiom "ağız tadı" (the taste of the mouth, contentment). In the last line of the same stanza there is a contrast between "āzāde" (free) and "bende" (slave): love has made a slave of the lover who was free.

The poem's language is plain and close to speech. The oaths "v'Allāhi" and "Billāh", the address "gel inṣāf it" (come, be fair) and the question "kim esīr olmaz" (who would not become his captive?) give the praise the warmth of conversation. The phrase "dāmānına ḳomaḳ yoḳdur" (there is no letting go of his skirt) in the last stanza recalls the idiom of clinging to someone's skirt and hoping for help from him; the lover will not let go of this skirt even if the beloved kills him.

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, p. 247, musammat no. 21 (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Hazine, fol. 227a); also pp. 57-58 (on the murabbas), p. 90 (idioms) and pp. 119-120 (description of the manuscripts), https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/veriler/yordambt/cokluortam/5E/T0051713.pdf.

Online sources