Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün / fā‘ilātün / fā‘ilātün / fā‘ilün

Ġamzeñiñ tīġıyla bu cismim şehīd olmuş yatur
Ḳubbe-i gerdūn içinde bir ḳadīd olmuş yatur
Bulmaya aṣlā nişānım gelse de peyk-i ecel
Pister-i miḥnetde cismim nā-bedīd olmuş yatur
Bezm-i kes̱retden çekildi künc-i ‘uzletde bu dil
Şākir-i in‘ām-ı Allāhu’l-mecīd olmuş yatur
Bu göñül şeyḫi o şūḫ-ı nev-resiñ ‘aşḳı ile
Gice gündüz ḳapusında bir mürīd olmuş [yatur]
Ger su’āl eylerse yārān-ı ṣafālar Vāżıḥı
Ḫaste-i ḫūbān-ı sulṭān Bāyezīd olmuş yatur

In English

1. By the sword of your glance this body of mine lies martyred; within the dome of the heavens it lies like a strip of dried meat.

2. Even if the courier of death comes, let him find no trace of me; on the bed of affliction my body lies vanished from sight.

3. This heart has withdrawn from the gathering of the many; in the corner of solitude it lies grateful for the bounties of God the Glorious.

4. This sheikh of the heart, through love for that young playful one, lies night and day a disciple at his door.

5. If the friends of good company ask after Vâzıh, (tell them) he lies sick for the beauties of Sultan Bayezid.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This five-couplet ghazal is written in the remel pattern "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "olmuş yatur" (lies, having become); the rhyme is the "-īd" of "şehīd, ḳadīd, nā-bedīd, mecīd, mürīd, Bāyezīd". In the fourth couplet the second word of the redif has been supplied in square brackets in the edition. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The word "yatur" (lies) in the redif gives the whole ghazal a state of weariness and stillness: the poet lies martyred, dried up, vanished from sight, or waiting at a door. The first two couplets use the familiar hyperbole of divan poetry: the lover has wasted away so much that even the courier of death cannot find him. The third and fourth couplets are built with words from the language of Sufism: "kes̱ret" (multiplicity) and "‘uzlet" (solitude), "şeyh" (sheikh) and "mürīd" (disciple). In the fourth couplet the roles are reversed; the poet, who is the sheikh of the heart, has become a disciple at the door of a young beauty.

Historical Context

A place name occurs in the last couplet: the poet has fallen "sick for the beauties of Sultan Bayezid". The phrase points to a mosque and the quarter around it, but the poem does not make clear which one. Amasya has the mosque and madrasa of Bayezid II; Özçakmak relates that Vâzıh's father, Kara İsmail Efendi, descended from Ali Efendi, imam of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque. On the other hand, Vâzıh spent some time in Istanbul for his studies, and Istanbul too has a mosque and a quarter bearing the name of Sultan Bayezid. It therefore cannot be said with certainty which city the couplet means. For the poet's family and life see Kara Müftîzâde Mustafa Vâzıh.

Bibliography

Academic studies

  • Giyasi Babaarslan, "Amasyalı Vâzıh ve Dîvânçesi", Akademik Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi, 5(4), 2021, pp. 1922-1984 (text of the poem: pp. 1940-1941; Mustafa Vâzıh, Dîvânçe, Ankara University, Department of Manuscripts, Mustafa Con A 495/III, fol. 62a). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/akaded/article/993264
  • Giyasi Babaarslan, "Amasyalı Vâzıh ve Dîvânçesi", Akademik Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi, 5(4), 2021, pp. 1924-1930 (life and description of the Dîvânçe). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/akaded/article/993264
  • Fatma Özçakmak, "Mustafa Vâzıh Efendi ve Dîvânçe'si", Kesit Akademi Dergisi, 7(26), 2021, pp. 255-278, p. 258.

Online sources