Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilün

Kimini küşte-i ser-ġamze-i ḫūn-rīz eyler
Kimini ṭu‘me-i tīr-i müje-i tīz eyler
Kimini beste-i zencīr-i cünūn eylemede
Kimini rüste-i ḳayd-ı ten-i nā-çīz eyler
Allāh Allāh ne ḳıyāmet ki bu āfet böyle
Kimini bürde-i şemşīr-i sitem-ḫīz eyler
Ġālibā kim sevinür āteş-i dil bir miḳdār
Ne zamān görsem o şūḫı yüregim cız eyler
Mest-i medhūş ola ister ise yārān cümle
Sözini böyle bu Vāżıḥ elem-engīz eyler

In English

1. Some he makes slain by the bloodshedding glance; some he makes the prey of the sharp arrow of his lash.

2. Some he is binding in the chain of madness; some he sets free from the bonds of the worthless body.

3. God, God, what a doomsday this calamity is, that thus he makes some cut down by the sword that raises oppression.

4. It seems the fire of the heart rejoices a little and flares up; whenever I see that playful one, my heart sizzles.

5. If the friends all wish to be drunk and senseless, this Vâzıh makes his words thus full of grief.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This five-couplet ghazal is written in the remel pattern "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is the verb "eyler" (makes, does); the rhyme is the "-īz/-ız" of "ḫūn-rīz, tīz, nā-çīz, ḫīz, cız, engīz". Among the rhymes built from Persian words, the Turkish word "cız" in the fourth couplet stands out. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. To whom it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first three couplets are built on the repetition "kimini … kimini" (some … some). The beloved's effect on his lovers is counted out in parts: some are killed by the glance, some become the target of the arrow of the lash, some are cast into the chain of madness, some are freed from the bond of the body, and some are cut down by the sword. In divan poetry describing a whole by dividing it into its parts is called taksim (division); the repeated "kimini" also gives this division a rhythm. The exclamation "Allāh Allāh" in the third couplet shows the poet's habit of bringing everyday speech into poetry.

After this harsh picture the fourth couplet moves to a plain, almost playful turn. The fire of the heart flares up at the sight of the beloved and the poet's heart "goes cız" (sizzles). This word, imitating the sound of something falling on a fire, makes the voice of everyday Turkish heard in a ghazal full of Persian compounds. Babaarslan notes that Vâzıh gives room to everyday speech and popular expressions in his poems and that in this respect he may be counted among the representatives of the localizing current (mahallîleşme). In the last couplet the poet closes the ghazal by saying that while his friends want drunkenness, his own words are full of grief.

Bibliography

Online sources