Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü / mefā‘īlü / mefā‘īlü / fe‘ūlün

‘Aynī ile āhūya müşābih özi dirler
Aṣḥāb-ı baṣīret anıñ illā gözi dirler
Cānān ḥużūrına gelüp cümle-i ‘uşşāḳ
Biñ cān fedā pāyına işte yüzi [dirler]
Ol egri ḳaşın ṭoġrusı ben vesmeli gördüm
Aṣlında da ġāyetle siyeh ḳunduzī [dirler]
Ḳoynuma alup sīne-i mecrūḥuma ṣardım
Ol ṭıfl-ı leben-ḫordeyi emlik ḳuzı [dirler]
Eş‘ār ile iş‘ār-ı viṣāl itdi bu Vāżıḥ
Ḫavfım bu ki düşmenlere işbu sözi dirler

In English

1. They say of his very self that he resembles the gazelle exactly; but the people of insight say "only his eye" (resembles the gazelle). (The phrase "‘aynī ile" can be understood both as "exactly" and as "by his eye".)

2. All the lovers come into the beloved's presence and [say]: "Here is his face; let a thousand lives be sacrificed at his feet."

3. The truth about that crooked eyebrow is that I saw it darkened with kohl; and in itself it is utterly black, "like beaver fur" [they say].

4. I took that milk-fed child into my bosom and pressed him to my wounded breast; "a suckling lamb" [they call him].

5. This Vâzıh announced union through his poems; my fear is that they will repeat these words to the enemies.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This five-couplet ghazal is written in the hezec pattern "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". The redif (refrain word) is the verb "dirler" (they say); the rhyme is the "-zi/-zı" of "özi, gözi, yüzi, ḳunduzī, ḳuzı, sözi". In the second, third and fourth couplets the redif is given in square brackets in the edition; it appears that the repeated redif was not written out in the manuscript and was supplied in the edition. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. To whom it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The redif "they say" ties every couplet of the ghazal to words spoken by someone else: people, the people of insight, lovers or enemies say something. In the first couplet the phrase "‘aynī ile" is a double entendre (tevriye). Since the Arabic "‘ayn" means both "eye" and "the thing itself", some say that the beloved resembles the gazelle "exactly", while the people of insight correct them that the resemblance lies "only in the eye". In the third couplet there is a contrast between "egri" (crooked) and "ṭoġrusı" (the truth, literally the straight of it); the "straight" truth about the crooked eyebrow is told. "Vesme" is a dye used to darken the eyebrows; "ḳunduzī" compares it to the glossy darkness of beaver fur.

The phrase "emlik kuzu" in the fourth couplet is used in popular speech for a lamb that is still suckling. This everyday word stands in the same line beside a Persian compound such as "ṭıfl-ı leben-ḫorde" (milk-fed child). In the last couplet a pun (cinas) is formed between "eş‘ār" (poems) and "iş‘ār" (announcing): the poet has announced union through his poems and fears that these words will reach the enemies. Babaarslan notes that Vâzıh carried popular speech into his poems; "emlik kuzu" is one of the clearest examples of this.

Bibliography

Online sources