Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ṣūfī ḳoltuḳlamışıñ yine dü zaḫm-ı ṭā‘ūn
Bīr ḳoltuḳda iki ḳarpuz olur mı mel‘ūn
Müje-i yār ile bir geçmişi var besbelli
Niye ditrer ya nedir ḫavf-ı sinān-ı pür-ḫūn
Menba‘-ı çeşme-i fitnedir o çeşm-i fettān
Ṣanki her bir müje bir lūle-i ‘ayn-ı efsūn
Öldürürseñ de n’ola ḫāṭırımız bal yaġdır
Şerbet-i būse-i la‘l-i lebiñi bir kez ṣun
Kimiñ āvīze-i gūşı idebildiñ Vāżıḥ
Ṭutalım söyledigiñ söz ola dürr-i meknūn

In English

1. O Sufi, once again you have tucked two plague sores under your arm; you accursed one, can two watermelons fit under one arm.

2. Clearly he has a history with the beloved's eyelashes; otherwise why does he tremble, what is this fear of the bloody spear.

3. That bewitching eye is the source of the fountain of strife; it is as if every lash were a spout of the spring of sorcery.

4. What does it matter if you kill me, may honey rain upon our heart; offer the sherbet of a kiss from your ruby lip just once.

5. O Vâzıh, let us grant that the words you speak are a hidden pearl; into whose ear have you been able to hang them as an earring.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal has five couplets and is written in the remel pattern "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the "-ūn" of "ṭā‘ūn, mel‘ūn, pür-ḫūn, efsūn, meknūn". In the fourth couplet the Turkish verb "ṣun" (offer, hold out) is used in rhyme position; rhyming with this word, which has no long vowel, shows that the poet did not hesitate to place a Turkish verb among Arabic rhyme words. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. To whom it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with a satire aimed at a Sufi, that is, the ascetic mocked for his showy piety. Plague sores are swellings that appear in the armpit; the poet joins these two sores under the Sufi's arm to the proverb "two watermelons do not fit under one arm". The verb "koltuklamak" (to tuck under the arm) also means to flatter someone; the couplet can therefore be read as a jab at the Sufi trying to keep two sides happy at once. This second reading is our own. The tendency Babaarslan notes in Vâzıh to bring proverbs and idioms into poetry is seen here in its clearest form. In the second couplet a mocking link is drawn between the trembling Sufi and the beloved's spear-like lashes: the Sufi's trembling betrays that he too was once wounded by these lashes.

In the third couplet the word "çeşm" is used as a double entendre (tevriye). In Persian "çeşm" is the eye, in Turkish "çeşme" is a fountain; the poet sees the bewitching eye as the source of the fountain of strife and the lashes as its spouts, the mouths through which the water runs. In the fourth couplet the lover accepts death and asks for a single sherbet of a kiss; the phrase "may honey rain" comes from everyday speech. In the last couplet the poet turns to himself. "Dürr-i meknūn" means a pearl hidden inside the oyster and is used for fine speech. The idiom "to become an earring in someone's ear" means that a word stays in the mind as counsel. The poet complains that, however precious his words, they have become an earring in no one's ear; the couplet can also be read as the reproach of a mufti and professor whose words go unheeded, but this is our own interpretation.

Bibliography

Online sources