Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefāʿilün feʿilātün mefāʿilün feʿilün

Yegāne şemʿa-i dāreʾẓ-ẓalām sönmüşdür
Dirīġ ḳüre-i ʿayneʾl-kirām sönmüşdür
Ḫayā-yı ṣubḥ-ı ṣafā eyler eylemez işrāḳ
İdince münkedir āfāḳı şām sönmüşdür
Ṭabīb-i derd gidüp yandı āteşe dermān
Cigerde ḳaldı lehīb iltiyām sönmüşdür
Degil şebīh bu, Nemrūd yaḳdıġı nāra
Evet o āteş-i berd ü selām sönmüşdür
Çi-sūd yaḳdı velā-perver anıñ efʾidesin
Egerçi soñradan ehleʿẓ-ẓerām sönmüşdür
Sürūra yüz mi virür dūd-i āh-ı pür-şererim
Gözümde lāmiʿa-i ibtisām sönmüşdür
O tīġe ḥaḳḳımı itmem ḥelāl dinse bile
Felekde ġurre-i şehrü’l-ḥarām sönmüşdür
Fırāta aġlayaraḳ geçdi deşt-i mātemden
O ġamla mübniʾ-i küh-sār-ı Sam sönmüşdür
O rütbe yandı ki Cūdīden el çeküp ṭūfān
Şırāʾ-ı Nūḥ ʿaleyhisselāma sönmüşdür
Sabāḥ-ı maḥşere dek aġlasun ʿuyūn-ı enʿam
Çerāġ-ı dūde-i ḫayrü’l-enām sönmüşdür

In English

1. The one candle of the abode of darkness has gone out; alas, the light of the eyes of the generous has gone out.

2. The light of the morning of joy had scarcely dawned when, as evening clouded the horizons, it went out. (The word read "Ḫayā" in the thesis gives from the context the sense "ziyâ", light; this reading is not certain.)

3. The healer of pain is gone, the remedy burned in the fire; flame remains in the liver, the hope of the wound's closing has gone out.

4. This fire is not like the one Nimrod lit; yes, that fire which was cool and safe (for Abraham) has gone out.

5. What use? It burned the hearts of those who cherish friendship; though afterwards the people of the flame too have gone out. (The sense of the second line is not certain.)

6. Will the smoke of my spark-filled sigh turn its face to joy? In my eyes the gleam of a smile has gone out.

7. Even if someone says "forgive it", I will not forgive that sword my right; in the sky the crescent of the sacred month (Muharram) has gone out.

8. Weeping, he passed from the desert of mourning to the Euphrates; with that grief the (spring) of the mountains of Damascus has gone out. (The word "mübniʾ" in the thesis is unclear; this is the direction of the sense.)

9. It burned so fiercely that the Flood let go of Cûdî and went out at the sail of Noah, peace be upon him.

10. Let the eyes of mankind weep until the morning of the Resurrection; the lamp of the family of the best of men has gone out.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Ten Couplets for Karbala

This poem, whose title is simply "Mersiye" (elegy), does not name the person it mourns, but its signs are clear. The "şehrü'l-harâm" in the seventh couplet recalls Muharram, one of the sacred months; the desert of mourning and the Euphrates in the eighth couplet recall Karbala, where Hüseyin was martyred in 680; and the "dûde-i hayrü'l-enâm" in the last couplet recalls the family of the best of men, that is, of the Prophet. The poem can therefore be counted a late example of the Karbala elegies that have a long tradition in Turkish literature. The redif (refrain word) "sönmüşdür" (has gone out) tells in every couplet that a light, a fire or a hope has been extinguished; zalâm, kirâm, şâm, iltiyâm and selâm rhyme on "-âm".

The idea of going out carried by the refrain is worked by the poet through playing images of fire and light against one another. The fourth couplet turns to the story of Abraham: the fire Nimrod lit had become "berd ü selâm", cool and safe, for Abraham; this blaze is not like that one, the cooling fire has gone out and only the burning fire remains. The seventh couplet adds a personal anger to the elegy: the poet will not forgive the sword the martyr's right.

The Mountain of the Pen Name

The ninth couplet holds one of the most graceful instances of tevriye (double entendre) in the divan. Cûdî is the name of the mountain on which, according to the Qur'an, Noah's ark came to rest after the Flood. The poet says that the fire of Karbala was so great that even the Flood let go of Mount Cûdî and went out at Noah's sail; thus the name of the mountain and his own pen name meet in one word. In the thesis the numbering jumps from eight to ten, but no couplet is visibly missing on the page; the text is complete in ten couplets. One word each in the second and eighth couplets will not settle into place as the thesis reads it, so the English is approximate at those two points.

Bibliography

  • Havva Tok Yıldız, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [1b-43a], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, p. 19 (poem no. 6; manuscript fol. 4a-4b). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116853.pdf

Online sources