Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefʿūlü mefāʿīlü mefāʿīlü feʿūlün

Cānımla güher, cism ile ẕerrāt-ı hebāyım
Ḳıymetli tozum, ḫāk-ı der-i āl-i ʿabāyım
Ben varlıġı saḥḳ eyledim ʿaşḳıñ dibeginde
Essün ṣaçayım muntaẓır-ı bād-ı ṣabāyım
Rūḥum, bütün eflāk benim ṣırmalı urbam
Bir başḳa biçim lābis-i ḳaftān u ḳabāyım
Her faṣl-ı bahār encümenim başḳa çemendir
Bī-lāne hezārım, gül-i bezm-i ġurebāyım
Berbād havāyım olurum ʿāleme enfās
ʿAşḳıñ ocaġından bütün ervāḥa cabayım
Bir sāʾir-i fillāh ġarībim gezerim hep
Devrān olalı devr ile evlād ü babayım
Bir ḳuvve-i ḳudsiyye ṭaşır ʿarşımı dāʾim
Dīdār-ı Süleymāna gider mülk-i sebāyım
Her naẓra birer ṭasa-i ḥüsn-i ezelīdir
Cūdī ne güzel gözler ile būse-rübāyım

In English

1. With my soul I am a jewel, with my body motes in the air; I am precious dust, the earth of the door of the Prophet's Family of the Cloak.

2. I have pounded being in the mortar of love; let the wind blow and let me be scattered; I am waiting for the dawn breeze.

3. My spirit (is such that) all the heavens are my gold-embroidered garment; in another fashion I am one who wears kaftan and robe.

4. Every spring my gathering is another meadow; I am a nightingale without a nest, the rose of the gathering of strangers.

5. I am wasted air; I become breaths for the world; from the hearth of love I am a gift to all spirits (the couplet is not entirely clear).

6. I am a stranger travelling in God; I wander ever; since time began, with time I am both child and father.

7. A holy force carries my throne without pause; I am the land of Sheba going to see the face of Solomon.

8. Every glance is a bowl of pre-eternal beauty; Cûdî, with what lovely eyes I steal kisses!

Literary and Historical Commentary

In the ghazal headed "Bu da", this too, which follows "Şatahât", the ecstatic self goes on describing itself; this time images of humility and journey are set beside cosmic greatness. The first couplet opens with a contrast: a jewel in soul, motes in the air in body; yet this dust is precious, for it is the earth of the door of the Âl-i Abâ, the Prophet's household. The second couplet tells of a being pounded into dust in the mortar of love; that dust waits to be scattered by the dawn breeze.

Between the third and sixth couplets the self takes on different guises: the heavens are its gold-embroidered garment; it is a nightingale without a nest and the rose of the strangers; it is a traveller wandering in God; since time began it has been both child and father. The seventh couplet rests on the story in the sura al-Naml: the throne of the queen of Sheba was brought into Solomon's presence in the twinkling of an eye (27:38-40). The poet likens himself to that throne, the land of Sheba carried to see Solomon's face. The closing couplet ties all these guises to a glance: every glance is a bowl of pre-eternal beauty, and the poet is one who steals kisses from lovely eyes.

Bibliography

  • Zeynep Adıyahşi, Merzifonlu İbrâhîm Cûdî Dîvânı (İnceleme-Metin-Sözlük) [43b-87b], Master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 2017, pp. 123-124 (poem no. 279; manuscript fol. 82a-82b). http://libra.omu.edu.tr/tezler/116831.pdf

Online sources