Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün

Ḳanda varam ṣaçlaruñ gibi kemendüm var iken
Ḥalḳa-i zülfüñ gibi boynumda bendüm var iken
Ṭûbaya meyl itmezin ben sidre ḥaḳḳı dostum
Müntehâ ḳaddüñ gibi serv-i bülendüm var iken
Ḫûblar içre ger şeh-i devrânsa bende olmazam
Ehl-i ḥüsn içre senüñ gibi efendüm var iken
Leblerüñ ẕikri yeter dil ṭûtisinüñ şekkeri
Neylerin ḳandi dehânum ṭolı ḳandüm var iken
Dilde ġam gözümde nem sînemde âteş her zamân
Kime derdüm yanayın ben kendü kendüm var iken
Vaṣlın isterseñ i dil dilber ġamıyla ḫurrem ol
Kimseyi gûş itme benüm böyle pendüm var iken
Şâdam ol dilber dimiş kim kimseye raḥm itmezem
Mihrî gibi bir belâ-keş derd-mendüm var iken

In English

1. Where could I go, when I am bound by a lasso like your tresses, when I have a bond on my neck like the ring of your curl? (A kement is a hunting rope with a loop at its end. The beloved's hair is imagined as a lasso that catches the lover and ties him by the neck.)

2. My friend, by the right of the Sidra, I would not so much as incline toward the Tuba tree, when I have a lofty cypress like your stature, high as the Sidrat al-Muntaha. (Tuba and Sidra are two sacred trees in Paradise; Sidrat al-Muntaha is the tree at the furthest point reached on the night of the Ascension. The beloved's tall, straight stature is likened to these trees and to the cypress.)

3. Even if the ruler of the age were among the beautiful, I would not become his servant, when I have a master like you among those of beauty.

4. The mention of your lips is enough as sugar for the parrot of the heart; what would I do with other sugar, when my mouth is full of candy? (The parrot was thought to be fed on sugar. Mentioning the beloved's lips sweetens the lover's mouth; kand means loaf sugar.)

5. There is always grief in my heart, moisture in my eyes and fire in my breast; to whom should I complain, burning as I do, when I have only myself? ("To burn one's complaint" means to lament; the word "burn" is thought of together with the fire in the breast.)

6. O heart, if you want union with the beloved, be glad in the grief she gives; listen to no one else, when I give you this advice. (Pend means advice.)

7. I am glad: that beauty is said to have declared, "I show mercy to no one, when I have a sufferer of calamity and pain like Mihrî." (The couplet can be read in two ways: the beloved speaks the word "şâdam" and is pleased to have a lover like Mihrî; or Mihrî is glad that the beloved said this, because the remark makes her the beloved's only afflicted lover.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The hundred and twenty-eighth ghazal of the Divan has seven couplets and is written in the remel metre of the aruz, in the pattern "Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün". Its redif (refrain word) is "var iken" (while I have); the rhyme rests on the sound "-endüm" in the words "kemendüm, bendüm, bülendüm, efendüm, ḳandüm, kendüm, pendüm, derd-mendüm". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. The ghazal is found only in the Istanbul University (Ü) manuscript. According to Sıtkı Nazik's table of refrains, the redif "var iken" is used in two ghazals of the Divan: this poem and the hundred and twenty-ninth ghazal that follows it directly. The two poems are written in the same metre and can be read as a pair. There is no record of whom it was written for.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The central idea of the ghazal lies in the refrain: "what would I do with another, when I have this." In each couplet the lover names something that belongs to the beloved and, set against it, finds everything in the world worthless, even the sacred trees of Paradise. In the first couplet the hair is likened to a lasso, and the ring of the curl to a bond fastened on the neck. Gülşen Kaya cites this couplet among the examples in the Divan where the lasso is presented as the curl that binds the necks of lovers captivated by the beloved's hair. The words kement, halka and bend form a congruence of images (tenasüp).

The second couplet is built from images taken from religious culture. Through this couplet Kaya explains that the Sidra is mentioned in the Qur'an as the furthest point where Gabriel accompanied the Prophet on the Ascension, while in the Divan, in a human dimension, it is likened to the beloved's stature and used together with Tuba, another tree of Paradise. When the poet swears "by the right of the Sidra", she uses the name of the Sidra both as an oath and as an element of the simile; the word "müntehâ" also recalls both Sidrat al-Muntaha and the meaning "extreme, the highest".

The fourth couplet rests on a familiar simile that links the lip with sugar. Through this couplet Kaya illustrates that in the Divan the mention of the lips is said to be enough to feed the parrot of the heart. The similarity of sound between "ḳandi" and "ḳandüm" adds a harmony to the couplet. The fifth couplet sums up the lover's state by setting grief, tears and fire in the same line; the verb "yanmak" means both burning with fire and "dert yanmak", that is, lamenting. In the sixth couplet the lover gives advice to her own heart: Kaya counts this couplet among the examples showing that the only condition for reaching union is to pass the trial of cruelty and torment. In the last couplet the word passes to the beloved; the beloved's statement that she will show mercy to no one is tied to her satisfaction at having a single sufferer for a lover.

Bibliography

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