Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ṭutdı âfâḳı ser-â-ser gün cemâlüñ pertevi
Ḥâ’il olmasa ġurûb itmezdi zülfüñ şeb-revi
Ḳaşlaruñ ḳavs-i ḳuzaḥ gibi kemân almış ele
Cânlara pertâb atar cânâ hilâlüñ pertevi
Zind'ola ‘aşḳuñ şehîdi ḥaşre dek İlyâs-veş
Bûy-ı zülfüñden ṣabâ iltse nesîm-i ‘Īsevî
Ḍarbet-i şemşîrine ṭâḳat getürmez kimsene
Ḥażret-i şeh-zâdeye cem‘ olsa ‘âlem ḫusrevi
Zühre çengin çala çarḫ içre yara çâr-pâresin
Meclis-i ḫâṣ içre raḳṣ urursa şâhâ Mevlevî
Ḳıl ‘imâret göñlümüñ vîrânın ey kân-ı kerem
Miḥnet ü derd ü belâ ile yıḳılmışdur evi
Ṭâli‘ ol şâ‘irlerüñ k'eş‘ârınuñ ma‘nâsı var
Sen aralıḳda i Mihrî ḳo ḳurı sözi ṣavı

In English

1. The light of your face, like the sun, has covered the horizons from end to end; had your night-wandering tresses not intervened, that sun would never have set. (The hair, because it falls before the face and veils it, is imagined as night; "şeb-rev" means night traveller, night watchman.)

2. Your eyebrows have taken a bow in hand like the rainbow; O beloved, the light of that crescent brow shoots arrows at souls.

3. If the morning breeze were to bring, from the scent of your hair, a life-giving breath like that of Jesus, the martyr of your love would stay alive until the Day of Judgement, like Elijah. (It is believed that Jesus raised the dead with his breath and that Elijah will live until the Resurrection.)

4. Even if all the rulers of the world gathered together, no one could withstand the blow of his excellency the prince's sword.

5. O king, if a Mevlevî were to rise to whirl in your private assembly, the planet Venus in the sky would play her harp and break her çârpâre (cymbals). ("Çâr-pâre" is the name of an instrument; the sense of the word, "four pieces", is also heard together with the verb "to split".)

6. O mine of generosity, repair the ruin of my heart; its house has been pulled down by hardship, pain and affliction.

7. Fortunate are those poets whose verses have meaning; O Mihrî, in the meantime, leave aside dry words and empty talk. (The couplet can be read in two ways: the poet either steps aside beside those poets whose verse has meaning, or advises herself to leave empty words and speak words that have meaning.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The one hundred and ninety-sixth ghazal (gazel) has seven couplets (beyit) and is composed in the remel metre with the pattern "Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün". The rhyme is built on the sound "-evî" and is completed at the end of each line by the suffix "-i": pertevi, şeb-revi, ‘Īsevî, ḫusrevi, Mevlevî, evi. The word "ṣavı" in the last couplet joins this series through similarity of sound. In Arslan's edition the ghazal rests on manuscripts F, S and Ü. The differences between manuscripts are small: in the fourth couplet manuscript Ü reads "Ḍarbeti", in the sixth manuscript S reads "Miḥnet-i", and in the seventh manuscript F reads "eş‘ârınuñ". The first three couplets of the ghazal are customary praise of a beloved; from the fourth couplet on, however, the address turns to a prince and the poem takes on the character of a panegyric ghazal.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first half of the ghazal is built on images of light and sky. In the first couplet the beloved's face is a sun covering the horizons, and her hair is the night that causes this sun to set. Gülşen Kaya notes that in the divan the hair is called "şeb-rev" only in this couplet, appearing as an element that veils the moon and so causes the sun to rise. In the second couplet the eyebrow is likened first to the rainbow (ḳavs-i ḳuzaḥ) and then to the crescent. Kaya gives this couplet as an example in which the eyebrow is likened both to the light-giving crescent and to the rainbow. The similarity of sound between "pertâb" (a shot, a throw) and "pertev" (light) in the rhyme position adds harmony to the couplet.

The third couplet alludes to two prophets. According to Kaya's explanation, in the divan Elijah is treated in terms of his immortality; because he resembles Jesus in being taken up to heaven, the two names are mentioned in the same couplet. The belief that Jesus raised the dead with his breath is reflected in the phrase "nesîm-i ‘Īsevî" (the breeze of Jesus), and the belief that Elijah will live until the Resurrection in the words "ḥaşre dek zinde olmak" (to stay alive until the Judgement). The scent that the morning breeze brings from the beloved's hair has the power to revive the martyr of love.

The fifth couplet is the ghazal's picture of an assembly. Kaya notes that the word "Mevlevî" occurs in the divan only in this couplet, which speaks of a Mevlevî dancing to music in an assembly and of Venus (Zühre) accompanying him as a musician. In the classical conception Venus is the musician of the heavens. If a Mevlevî rose to whirl in the prince's private assembly, Venus would be so carried away in the sky that she would play her harp and break her cymbals. The words "çeng" (harp), "çâr-pâre", "raḳṣ" (dance) and "meclis" (assembly) form a congruence of images (tenasüp).

The sixth couplet is like a petition. The address "kân-ı kerem" (mine of generosity) is directed to the patron (memduh); the poet asks that the house of her heart, ruined by hardship and calamity, be repaired, that is, that she be helped. The word "‘imâret" recalls both making a place prosperous and a charitable foundation, and forms a congruence of images with "vîrân" (ruined), "ev" (house) and "yıḳılmaḳ" (to be pulled down). In the final couplet (makta) the poet says that the poets whose verses have meaning are fortunate, and calls on herself to "leave dry words aside". That the poet should belittle her own words at the end of a poem presented to a patron can be read as a show of modesty.

Historical Context

In the fourth couplet "Ḥażret-i şeh-zâde" (his excellency the prince) is named openly, and it is said that even if all the rulers of the world were gathered, they could not withstand a blow of his sword. The prince's name does not occur in the ghazal. Mehmet Arslan notes that Mihrî presented most of her kasides to Prince Ahmed and that, as far as can be understood from their content, three ghazals too were presented to this prince; but he does not say which ghazals they are. Gülşen Kaya identifies these three ghazals as ghazals 147, 168 and 196. According to Kaya, although no name is given openly in ghazal 196, the poet is asking the prince for help in repairing the ruin of her heart. Kaya also records that Prince Ahmed, the eldest of the three surviving sons of Bayezid II, is the prince most frequently named in the divan, and that Mihrî uses a more sincere, informal language in the poems she wrote for him.

The expression "meclis-i ḫâṣ" (private assembly) in the ghazal recalls the princely assemblies that Mihrî attended. Arslan writes that Mihrî took part in the circles of conversation and entertainment at the Amasya palace in the time of both Bayezid II and Prince Ahmed, and strengthened her place in these assemblies by presenting her poems especially to Prince Ahmed. In what year and on what occasion the ghazal was presented is not known. Her contemporary Sehî Bey too records that Mihrî gave Prince Ahmed many kasides and ghazals.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Mehmet Arslan (ed.), Mihrî Hâtun Dîvânı, Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları (Kültür Eserleri Dizisi 576), 2018, pp. 153-154, Ghazal 196 (F 69a, S 71a, Ü 73a); introduction p. 6. ekitap.ktb.gov.tr

Academic studies

  • Gülşen Kaya, Mihrî Hâtun Divânı'nın Tahlili, master's thesis, Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Elazığ 2010, pp. 22, 49, 59-60, 147, 153, 256. openaccess.firat.edu.tr

Books

  • İsmail E. Erünsal, "Mihrî Hatun", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 30, Ankara 2020, pp. 37-38 (Sehî's record). islamansiklopedisi.org.tr