Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Fâ‘ilâtü Mefâ‘îlü Fâ‘ilün

Cânâ yeter bu cânuma cevr ü cefâlar it
Zecr ise câna ancaḳ ola gel vefâlar it
Miḥnetler ile ḳarşuña öldükçe ‘âşıḳuñ
Sen oyna gül raḳîb ile ḫoş ḫoş ṣafâlar it
‘Āşıḳlaruñı bî-güneh öldürme dostum
Öldür raḳîb-i kâfiri bârî ġazâlar it
Luṭf eyle ḳıl ‘ilâc bugün ey ṭabîb-i cân
Dil ḫastedür firâḳuñ ile gel devâlar it
Şîrîn lebiyle aġzuña sögmiş i Mihrî yâr
‘Ömri çoġ olsun el götür imdi du‘âlar it

In English

1. Beloved, enough of this torment and cruelty toward my soul. If you must torment, let it fall on my soul alone; come now and show some fidelity. (The couplet can be read in two ways: "Torment and wrong my soul, even that is enough for me; but since you will scold me anyway, at least come and show fidelity as well.")

2. Your lover keeps dying before you in anguish; you, meanwhile, play and laugh with the rival and take your pleasure.

3. My friend, do not kill those who love you without any offence. Kill the infidel rival instead, and earn the merit of a holy war (gaza).

4. O physician of the soul, be kind and give a remedy today. The heart is sick with parting from you; come and be its cure.

5. O Mihrî, the beloved has cursed you with sweet lips. May the beloved's life be long; now raise your hands and pray. (Because the curse comes from sweet lips, even it is counted as a favour to the lover.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The eighth ghazal (gazel) of the divan is the first ghazal of the section Ḥarfü't-Tâ, which holds the poems ending in the letter te, and it has five couplets (beyit). It is composed in the muzâri' metre of the aruz (quantitative metre), in the pattern "Mef‘ûlü Fâ‘ilâtü Mefâ‘îlü Fâ‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "-lar it" (…-lar et, "do …"), and the rhyme is the sound "-â": cefâ, vefâ, ṣafâ, ġazâ, devâ, du‘â. Every couplet ends in an imperative: show fidelity, take your pleasure, wage holy war, be a cure, pray. This chain of commands gives the poem the look of a series of counsels addressed both to the beloved and to the poet herself. The ghazal is found in all four manuscripts. It is not known to whom it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first two couplets are built on the contrast between cruelty (cefâ) and fidelity (vefâ). The lover accepts cruelty, but asks that it be aimed only at her own soul and that the beloved show fidelity one day. In the second couplet the reproach turns bitter: while the lover dies in anguish before the beloved, the beloved plays and laughs with the rival. The repetition in "ḫoş ḫoş ṣafâlar it" stresses the beloved's indifference in a mocking tone. The oppositions between cruelty and fidelity, and between dying and laughing and playing, are examples of antithesis (tezat).

The third couplet is notable for the divan tradition's conception of the rival. As Kaya explains, gaza, the war fought to defend or spread Islam, is associated in the divan with the rival; the rival is imagined as an infidel, and killing him is said to be equal to waging gaza. The beloved is advised to kill the infidel rival rather than guiltless lovers, and so to earn the merit of gaza. Kaya cites this couplet as an example of that conception. There is a contrast in the couplet between the words "bî-güneh" (guiltless) and "kâfir" (infidel): the innocent lover and the unbelieving rival are set against each other as the two extremes that show whom the beloved's sword should strike.

In the fourth couplet the beloved is called "ṭabîb-i cân", the physician of the soul. The lover's illness is separation, and its remedy too can come only from the beloved. The words lutf (kindness), remedy, physician, sick and devâ (cure) form a congruence of images (tenasüp).

The last couplet holds the finest invention of the poem. The beloved has cursed the lover with sweet lips; instead of being hurt, the lover wishes the beloved a long life and raises her hands in prayer. The contrast between curse and prayer is the substance of the couplet. The word "şîrîn" (sweet) sweetens the curse; even a bitter word from the beloved's mouth is a compliment to the lover. The phrase "el götür" (raise the hands) shows the opening of the hands in prayer like a vivid scene. That the lover who reproached cruelty in the first couplet answers a curse with a prayer in the last sets up a marked contrast between the two ends of the ghazal.

Bibliography

Online sources