Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

Beñzemez âyine-i ẕâtımda baḳ ‘âlem baña
Öyle bir ṣûretdeyim bir kes dimez Âdem baña
Ḥırḳa-i faḳr içreyim besdir baña bir pâre nân
Ġam degil ölsem kefen üstümdeki iḥrâm baña
Her ne müşkildir saña her dem benimle ol refîḳ
Eylemez idrâk-ı ḥâlim olmayan maḥrem baña
Dem-be-dem artmaḳdadır dil-ḥânede ‘aşḳ âteşi
Yandırır nâ-ḥaḳ seni gel olma sen hem-dem baña
Gerçi bir efḳar gedâ kemter ḳulum Mir’ât-nümâ
Kem naẓarla baḳma ‘âlem içre ḫoş gör kim baña

In English

1. Look, in the mirror of my self the world does not resemble me; I am in such a form that no one calls me human.

2. I am in the cloak of poverty, a piece of bread is enough for me; it is no sorrow if I die, the pilgrim's garment on me is my shroud.

3. Whatever difficulty you have, be my companion at every moment; one who is not my intimate cannot grasp my state.

4. The fire of love in the house of the heart grows at every moment; it would burn you without cause, come, do not be my companion.

5. Though I, Mir'ât-nümâ, am the poorest beggar, the lowliest servant, do not look at me with an evil eye in the world, look kindly on me.

Literary and Historical Commentary

No One in the Mirror

In the first couplet the poet says that in the mirror of his self the world does not resemble him, and that he is in such a form that no one calls him “Âdem”, human. Few passages in the book give the mirror idea so personal a voice; the five couplets are written in the four-foot remel with the refrain “baña”, to me. This form that no one calls human can be read as a Sufi depiction of annihilation, the erasing of the self, but also as a reflection of the city's estranged view of the sheikh.

To illustrate the notion of the “cloak” Şensöz chooses the second couplet: the poet is in the cloak of poverty, a piece of bread is enough for him; if he dies it is no sorrow, for the pilgrim's garment on him will be his shroud. The ihram is the dress of the pilgrimage, and with its white, unsewn wrap it resembles a shroud; the couplet says that the life of a dervish who has left the world is a life that has put on death from the start.

The third and fourth couplets set a contradiction side by side: the poet tells the troubled one to be his companion at every moment, but immediately afterwards advises him not to, for the fire of love in his heart would burn him too. The wish of the pen-name couplet is not to be looked at with “kem naẓar”, the evil eye, but to be regarded kindly; it is another form of the plea in the ghazals addressed to the people of Amasya.

Bibliography

Online sources