Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilâtün Fâilün

‘Aşḳ virdin işiden var olup ammâ bilen az
İçmeyen ‘aşḳ meyini meslek-i ‘aşḳa varamaz
‘Aşḳ baḥrinden olup çoḳ kişilerde müjdegân
Reh-nümun olsa o deryâya ṭaldıramaz
Mürşid-i ḥaḳ mı olur gördügüñ her sege külâh
Seni ihlâk idip ol menziliñe vardıramaz
‘Aşḳ-ı şemşîr-i Ḫudâ “lem-yezel” olmuş ezelî
Kim anıñ ḳarşısına her kişi ṭoġru ṭuramaz
Etme ‘aşḳ odlarını âteş-i dûzaḫa ḳıyâs
Nâr-ı ‘aşḳa yananı başḳa âteş yandıramaz
Âteş-i ‘aşḳ-ıla dîdemden aḳan ḳanlu yaşıñ
Ṣad hezâr ṭaġları ḳoysuñ öñüne ṭurduramaz
‘Aşḳ olup sırr-ı Ḫudâ ḳudret-i ḳuvvetde gîrân
Kûh-i ḳāf bi’llâh anıñ zerresini ḳaldıramaz
‘Âşıḳānlıḳda eden kendini ‘uşşâḳa ḳıyâs
Ṭıfl-ı ebced gibi esbe biner ammâ ṭuramaz
Gerçi Mecnûn-ile Ferhâda da ‘âşıḳ denilir
Öyle bî-ḥâṣıl-ı ‘aşḳ sâlik-ı Ḥaḳḳ’a yaramaz
Bu ḥarâret odu ‘aşḳ Mir’ât olup sende Nümâ
Niçe biñ baḥr-i muḥīṭ teşne dilim ḳandıramaz

In English

1. There are those who hear the litany of love, but few who know it; one who does not drink the wine of love cannot reach the path of love.

2. Many people have heralds from the sea of love; even if they were guides, they could not make one dive into that sea.

3. Is every cap of the segâh kind you see a true master of God? He cannot annihilate you and bring you to that stage.

4. Love, the sword of God, has been “lem-yezel”, everlasting, eternal; not everyone can stand upright before it.

5. Do not compare the fires of love with the fire of hell; no other fire can burn one who burns in the fire of love.

6. Even if they set a hundred thousand mountains before the bloody tears that flow from my eyes with the fire of love, they could not stop them.

7. Love, the secret of God, is heavy in power and strength; by God, Mount Kaf could not lift a single atom of it.

8. Whoever compares himself with the lovers in loving is like a child learning his letters who mounts a horse but cannot stay on.

9. It is true that Mecnun and Ferhad too are called lovers; such fruitless love is of no use to the traveller to God.

10. Mir'ât-nümâ, this heat, the fire of love, has appeared in you as a mirror; many thousands of encompassing seas cannot quench my thirsting tongue.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Weight of Love

Each time, the rhyme states an impossibility: varamaz, ṭaldıramaz, vardıramaz, ṭuramaz, yandıramaz, ṭurduramaz, ḳaldıramaz, yaramaz, ḳandıramaz, cannot reach, cannot make dive, cannot bring, cannot stand, cannot burn, cannot stop, cannot lift, is of no use, cannot quench. This scheme of negative aorist endings carries the main idea of the ten-couplet ghazal: love cannot be measured and no force can stop it. In the metre there is nothing new: it is the remel pattern the book's ghazals use most.

The third couplet brings the book's criticism of false sheikhs into the language of the ghazal: “Mürşid-i ḥaḳ mı olur gördügüñ her sege külâh”, is every cap you see a true master of God? The cap is a dervish headdress; the poet reminds once again that whoever wears the headdress is not a sheikh. In the fourth couplet love is called the sword of God and “lem-yezel”, eternal and everlasting; It is also the example Şensöz gives for the notion of love in the work. The seventh couplet expresses the weight of love with great hyperbole: even Mount Kaf could not lift a single atom of it.

The ninth couplet is the book's plainest verdict on Mecnun and Ferhad: “Gerçi Mecnûn-ile Ferhâda da ‘âşıḳ denilir / Öyle bî-ḥâṣıl-ı ‘aşḳ sâlik-ı Ḥaḳḳ'a yaramaz”, it is true that Mecnun and Ferhad are called lovers; such fruitless love is of no use to the traveller to God. Şensöz illustrates with it the idea that human love has no value on the road to God. In the makta the name is again divided into “Mir'ât” and “Nümâ”; the fire of love appears in the poet as a mirror.

Bibliography

Online sources