Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlü Mefâ‘îlü Fe‘ûlün

Bir kâra yapış ṭoġruca bir râh-ilen olsuñ
Allâh’a sıġın olmaya güm-râh-ilen olsuñ
Avâre gezip dehirde bî-hûde ṭolaşma
Eẕkâr-ı Ḫudâ ḫıdmet-i dergâh-ilen olsuñ
Bir pîre ṣarıl himmet-i pîrânla pîr ol
Maḳṣūda vuṣūl nuṣret bir şâh-ilen olsuñ
Ger şâh-ı cihân olsa kişi cümlesi boştur
‘Âlemde hüner-i ẕikrle fi’llâh-ilen olsun
Ferhâd’a ḳıyâs etme ṣaḳın ḳābil-i ‘aşḳım
Sâ‘atde hezâr ṭâġ-ı dolubem âh-lan olsuñ
Mir’âtı naẓar eyle Ḫudâ ânda Nümâdır
Ḥaḳḳānî gerek göz göre Allâh-ilen olsun

In English

1. Hold fast to one work straightly, by one road; take refuge in God, let it not be with those who have lost their way.

2. Do not wander idly in the world and roam in vain; let the remembrances of God be with service at the threshold.

3. Cling to a master, become a master through the masters' spiritual power; let arrival at the goal and help come through a king.

4. Even if a man be king of the world, it is all empty; let skill in the world be through remembrance, in God.

5. Beware of comparing my capacity for love with Ferhad's; within an hour I am full of a thousand mountains; let it be with sighs.

6. Look into the mirror: God is the One shown there; a godly eye is needed, that it may see with God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Book's Only Ahreb Ghazal

No other poem in the book uses the pattern “Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlü Mefâ‘îlü Fe‘ûlün” from the ahreb branch of the hezec; the other ghazals keep to the remel or the plain hezec patterns, and these six couplets stand alone. In divan poetry this pattern is known as the metre of flowing ghazals suited to song. The refrain “-âh-ilen olsuñ”, let it be with, gives the ghazal an air of wish and command: râh-ilen, güm-râh-ilen, dergâh-ilen, şâh-ilen, fi'llâh-ilen, âh-lan, Allâh-ilen.

The first four couplets of the ghazal repeat the book's counsel in short commands: hold to one work and one road, do not wander idly, join remembrance with service at the lodge, cling to a master; even kingship of the world is empty. The line “Bir pîre ṣarıl himmet-i pîrânla pîr ol” in the third couplet, cling to a master and become a master through the masters' power, says that the disciple, by binding himself to his sheikh, may in time become a master himself, and that the lineage continues in this way.

The mirror idea finds its clearest and shortest form in the couplet that carries the pen name: “Mir'âtı naẓar eyle Ḫudâ ânda Nümâdır”, look into the mirror, God is the One shown there. The poet splits his pen name into two words: look into the “mir'ât”, the mirror; God there is “nümâ”, the one who appears. Here the pen name ceases to be a name and becomes the very thing the poem teaches: it is God who appears in the mirror of the heart, but to see Him a “Ḥaḳḳānî göz”, a godly eye, is needed.

Bibliography

Online sources