Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün Mefâîlün

Ḫaṭâ ḳıldım ṭarîḳ ẕât-ı Ḥaḳ’dan ġayre râh etdim
‘Abes̱ ḳıldım ‘abes̱ yâ Rab günâh içre günâh etdim
Ḥisâb olmaz ilâhi etdigim ‘isyân ḥużûruñda
Günâh içre siyâh rûyum siyâh etdim siyâh etdim
Peşîmânım velî şimdi ümîdim var Ḫudâ ‘afv et
Yüzüm ṭutdum saña ben ‘azm dergâh-ı ilâh etdim
Penâhım pâdişâhım sen olubsuñ bilmezem ġayri
Saña bir ‘abd nâ-çârım seni öz pâdişâh etdim
Geçip Mir’ât-nümâ “dünyâ ve mâ-fîhâ” ümîdinden
Dû ‘âlemden çevirdim yüz seni püşt-i penâh etdim

In English

1. I erred, I took a road other than the road of God's essence; I did vain things, O Lord, vain things; I sinned within sin.

2. My God, there is no reckoning of the rebellion I committed in Your presence; within sin I blackened my black face, blackened it.

3. I repent, but now I have hope; my God, forgive; I have turned my face to You, I have set out for the divine threshold.

4. You have become my refuge, my king, I know no other; I am a helpless servant to You, I have made You my very king.

5. Mir'ât-nümâ, passing beyond hope in “the world and all that is in it”, I turned my face from the two worlds and made You my support and refuge.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The Last Ghazal

The confession of the account of his life goes on here: the poet admits that he took the wrong road and sinned within sin, and he repents. The book's last Turkish ghazal, these five couplets are set in the four-foot hezec “Mefâîlün” with the refrain “-âh etdim”, I made, I did: râh etdim, günâh etdim, siyâh etdim, ilâh etdim, pâdişâh etdim, penâh etdim.

The repetition in the second line of the second couplet is the strongest point of the poem: “Günâh içre siyâh rûyum siyâh etdim siyâh etdim”, within sin I blackened my black face, blackened it. The blackening of the black face again and again makes the confession heavier not only in words but in sound. The repetition “‘Abes̱ ḳıldım ‘abes̱ yâ Rab”, I did vain things, O Lord, vain things, in the first couplet has the same effect. In the third couplet the turning begins: repentance, hope and setting out for the divine threshold.

The pen-name couplet goes back to the expression “dünyâ ve mâ-fîhâ”, the world and all that is in it, of the book's first ghazal: the poet has passed beyond hope in the world and what is in it, turned his face from the two worlds and made God his “püşt ü penâh”, support and refuge. Şensöz quotes it when discussing the notion of the world in the work. The expression that in the book's first ghazal described the dervishes withdrawing to the ruins becomes, in the last ghazal, the poet's own decision.

Bibliography

Online sources