Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâîlün mefâîlün mefâîlün mefâîlün

‘İlim baḥri vücûd esdâfınıň dür dânesiyim ben
Ma‘ârif kenz-i dil vaṣṣâfınıň vîrânesiyim ben

In English

1. I am the pearl in the shells of existence, which is a sea of knowledge. I am the ruin in which the treasure is hidden, for the one who describes gnosis, divine knowledge, as the treasure of the heart. (The second line can be read in two ways: "the ruin of the one who praises the heart, which is the treasure of gnosis", or "the ruin that praises the heart as the treasure of gnosis"; in both readings the poet sees himself as the ruin in which the treasure lies hidden.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplet is the opening couplet (matla) of a ghazal. It is written in the hezec pattern "mefâîlün mefâîlün mefâîlün mefâîlün"; the identification of the metre is ours. The refrain (redif) is "-esiyim ben" (I am the ... of); the rhyme is built on the sound "-âne" in the words "dâne" and "vîrâne". Both lines repeat the same structure: a chain of genitive phrases, ending with the poet's self-definition "...siyim ben". Because Hakverdioğlu's article gives only the first verse unit of each poem in the cönk, the rest of the poem is unknown. There is no information on when or on what occasion the poem was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet is built on a discourse of the self common in Sufi poetry. In the first line existence is likened to a "sea of knowledge"; the shells of the sea and the pearl within the shell form a congruence of images (tenasüp) of sea, shell and pearl. The poet counts himself the pearl in these shells: he is the most precious essence hidden within existence. The image in the second line rests on an old belief: treasures are hidden in ruins, in wrecks no one values. In Sufism the pairing "the heart is a ruin, the treasure within it is gnosis" is widespread; the dervish, wretched outside but full of divine knowledge within, likens himself to this ruin. The couplet thus draws a self that seems worthless outwardly but carries a pearl and a treasure within. The word "vassâf" (one who describes or praises much) makes the construction of the line somewhat obscure; for this reason both readings are noted in the rendering.

Historical Context

The couplet is on page 57 of the Merzifon Cönkü, introduced by Metin Hakverdioğlu in 2019. Hakverdioğlu gives the poem only with the pen name "Mısrî" and makes no comment on the poet. The pen name and the mystical diction bring to mind the seventeenth-century Sufi poet Niyâzî-i Mısrî; but it has not been confirmed that the couplet is found in his divan, and the attribution is an open question. The full text of the poem is only in the cönk and has not been published. For the possibilities concerning the poet, see the page on Mısrî.

Bibliography

Online sources