Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün

Ḫaṭṭuñ neler itdügini göz göreli bir bir
Ḳan ile yazar ḥālini levḥ-i zere fır fır
Kimdür beni ta‘yīb iden ey serv-i gül-endām
Sen berg-i gül içün yüregüm ditrese dir dir
Her nā-kesi yār ile görüp maḥrem ü hem-dem
Ṭurmaz gözümüñ yaşı iner ḳan ile sır sır
Sen cān-ı cihān gibi ġazāl olduġı içün
İt gibi raḳībüñ ṭalaşur ḫalḳ ile ḫır ḫır
Bendüñ gibi dil baġladı zülfüñe Münīrī
İster ki o da ‘uḳdelerin ḥal ide bir bir

In English

1. Ever since the eye saw one by one what your down has done, it writes (its) state on the golden tablet (the yellowed face) in blood, swiftly and without pause (fır fır).

2. O rose-bodied cypress, who is it that blames me? What if my heart trembles and quivers (dir dir) for your rose petal (your face, delicate as a rose petal)?

3. Seeing every base fellow intimate and companionable with the beloved, the tears of my eye never stop; they trickle down (sır sır) with blood.

4. Because you are a gazelle like the soul of the world, your rival snarls (ḫır ḫır) and scuffles with people like a dog.

5. Münîrî, like your bond (your servant, or the tie of your lock), has bound his heart to your lock; (the heart) too wishes to untie its knots one by one. The couplet can be read in two ways: the word "bendüñ" can be understood as "your bond (the knot of your lock)" or as "your bondsman, your servant"; "‘uḳde" means both a knot and a problem hard to solve.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the hundred-and-fourth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 104). The metre is "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". The number of this ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains. Every couplet of the ghazal ends with a reduplication: bir bir, fır fır, dir dir, sır sır, ḫır ḫır and bir bir again. The rhyme is the "-ır/-ir" sound of these reduplications; the ending of the opening and pen-name couplets with the same reduplication "bir bir" (one by one), and the rhyming of the ghazal through reduplications, are our own observations. The ghazal is found in all three manuscripts of the divan (VT 121b, VY 104b, Ü 36a). According to the apparatus Ü gives the order "levḥ-i zere ḥālini" for "ḥālini levḥ-i zere" in the first couplet. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The most marked feature of the ghazal is the reduplications used in the rhyme position. Sound-imitating words such as "fır fır", "dir dir", "sır sır" and "ḫır ḫır" come from spoken language and give the poem a lively, everyday air. The TDV article says that Münîrî was successful in the tradition of using local expressions and setting idioms into poetry; this ghazal is a striking example of that side of his work. We have drawn the senses of these reduplications from the context: "fır fır" appears to express speed and continuity, "dir dir" trembling, "sır sır" a trickling flow, and "ḫır ḫır" the snarling of a dog.

In the opening couplet (matla) the eye is like a scribe. Whenever it sees what the beloved's down has done, it writes the lover's state in blood on the golden tablet, that is, the yellowed face. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) based on the art of writing among the words "ḫaṭṭ" (down, script), "yazmak" (to write) and "levḥ" (tablet). Reading the down also in its sense of script strengthens this congruence.

In the second couplet the beloved is likened to a rose-bodied cypress. The lover's heart trembles for the beloved, who is as delicate as a rose petal; that is why he finds blame of him out of place. In the third couplet the rivals' intimacy with the beloved causes the lover's bloody tears. There is a contrast between "nā-kes" (base, worthless person) and "maḥrem" (intimate, confidant).

The fourth couplet is a scene of the hunt. The beloved is a gazelle; the rival is the dog on the gazelle's trail, snarling and scuffling with people. This hunting relation between "ġazāl" (gazelle) and "it" (dog) is a way of disparaging the rival. In the pen-name couplet the words "bend" and "‘uḳde" are tied to the lock through their senses of knot and bond. "‘Uḳdeyi ḥall itmek" means both to untie a knot and to solve a difficulty; while the heart tries to untie the knots of the lock, it is at the same time struggling to resolve the difficulties of love. This double entendre (tevriye) is the basis of the couplet.

Bibliography

Online sources