Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātün mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātün

La‘l-i lebüñe hey di ḳan içmeden uṣanmaz
Ġālib budur kim āḫir ṣorulmasın uṣanmaz
Ḫāk-i derüñe eşküm göñlümden öñdin irdi
Çābük degül midür kim ġayre işin inanmaz
Göz yaşına ṭayanma sen ‘arż-ı ḥāl it ey dil
‘Āḳil olan kimesne hergiz ṣuya ṭayanmaz
Yandum ‘aceb degül mi kūyuñda ‘ışḳ odıyla
Ẓāhir bilürken anı ḥac iden oda yanmaz
Cān-ı ża‘īfi sen de vir la‘line Münīrī
Ġam yime hīc anuñçün varın viren utanmaz

In English

1. Say "hey" to your ruby lip: it never tires of drinking blood; it seems it does not suppose that in the end (on the Day of Reckoning) it will be called to account. The couplet can be read in two ways: if the end of the second line is read as "uṣanmaz" (does not tire), it means "nor does it tire of being questioned in the end"; if it is divided as "u ṣanmaz" (and does not suppose), it means "it does not suppose that it will be called to account in the end". The second reading is our own inference.

2. My tears reached the dust of your door before my heart; is it not nimble, that it does not entrust its business to another?

3. O heart, do not rely on your tears; present your state yourself. A man of sense never leans on water (never trusts it).

4. I burned in your street with the fire of love; is it not strange? For it is plainly known that one who makes the pilgrimage does not burn in the fire. (The beloved's street is likened to the Kaaba.)

5. Münîrî, you too give your weak soul to his ruby lip; do not grieve at all over it: he who gives all he has is not ashamed.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the hundred and thirtieth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 130). The metre is "mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātün mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātün". Ersoy's list of refrains places it among the ghazals with the refrain (redif) "-mAz"; this is the negative aorist suffix ("does not"). The rhyme is the "-an" sound before it: uṣan, uṣan, inan, ṭayan, yan and utan. Both lines of the opening couplet end with the same word "uṣanmaz". The ghazal is found in all three manuscripts of the divan (VT 128b, VY 107b, Ü 39a); the apparatus records no variant readings. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

That both lines of the opening couplet (matla) end with the same word is notable. Given Münîrî's fondness for the pun, it is possible to read the word in the second line divided as "u ṣanmaz" (and does not suppose): the lip never tires of drinking blood and does not suppose that it will be called to account in the end. The two lines would then form a compound pun (cinas-ı mürekkeb), ending in the same sound but carrying different meanings. This reading is our own inference; in the edition the word is written as one. The TDV article notes that Münîrî applied every kind of pun with success.

The ruby lip that drinks blood is a familiar expression in divan poetry for the beloved's killing of lovers; the ruby is red, and so is blood. "Ṣorulmak" (to be questioned) suggests being called to account at the Resurrection; the blood that has been shed will be accounted for.

The second couplet likens the tear to a messenger who knows his business. The tear has reached the beloved's door before the heart, for it is nimble and does not "inanmaz", that is, entrust its business to another. The third couplet turns this praise around: the heart should not rely on the tears but tell of its state itself, for a man of sense does not lean on water. The idea that water cannot serve as a support recalls a popular saying; we could not find this saying in a dictionary. The link between "tears" and "ṣu" (water) ties the advice to the couplet. This contrast between the two couplets is our own observation.

In the fourth couplet the beloved's street is the Kaaba; the lover has burned there with the fire of love. Yet it is known that one who makes the pilgrimage will not burn in the fire, that is, in Hell. "Oda yanmak" (to burn in fire) describes burning both in the fire of love and in the fire of Hell; these two senses form a double entendre (tevriye) in the couplet. We have not confirmed from a source this interpretation, which rests on the belief that the pilgrimage brings forgiveness of sins; it is an inference.

The pen-name couplet ends with advice: the poet should give his soul to the beloved's lip, for "he who gives all he has is not ashamed". This phrase has the air of a proverb; we could not find it in this form in the dictionary. That the lip which drank blood in the opening couplet is now given a soul closes the ghazal upon itself.

Bibliography

Online sources