Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Sırr-ı leb-i la‘lüñde ki var bunca dekāyıḳ
Ḥayrān u fürū-māndesidür cümle ḫalāyıḳ
Ey dil diler iseñ k’iresin vaḥdet-i ‘ışḳa
Geç kendü özüñden ḳıluban terk-i ‘alāyıḳ
Cām-ı mey-i ‘ışḳuñı göñül nūş ideliden
Her laḥẓa temennāsı bu kim olmaya ayıḳ
Sāḳī mey-i gül-fāmı dirīġ itme kerem ḳıl
Keşf olmaḳ içün göñlüme esrār-ı ḥaḳāyıḳ
Yandısa n’ola āteş-i ‘ışḳ ile Münīrī
Her kişinüñ olur işi de adına lāyıḳ

In English

1. Before the secret of your ruby lip, which holds so many subtleties, all creatures stand bewildered and helpless.

2. O heart, if you wish to reach the unity (vahdet) of love, pass beyond your own self, leaving behind the ties that bind you to the world.

3. Since the heart drank the wine cup of your love, its wish at every moment is never to be sober.

4. Cupbearer, do not withhold the rose-coloured wine, be generous, so that the secrets of the truths may be unveiled to my heart.

5. Is it any wonder if Münîrî has burned in the fire of love? Everyone's work is worthy of his name. ("Münîr" means light-giving, radiant; burning suits this name.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the hundred and forty-eighth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 148). The metre is "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif); the rhyme is the "-āyıḳ / -ayıḳ" sound: dekāyıḳ, ḫalāyıḳ, ‘alāyıḳ, ayıḳ, ḥaḳāyıḳ and lāyıḳ. According to Ersoy's count of rhyme letters, it is one of the six Turkish ghazals that rhyme in the letter kaf. The ghazal is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 132b). To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The rhyme scheme of the ghazal is skilful. Most of the rhyme words are Arabic plural forms: "dekāyıḳ" (subtleties), "ḫalāyıḳ" (creatures), "‘alāyıḳ" (ties, attachments) and "ḥaḳāyıḳ" (truths); to these the Arabic "lāyıḳ" (worthy) is added. In the third couplet, however, the Turkish word "ayıḳ" (sober) enters this series and matches them perfectly in sound. The meeting of words of Arabic pattern and a Turkish word in the same rhyme is our own observation.

The language of the ghazal is distinctly Sufi. "Vaḥdet-i ‘ışḳ" (the unity of love), "geç kendü özüñden" (pass beyond your self), "terk-i ‘alāyıḳ" (leaving worldly ties), "keşf" (unveiling) and "esrār-ı ḥaḳāyıḳ" (the secrets of the truths) are well-known concepts of Sufism. Ersoy says that Münîrî was not a Sufi poet but used Sufi symbols, and that this must stem from the influence of Hâfız. This ghazal is an example in which those symbols are used densely; this is our own assessment. The second couplet is built in the voice of counsel and stands among the descriptions of the beloved and the gathering like directions for a path.

In the opening couplet (matla) the beloved's lip is presented as a secret. In divan poetry the mouth and lip are considered very small, almost invisible; therefore their secret bewilders all creatures. Since the word "dekāyıḳ" carries both the sense of subtleties and of fine points, it also suits the smallness of the lip. In the third and fourth couplets wine is both the drink of the gathering and the intoxication of love and divine knowledge. The heart's wish never to be sober is the wish that love's intoxication should last; the rose-coloured wine asked of the cupbearer is also regarded as the means of unveiling the secrets of truth.

In the pen-name couplet (mahlas) a link is made between the poet's name and his burning. "Münīr" means in Arabic light-giving, radiant; it is natural for something that gives light, like a candle or a lamp, to burn. The line "her kişinüñ olur işi de adına lāyıḳ" (everyone's work is worthy of his name) has the air of an aphorism saying that a person's name is reflected in his work. The pen name thus becomes both a signature and part of the meaning.

Bibliography

Online sources