Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Göñlümi işitmek ile aldı bir şūḫ-ı Fireng
Bilmezem kim görinicek n’eyleye ol şūḫ u şeng
Ey göñül kim bile kim yoluñda sinüñ de ne var
Ḳılma bir tersā-beçe sevdük diyü benümle ceng
Sırr-ı rūḥullāh görinürdi senüñ de gözüñe
Zāhidā ger yoḳmasa āyīne-i ḳalbüñde jeng
Mu‘ciz-i ‘Īsīde kāmildür velī ḫūn-rīzdür
Vay aña kim ġamzesinden yimeye tīr-i ḫadeng
Manẓar-ı ḳaṣr-ı refī‘üñde gören dir dōstum
Ṣanki ‘Īsīdür çehārüm çarḫda itdi direng
El ṣunar zünnār-ı zülf-i yāre dīvāne göñül
Rişte-i cāna ḫam-ı zülfi ‘aceb mi ursa çeng
İşimüz pīr-i muġān ile olur şimden girü
Kimdür ol muġ-beççe devrinde ki gözler nām u neng
Her nefesde ney benümçün nāliş ider ġālibā
Rişte-i zülf içün iñler dil gibi derd ile çeng
Görmek isterseñ Münīr İstanbula var Rūmdan
‘Āşıḳa Baġdād ıraġ olmaz getürme ‘öẕr-i leng

In English

1. A Frankish (European) beauty took my heart merely by being heard of; I do not know what that playful, merry one will do once she is seen.

2. O heart, who knows what awaits you too on your path; do not quarrel with me because we have loved a Christian youth.

3. O ascetic, if there were no rust on the mirror of your heart, the secret of the Spirit of God (Jesus) would appear to your eye as well.

4. She is perfect in the miracle of Jesus (raising the dead), but she sheds blood; woe to him who does not take an arrow from her glance.

5. My friend, whoever sees her at the window of her lofty mansion says: it is as if she were Jesus, who stayed and lingered in the fourth heaven.

6. The mad heart reaches out to the zünnar (the cord worn by Christian monks) of the beloved's lock; is it any wonder if the curl of her lock strikes a claw into the thread of life?

7. From now on our business is with the Magian elder; in the reign of that Magian boy (the tavern lad), who is there that cares for name and fame?

8. The reed flute surely moans for me at every breath; the harp (çeng) too moans with pain like the heart, for the string of the lock.

9. Münîr, if you want to see her, go from Rûm to Istanbul; for the lover Baghdad is not far, do not bring the excuse of lameness.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a nine-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the hundred and fifty-fourth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 154). Since the great majority of Münîrî's ghazals have five couplets, this ghazal counts as long. The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif) and does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains; the rhyme is the "-eng" sound: Fireng, şeng, ceng, jeng, ḫadeng, direng, çeng, neng, çeng and leng. The word "çeng" serves twice as a rhyme word, in the sense of claw in the sixth couplet and of a musical instrument in the eighth. The ghazal is found in two manuscripts: VT 134a and VY 111a. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The subject of the ghazal is a Frankish beauty; the poem is woven from beginning to end with words and ideas connected with Christianity: "Fireng" (Frank), "tersā-beçe" (Christian child), "Rūḥullāh" (the Spirit of God, Jesus), "mu‘ciz-i ‘Īsī" (the miracle of Jesus), Jesus remaining in the fourth sphere of heaven, and "zünnār". The Kubbealtı dictionary explains "tersâ-beçe" as a Christian child and "zünnâr" as the cord that monks tie around their waists. In the opening couplet (matla) the lover has fallen in love without seeing the beloved, merely by hearing of her; his not knowing what will happen once he sees her conveys the bewilderment at the start of this love.

The third, fourth and fifth couplets are built on allusions to Jesus. According to the literary section of the article "Îsâ" in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Jesus's raising the dead with his breath is one of his most frequently treated features in divan poetry, and the beloved's lip and breath are likened to Jesus in this respect. The same article also describes how poetry treats the belief that, while ascending to heaven, Jesus remained in the fourth sphere, the heaven of the sun, because of a needle in his collar. Münîrî uses this belief in the fifth couplet: the beloved seen at the window of her lofty mansion is like Jesus remaining in the fourth heaven. In the fourth couplet there is a contrast (tezat): the beloved is like Jesus to the point of raising the dead, yet at the same time she sheds blood with her glance.

In the sixth and eighth couplets a perfect pun (cinas) is made with the word "çeng". The Kubbealtı dictionary gives two separate meanings of the word: a stringed instrument resembling the harp, and the claw of a beast of prey, or a human hand. In the sixth couplet the curl of the lock strikes a claw into the thread of life; in the eighth the instrument called çeng moans for the string of the lock. The use of the word "rişte" (thread, string) in both couplets reinforces this pun. In the seventh couplet the set phrase "nām u neng" (name and fame) occurs; the Kubbealtı dictionary writes that "neng" is used mostly in this phrase. In the reign of the Magian boy the rind no longer cares for reputation.

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) is the source of a piece of information that Ersoy gives about the poet's life. Ersoy notes that Münîrî says in this couplet and in the fifth couplet of tg 161 that he was lame; the phrase "‘öẕr-i leng" (the excuse of lameness) is the basis of this information. The Kubbealtı dictionary refers the word "leng" to the entry "lenk", lame. The couplet also alludes to a proverb: the dictionary of the Turkish Language Association records "âşığa Bağdat sorulmaz" (one does not ask the lover about Baghdad) as a saying that describes how someone who strongly desires a thing disregards the difficulties of obtaining it. Münîrî's phrasing "‘Āşıḳa Baġdād ıraġ olmaz" (for the lover Baghdad is not far) is a close form of this saying.

Historical Context

The ghazal is one of the few poems of the poet that give information about his personal circumstances. In his introduction Ersoy documents Münîrî's lameness with this couplet and with tg 161/5. In the couplet the poet tells himself "go from Rûm to Istanbul". According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Münîrî spent almost his whole life in Amasya; it may be thought that the beloved was in Istanbul and that the poet kept putting off going there because of his lameness. However, there is no record of when and on what occasion this ghazal was written; nor is it known whether the "Frankish beauty" was a real person. These connections are our own inference.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Official sources

Books

  • Kubbealtı Lugatı (Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük), entries "tersâ-beçe", "zünnâr", "çeng", "neng" and "leng". https://lugatim.com/s/çeng

Online sources