Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ṣunmadan bir būse luṭf ile ṭurunc-ı ġabġabuñ
Baġrumuñ ḳanına niçün diş biler mey-gūn lebüñ
Yüzi nūrından murāduñ çün hidāyetdür göñül
Küfr-i zülfine ṭolaşduñ ḳanda gitdi meẕhebüñ
Rūz-ı hicrānda raḳībi geh geh añduġum bu kim
Herze heẕyān söyledür ḫāṣıyyeti budur tebüñ
Kimse bilmezdi nedür keyfiyyetüñ hergiz göñül
La‘l-i nābından dem urduñ ẓāhir oldı meşrebüñ
Bilmezem derdüñ nedür tā-ṣubḥa dek her şeb Münīr
İñledür ḳudsīleri derd ile yā Rab yā Rabuñ

In English

1. Without kindly offering a kiss from the orange of your chin, why does your wine-coloured lip whet its teeth for the blood of my breast?

2. O heart, since what you sought from the light of his face was guidance (hidāyet), you have become entangled in the unbelief (küfr) of his tresses; where has your faith gone?

3. The reason I mention the rival now and then on the day of separation is this: fever makes one speak nonsense; that is the nature of fever.

4. O heart, no one ever knew what your temper was; you spoke of his ruby lip, like pure wine, and your "meşreb" (both your disposition and the place where you drink) was revealed.

5. Münîr, I do not know what your pain is; every night until dawn your cries of "O Lord, O Lord" make the holy beings (the angels) moan with grief.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the hundred and seventy-first of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 171). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is the suffix "-üñ / -uñ"; in his list of refrains Ersoy counts this ghazal among those ending in "-üñ". The rhyme is on "-eb": ġabġab, leb, meẕheb, teb, meşreb and Rab. The ghazal is found in the three divan manuscripts: VT 138a, VY 115b and Ü 44a. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Among the variant readings, the words "bu kim" in the third couplet appear as "budur" in the Vatican manuscript. The Istanbul University manuscript builds the first line of the fourth couplet differently (in the form "…uymazdı nedendür sende keyf", one letter of the first word not having been printed in the edition); the word "derdüñ" in the fifth couplet is also a different word in this manuscript, but it cannot be read because its letters were not printed.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In every couplet of the ghazal a lover speaks to his heart or addresses himself, and the couplets are built with concepts drawn from the worlds of religion, medicine and wine. In the opening couplet the beloved's chin is a "ṭurunc-ı ġabġab", a double chin as round as a bitter orange; the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "gabgab" as the lower part of the chin, the second fold of the throat under the chin. The wine-coloured lip whets its teeth for blood without granting even a single kiss. Lip, blood and wine form a congruence of images (tenasüp) based on colour.

The second couplet is built on contrast (tezat). The beloved's face is light and stands for guidance (hidāyet), the right path; his dark tresses are unbelief (küfr), since, as the Kubbealtı Lugatı also records, one meaning of the Arabic word "küfr" is to cover; hair that covers the face is therefore likened to unbelief. Turned towards the light, the heart has become entangled in the darkness of the tresses and lost its faith. In the third couplet the lover's mention of the rival is tied to a symptom of illness. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "teb" as fever, heat and malaria. Having fallen into the fever of separation, the lover talks nonsense like a delirious patient; his mentioning the rival is the result of this delirium. With its structure ending in a general judgement, the couplet comes close to irsal-i mesel (the use of a proverbial saying).

The fourth couplet rests on a double entendre (tevriye). The Kubbealtı Lugatı records that "meşreb" means "a place where water is drunk" in Arabic and is used in Turkish for temper, disposition and way of life. When the heart speaks of a lip like "la‘l-i nāb" (pure ruby; pure wine), both where it drinks and what its temper is become known. The word "keyfiyyet" in the same line means quality and condition; its similarity in sound to "keyif" (pleasure, intoxication) in a context of wine may be a deliberate play, though this is our own conjecture. In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas), the lover's nightly prayers of "O Lord", lasting until dawn, reach the heavens and make even the holy beings, the angels, moan. The placing of the word "Rab" (Lord) in the rhyme closes the ghazal with a supplication.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Official sources

Books

Online sources