Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḳaşlaruñ mānendiyem diyü berāt almış hilāl
Anı sarmaġa getürmişdür şafaḳ vālā-yı āl
Dōstum di hindū-yı zülfüñe luṭf it görelüm
Muṣḥaf-ı ḥüsnüñden açsun ben siyeh-baḫta da fāl
Dil dehānuñla miyānuñ sırrını fehm ideli
Oldı sīnem maḫzen-i esrār u dil kān-ı ḫayāl
Her ne deñlü kend’özin cem‘itmek isterse göñül
Fikr-i zülfüñ yetişüp yine olur āşüfte-ḥāl
Seg raḳībi hem-dem idinmek neden yārüñ Münīr
Ṭutalum k’olmış cihān içre bugün ḳaḥṭu’r-ricāl

In English

1. The crescent moon has obtained a warrant (berāt) declaring "I resemble your brows"; and the twilight glow (şafaḳ) has brought red fine silk (vālā) to wrap it in.

2. My friend, tell the dark Hindu of your tresses to do a kindness, let us see; let him open an augury for me, too, the black-fated one, from the Qur'an-copy of your beauty.

3. Ever since the heart grasped the secret of your mouth and your waist (both so small as to be almost invisible, as if they did not exist), my breast has become a treasury of secrets and my heart a mine of fancies.

4. However much the heart tries to collect itself, the thought of your tresses arrives and the heart is once again dishevelled.

5. Münîr, why does the beloved take the dog of a rival as his companion? Let us suppose that today there is a dearth of worthy men (kaḥṭu'r-ricāl) in the world.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the hundred and eightieth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 180). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is on "-āl": hilāl, āl, fāl, ḫayāl, ḥāl and ricāl. The ghazal is found in the three divan manuscripts (VT 140a, VY 117a, Ü 45b) and in two anthologies of response poems, the Pervâne Bey Mecmuası (PB 367a) and Edirneli Nazmî's Mecmau'n-nezâ'ir (MN 234b). It is not known for whom or when it was written.

The variant readings are in the opening and fourth couplets. In PB "itmiş" is read for "almış" in the opening couplet, and "felek" (the sky) for "şafaḳ"; in that reading it is the sky that brings the silk to wrap the crescent. The word "yetişüp" (arriving) in the fourth couplet appears as "irişüp" in PB and as "ṭaġıdup" (scattering) in Ü. The reading of Ü says more plainly that the thought of the tresses scatters the heart.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built on an image from Ottoman state life. The Turkish Language Association dictionary explains "berat" as a sultan's decree issued for persons appointed to an office, granted a stipend or given a privilege. The crescent moon has received such a warrant certifying that it resembles the beloved's brow. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains the Persian word "vālā" as a kind of fine cloth or a silk head-covering, and cites from Fuzûlî the phrase "Âl vâlâya sarıp" (wrapping in red vālā). The Kubbealtı Lugatı records that the original Arabic meaning of "şafak" is the redness left on the horizon after sunset; since the new crescent is seen in the evening sky, this sense suits the couplet. This redness brings red silk to wrap the precious document. The gold of the crescent and the red of the twilight together form a picture.

In the second couplet the tresses are a "hindū". Besides the sense of a person from India, the Kubbealtı Lugatı gives this word the meaning of a mole on the face in older literature; here the dark tresses are imagined as an Indian in the beloved's service. Opening an augury from the Qur'an-copy of beauty means seeking an omen from the Qur'an; the Kubbealtı Lugatı derives "fal" from an Arabic root meaning "to take as a good omen". There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) based on colour between "hindū", "siyeh-baḫt" (black-fated) and the blackness of the tresses. The third couplet rests on the well-known divan motif of the mouth and the waist: both are so small or so slender as to be invisible, and are therefore counted a secret. The heart that grasps the secret becomes a treasury of secrets and a mine of fancies. There is a congruence of images between "maḫzen" (treasury) and "kān" (mine).

In the fourth couplet a contrast (tezat) is set up between "cem‘" (gathering, collecting) and "āşüfte" (dishevelled, distracted); the thought of the dishevelled tresses dishevels the heart as well. The couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) closes with a term from statecraft. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains the expression "kaht-ı rical" as a dearth of statesmen and administrators arising from the failure to raise worthy people. With bitter irony the poet ties the beloved's befriending a dog-like rival to this dearth: even if no worthy men were left in the world, turning to a dog would be unseemly. The couplet has the air of irsal-i mesel (the use of a proverbial saying).

Bibliography

Primary sources

Official sources

Books

  • Kubbealtı Lugatı (Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük), entries "vala", "şafak", "fal", "hindû" and "kaht-ı rical". https://lugatim.com/s/vala

Online sources