Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün

Şād iderse beni ‘aceb mi viṣāl
Feraḥ olmaz mı bulsa bir kişi māl
Cān virür vaṣluña cihānla dil
Kerem it her ne deñlü az ise al
Gördügüm gibi ḫaddüñ üzre didüm
Ḫaṭ-ı müş‘ir durur bu noḳṭa-i ḫāl
Ẕevḳ ider dil ḫayāl-i la‘lüñ ile
Bes yalar barmaġın ṭutan kişi bal
Rızḳ içün ġam yimez cihānda Münīr
Bilür anı ki yoḳ naṣībe zevāl

In English

1. If union makes me glad, is that any wonder? Would a man not rejoice if he came upon wealth?

2. For union with you the heart gives its soul together with the whole world; be gracious, and accept it, however little it may be.

3. As soon as I saw it on your cheek I said: this dot of a mole is a script that announces something (or: a sign announcing the down that will appear on the face).

4. The heart takes delight in the fancy of your ruby lip; after all, the one who holds the honey licks his finger.

5. Münîr does not grieve over his daily bread in this world, for he knows that one's allotted portion does not pass away.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the hundred and eighty-first of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 181). The metre is "fe‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is on "-āl": viṣāl, māl, al, ḫāl, bal and zevāl. The ghazal is found in only two of the divan manuscripts, the Vatican (VT 140b) and Vienna (VY 117b) copies; it does not appear in the Istanbul University manuscript copied for Murad III or in the anthologies of response poems. The edition records no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The central idea of the ghazal is that the longing for union with the beloved is thought of as a kind of gain. In the opening couplet the joy of union is likened to the relief of a man who comes upon wealth; the second line supports the claim of the first with an example taken from everyday life. The language of trade continues in the second couplet: the heart offers its soul together with the whole world as the price of union and, saying "accept it, however little it may be", speaks like a modest seller at the bargaining table.

In the third couplet writing and beauty are bound together. The word "ḫaṭ" means both script and the down that appears on the face; "noḳṭa" is the common name of the dot in writing and of the mole on the cheek. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "müş‘ir" as "announcing, giving news". Read in this way, the mole is the first sign announcing a script that will follow it, namely the down on the face; the couplet can be read with either meaning. This congruence of images (tenasüp) between script and dot is a typical example of the word play Münîrî favours.

In the fourth couplet a proverb is carried into the poem. The Turkish Language Association dictionary gives the saying "bal tutan parmağını yalar" (the one who holds the honey licks his finger) in the sense that whoever is in charge of an abundant affair will profit from it, if only a little. With this saying the poet defends the heart that takes pleasure in the fancy of the lip: the ruby lip, imagined as sweet as honey, leaves a share for the heart that holds its image. This is a clear example of irsal-i mesel (the use of a proverbial saying). In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the poem turns from the language of love to trust in God. The Turkish Language Association dictionary explains "nasip" as the thing that falls to someone's share. The belief that the sustenance written in a person's share will not pass away balances the thought of "wealth" in the opening couplet: the poet who rejoices at gain at the start of the ghazal says at its end that he keeps away from worry over his daily bread.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Official sources

  • Türk Dil Kurumu, Güncel Türkçe Sözlük, entries "bal tutan parmağını yalar" and "nasip". https://sozluk.gov.tr/

Books

Online sources