Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Dil baña la‘lüñi anuñ-çün dir em
Bilür anı k’ol durur derdüme em
Şol ḳadar kim gözlerüm yaş aḳıdur
Yüregümde ḳalmadı bir ḳaṭre nem
Hīc bir laḥẓa beni terk eylemez
Bilmezem bende ne ṭuydı derd ü ġam
Şerbet-i la‘l-i lebüñ nūş idenüñ
Gözine görinmez aṣlā cām-ı Cem
Cān virürem yoluña diyü Münīr
Her geh ider ḫāk-i pāyüñe ḳasem

In English

1. The heart tells me to "suck" (em, that is, kiss) your ruby lip, for it knows that it is the em (remedy) for my pain.

2. My eyes shed so many tears that not a single drop of moisture is left in my heart.

3. Pain and grief do not leave me for a moment; I do not know what they have found (what relish they have tasted) in me.

4. To the eye of one who has drunk the sherbet of your ruby lip, the cup of Jamshid (Cem) does not show at all.

5. Saying "I will give my life on your road", Münîr swears at every moment by the dust of your feet.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and first of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 201). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün"; its lines are one foot shorter than those of most of the other ghazals. The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme words are em, em, nem, ġam, Cem and ḳasem. Both lines of the opening couplet end with the word "em". The ghazal is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 145a). It is not known for whom or when it was written.

The ghazal is notable for its short lines, its plain Turkish diction and its few compound phrases. All five couplets turn around the beloved's lip, the lover's pain and his tears.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built on a perfect pun (tam cinas). The Kubbealtı Lugatı records "em" as a noun from Old Turkish meaning "medicine, remedy, cure"; in the same entry it cites the line of Mihrî Hatun of Amasya, "Şefkatinden umarım derdime em" (from your compassion I hope for a remedy for my pain). The "em" at the end of the first line, however, is the imperative of the verb "emmek"; the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains this verb as drawing something in with the help of the lips, tongue and breath. The heart tells the lover to suck, that is, to kiss, the beloved's lip, for it knows that lip to be a remedy for pain. The same sound carries two separate words, and the meaning of the couplet arises from the two words explaining each other.

The second couplet contains hyperbole (mübalağa). The eyes have shed so many tears that no moisture is left in the heart; the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "nem" as slight wetness, damp. The couplet rests on the idea that tears come from the heart. In the third couplet pain and grief are shown as companions who never leave the lover for a moment; by saying he does not know what they have found in him, the lover resorts to a light irony.

The fourth couplet alludes to a legendary cup. According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi's entry "Câm-ı Cem", this is the magic cup attributed to the legendary Iranian kings Jamshid (Cemşîd) and Kay Khusraw, and also to Solomon and Alexander the Great, in which everything happening in the world was believed to be seen; the same entry also mentions the tradition that wine was invented in Jamshid's time. One who has drunk the sherbet of the beloved's lip pays no heed even to this famous cup. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between "la‘l" (ruby), "şerbet", "nūş" (drinking) and "cām" (cup). In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the lover swears by the dust of the beloved's feet; in divan poetry the dust of the feet is the measure of the reverence felt for the beloved and of the lover's self-abasement.

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