Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Reşk-i serv-i şāḫ-ı güldür şol ḳad-i ṭūbā-ḫırām
Rişte-i ‘ömr-i dırāz ol kākül-i sünbül-ġulām
Görüp ol şimşād ḳaddi nicesi raḳṣ urmayam
Didi ḳad ḳāme’l-ḳıyāme ḳāmetin görüp imām
Ṣanma k’ümmīdüm kesem vaṣluñdan āḫir cān virüp
Ṭālib-i vaṣlam nigārā tā ilā yevmi’l-ḳıyām
N’eylerem ben kūşe-i Firdevs ü ‘Adni yād idüp
Kūy-ı dil-berdür dil-i bī-çāreme dārü’s-selām
Ger fürūġ-ı meclis olsa n’ola güftāruñ Münīr
Şem‘-veş ser-tā-ḳadem sūz ile ben yandum tamām

In English

1. That stature which sways like the Tûbâ tree of paradise is the envy of the cypress and the rose branch; that forelock which makes the hyacinth its slave is the thread of long life.

2. Seeing that boxwood stature, how should I not dance; even the imam, on seeing her stature (kāmet), said "ḳad ḳāme'l-ḳıyāme" (the Resurrection has risen).

3. Do not think that, having given my soul, I shall in the end cut off my hope of union with you; my idol, I seek union with you until the Day of Resurrection.

4. What should I do recalling a corner of Firdaws and Eden (paradise); for my helpless heart the beloved's street is Dâr al-Salâm (the abode of peace, paradise).

5. Münîr, what wonder if your speech should be the light of the gathering; like a candle I have burned wholly, from head to foot, with ardour.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and fourth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 204). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on "-ām": ḫırām, ġulām, imām, ḳıyām, selām and tamām. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 146a, VY 122a, Ü 47b), and the edition records no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

The vocabulary of the ghazal draws on two fields: the beloved's stature on the one hand, worship and the hereafter on the other. The words Tûbâ tree, imam, Resurrection, Firdaws, Eden and Dâr al-Salâm describe the beloved's beauty within a religious frame.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet links the beloved's stature to the tree of paradise. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "tûbâ" as the great tree believed to stand in paradise and to shade the whole of it, with its roots above and its branches below, and in the same entry cites Osman Şems's line "Bir kad-i tûbâ-hırâmın olmuşuz dildâdesi" (we have lost our hearts to a stature that sways like the Tûbâ); Münîrî's phrase "ḳad-i ṭūbā-ḫırām" is the same expression. The cypress and the rose branch envy this stature. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "kâkül" as a short lock of hair falling on the forehead, a forelock; the length of the forelock is seen as "rişte-i ‘ömr-i dırāz" (the thread of long life), and the hyacinth is counted its slave.

The second couplet is the most striking in the ghazal. The Kubbealtı Lugatı gives two separate entries for "kāmet": one is stature, figure; the other is the call recited before the obligatory prayers with the added phrase "Kad kāmeti's-salâ" (the prayer has begun), that is, the ikamet. In the entry on the call the same dictionary cites the couplet of Sultan Süleyman the Lawgiver, "Mescidde eğer görse müezzin o kāmeti / Kendin yitire anmaya hergiz o kāmeti" (if the muezzin in the mosque saw that stature, he would lose himself and never recite the call); there too the two "kāmet"s meet in a single couplet. In Münîrî's couplet the imam, on seeing the beloved's kāmet (stature), says as if reciting the call "ḳad ḳāme'l-ḳıyāme"; in Arabic this means "the Resurrection has risen" (our own rendering). "Resurrection" has taken the place of "prayer" in the formula of the call; the beloved's stature is so overwhelming that it raises the Resurrection, and the couplet closes on a hyperbole (mübalağa). Between "ḳāmet" and "ḳıyāme" there is a link of both sound and sense. The dancing lover, the imam reciting the call and the boxwood stature complete a single picture.

The third couplet continues the same association with the word "ḳıyām": the lover will seek union "ilā yevmi'l-ḳıyām", that is, until the Day of Resurrection. In the fourth couplet the names of paradise are listed. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "firdevs" as paradise, and in its entry "dâr" gives the phrase "dârü's-selâm" as "the house of safety", paradise; Eden (Adn) is named together with Firdaws in this couplet. The lover does not recall these paradises, for the beloved's street is paradise to him. The couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) has the word "fürūġ", which the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains as light, brightness, radiance: if the poet's speech lights up the gathering, the reason is that he has burned from head to foot like a candle. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between "şem‘" (candle), "fürūġ" (light), "sūz" (burning ardour) and "yanmak" (to burn).

Bibliography

Online sources