Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün fe‘ūlün

Ḫayāl-i dil-küşāña çeşm-i rūşen
Gözüm nūrı yarar kim ola mesken
Ne cenk ider gözüñ cān almaġ içün
Ṭururken ara yirde vech-i ḥasen
Raḳībüñ sözlerin kim fikr ider dil
Ṣanasın var yürekde niçe demren
Ḫayālüñ ḫaylini sīnemde görüp
Açıldı ara yirden göñlüm irken
Münīrī nār-ı ‘ışḳa yanma dirseñ
Ol iş bitdi göñül var fāriġ ol sen

In English

1. For your heart-opening image, this bright eye, the light of my eye, is fit to be a dwelling.

2. Why does your eye wage war to take a life, when a beautiful face stands between? (The couplet reads two ways: a lovely face stands between the two eyes; or a fair way, "vech-i hasen", lies ready to take the life without fighting.)

3. The heart that dwells on the rival's words, you would think there were many arrowheads in its core.

4. Seeing the troop of horsemen of your image in my breast, my heart opened a way and withdrew from the midst while it was still early. (The word may also be read "er iken": while it was still brave.)

5. Münîrî, if you tell me "do not burn in the fire of love": that matter is long finished; heart, go, and be free of it (give up that advice).

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and twentieth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 220). The metre is "mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün fe‘ūlün". There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on "-en": rūşen, mesken, ḥasen, demren, irken and sen. The ghazal is found only in the VT manuscript (149b); the edition records no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The main theme of the ghazal is the settling of the beloved's image in the lover's eye and heart. In the opening couplet the expressions "çeşm-i rūşen" (bright eye) and "gözüm nūrı" (the light of my eye) stand side by side; the light of the eye becomes a dwelling for the beloved's image. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among the words for eye, light and lodging. In the second couplet the beloved's eye is a warrior fighting to take a life. In its entry "ara" the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains the idiom "arada (ara yerde) kalmak" as falling into difficulty while trying to reconcile two parties. Münîrî's words "ara yirde" point to the face that lies between the two eyes, but they also recall a mediator standing between two warring sides. The phrase "vech-i ḥasen" seems to be used here as a pun (cinas): since the Kubbealtı Lugatı gives "vecih – vech" the senses both of face and of manner, way, the phrase can be read both as "a beautiful face" and as "a fair way, a fitting remedy" (our observation). Münîrî uses the same phrase as a rhyme word in the ghazal two numbers later (tg 224), in the line "Yüzüñi göster de al anı budur vech-i ḥasen".

In the third couplet the rival's words are likened to arrows lodged in the heart. The Kubbealtı Lugatı records "demren" as the form of "temren" found in older texts; the temren is the iron head of an arrow. In the fourth couplet there is a likeness of sound between "ḫayāl" (image) and "ḫayl" (troop of horsemen); the beloved's images are like a squadron of cavalry entering the breast, and the heart makes way for it and withdraws from the midst. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains the idiom "aradan çekilmek" as no longer taking part in a matter, cutting one's ties with it; the words "Açıldı ara yirden" are close to this idiom. We have read the word "irken" at the end of the line as "erken" (early); a reading "er iken" (while still brave) is also possible (our observation). In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the poet answers the advice that he should not burn in the fire of love: the matter is already past remedy. The words "Ol iş bitdi" (that matter is finished) are close to everyday speech. Whom the line addresses can also be understood in two ways: the heart may be answering someone who tells Münîrî "do not burn", or the poet may be telling his own heart "go, give it up".

Bibliography

Online sources