Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün

Bir laḥẓa ḫayālüñ ki gide dīde-i terden
Hergiz meded ummaz daḫı dil nūr-ı baṣardan
Şāyed ki yüzüñ ḳıblesine ḳarşu virem cān
Bir sā‘at ıraġ olma iñen gitme naẓardan
Āh itdigüme gülse ‘aceb mi leb-i la‘lüñ
Bes ġonca-i terdür açılur bād-ı seḥerden
Her ḳanda dilerse ṣalınur bāġ-ı ruḫuñda
Zülfüñ gül-i ḫaddüñ yolına geçdise serden
‘Aḳs-i ruḫ-ı cānāndur iden ‘ālemi rūşen
Sen ṣanma Münīr anı k’olur mihr ü ḳamerden

In English

1. Should your image leave my wet eye for a single moment, the heart would never again hope for help from the light of sight.

2. Perhaps I shall give up my soul facing the qibla of your face; do not be far even for an hour, never go from my sight.

3. Is it any wonder if your ruby lip laughs when I sigh; for it is a fresh rosebud, and it opens with the breeze of dawn.

4. If your locks have given up their head (laid down their life) on the way of your rosy cheek, they sway wherever they please in the garden of your face.

5. What lights up the world is the reflection of the beloved's face; Münîr, do not suppose that it comes from the sun and the moon.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and thirty-sixth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 236). The metre is "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". In the redif list of his introduction Ersoy gives the redif (refrain word) of this ghazal as "-dan"; in keeping with Turkish vowel harmony the suffix always takes the form "-den" in this ghazal. The rhyme rests on "-er": ter, baṣar, seḥer, ser and ḳamer. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 154a, VY 129a, Ü 50b). The variant readings are in the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas): the word "Sen" (you) appears in VY and Ü as "Bes" (so, then), and "k'olur" appears in Ü as "olur". It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built on sight and light. In the opening couplet a bond is made between the eye and the image: when the beloved's image leaves the eye, the eye's own light is of no use. The words "dīde" (eye), "nūr-ı baṣar" (light of sight) and "naẓar" (glance) form a congruence of images (tenasüp) across the first two couplets.

In the second couplet the beloved's face is a qibla (the direction of prayer). The Kubbealtı Lugatı also records the figurative sense of "kıble" as a place of refuge, a place held sacred. The lover hopes to give up his soul turned towards this qibla; for this reason he asks that the beloved never leave his sight even for a moment. The thought of turning towards the qibla at the hour of death lends the couplet a religious weight.

The third couplet is an example of hüsn-i talil (fanciful aetiology). The lover's sigh is a breeze, and the beloved's lip is a rosebud. The Kubbealtı writes that "gonca" (rosebud) was used in our literature for the beloved and for the beloved's mouth. As the bud opens with the dawn breeze, so the beloved's lip smiles at the lover's sigh. There is a double entendre (tevriye) here between laughing and opening.

In the fourth couplet the idiom "serden geçmek" is used in both its senses. The Kubbealtı explains the idiom "ser vermek – serden geçmek" as facing death for the sake of a cause. The locks, coming down from the beloved's head (ser) towards the cheek, literally pass from the head; at the same time they are like a lover who has given his life on the cheek's way. In return for this sacrifice they sway as they please in the garden of the cheek (our observation).

In the mahlas couplet the poet ties the light of the sun and moon to the reflection of the beloved's face. The Kubbealtı explains "akis – aks" as the return of light striking a body, a reflection. This hyperbole, saying that all the brightness of the world comes from the beloved, completes the ghazal's design built on eye and light. According to the Kubbealtı the pen name "Münīr" also means illuminating, giving light; there is a link between the poet's name and the couplet's theme of brightness (our observation).

Bibliography

Online sources