Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün

Dil tīġ-i ġamzeñi kim ider her dem ārzū
Beñzer şu ḫasteye ki diye tā ölüce ṣu
Bāġ-ı behişte her dem izüñ tozın iletür
Bād-ı nesīm anuñ-çün olur şöyle müşk-bū
Bilüñ ḫayāliyile gönül şöyle ṭoldı kim
Ṣıġmaz gelürse daḫı aña bir ḫayāl-i mū
Zāhid ṣanur ki pend ile ‘ışḳı terk idem
İder mi ölmeyince kişi hīc terk-i ḫū
Götürme yüzüñi izi tozından ey Münīr
İki cihānda ḥāṣıl idem dirseñ āb-ı rū

In English

1. The heart's longing every moment for the sword of your glance is like a sick man who keeps crying "water" until he dies (the sword too has its "water", that is, its sheen and edge).

2. Every moment the morning breeze carries the dust of your footprint to the garden of paradise; that is why it is so musk-scented.

3. The heart is so filled with the image of your waist that if the image of a single hair more came to it, there would be no room.

4. The ascetic supposes that I will give up love because of his counsel; does a man ever give up his nature before he dies?

5. O Münîr, if you wish to gain honour (the water of the face) in both worlds, do not lift your face from the dust of the beloved's footprint.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and thirty-ninth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 239). The metre is "mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on "-ū": ārzū, ṣu, müşk-bū, mū, ḫū and āb-ı rū. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 154b, VY 129a, Ü 51a). The only variant reading is in the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas): "dirseñ" (if you say) appears in VT and Ü as "dirsem" (if I say); with this reading the poet speaks in his own voice, "if I wish to gain honour". It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the glance is a sword, and the heart longs for this sword like a sick man parched with thirst. In its entry "âb" (water) the Kubbealtı Lugatı records the phrase "âb-ı tîğ": the water given to the steel when a sword is made, and figuratively the sword's edge and sheen. There is a double entendre (tevriye) between the sick man's crying for "water" and the sword's "water"; with a mortal thirst the lover in fact longs for the sword (our observation).

The second couplet is an example of hüsn-i talil (fanciful aetiology). The musk scent of the morning breeze is explained by its carrying the dust of the beloved's footprint to paradise. The Kubbealtı explains "müşk-bû" as musk-scented and gives an example from Fuzûlî. The soil of the beloved's path is counted more precious than paradise.

In the third couplet the conceit of the slender waist is worked out through hyperbole. The image of the waist is as thin as a hair, yet it has filled the heart so completely that there is no room for the image of one more hair. This contrast (tezat) between slenderness and fullness is the subtlety of the couplet.

The fourth couplet rests on a proverb. In its entry "can" (soul) the Kubbealtı records as an example the saying "Can çıkar, huy çıkmaz" (the soul departs, but not one's nature). Münîrî turns this saying against the ascetic: love has become the lover's nature and he can part from it only in death. According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Münîrî is among the poets counted successful in the tradition of setting proverbs and idioms into poetry; this couplet is an example of irsal-i mesel (use of a proverb).

The mahlas couplet returns to the water image of the opening. The Kubbealtı explains "âbırû" as the water of the face; honour, dignity. The poet says that by not lifting his face from the dust of the beloved's footprint, that is, through humility, honour is gained in both worlds. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among "face", "dust" and "āb-ı rū", and a contrast (tezat) in a face rubbed in the dust gaining honour. In the ghazal, water is placed at the beginning and the end, between "ṣu" in the opening couplet and "āb" in the mahlas couplet (our observation).

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