Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Nā-geh ki görine göñül ol ḳāmet ü ebrū
Feryād-ı Te‘ālallāh olur derd ile her sū
Geldükçe ḫayāl-i ḫaṭuñ aġladuġı çeşmüm
Elbette yaşardur göz içinde biticek mū
Biñ kerre ḥarem ḥalḳasına irdi ṣanurdum
Bir kez ki gireydi ele bu ḥalḳa-i gīsū
İzüm tozını eşküñe virür idüm o da dir
Oġlandur ider kendüye sāyıllıġı ol ḫū
Şeb-revligini göreli zülf-i siyehüñüñ
Vehm itdi daḫı gözlerüme girmedi uyḫu
Dil ḫāk-i rehüñden ki hemān ayrıla ölür
Gūyā ki semek gibi ḥayātıdur anuñ ṣu
Seyrān-gehi çün gül-şen-i cān oldı Münīrī
Bes fāḫte gibi niçe bir na‘ra-i kū kū

In English

1. When the heart suddenly sees that stature and that brow, the cry "Teâlallah" (God is exalted) rises in pain on every side.

2. Whenever the image of your down comes, my eye weeps; surely an eye waters when a hair sprouts within it.

3. Had the ring of these locks once fallen into my hand, I would have thought I had reached the ring of the Haram (the Kaaba) a thousand times.

4. The couplet can be read in two ways: "I used to give the dust of my footprint to your tears; and that one says, 'He is a boy, he has made begging his habit'", or "I used to give the dust of my footprint to your tears; and that one says, 'With that habit the boy makes a beggar of himself'". The syntax of the lines is not clear.

5. Ever since it saw your dark locks walking by night (roaming like a night thief), sleep has grown wary and afraid, and has never again entered my eyes.

6. The heart dies the moment it is parted from the dust of your path; it is as if its life, like the life of a fish, were water.

7. Münîrî, since your strolling place has become the rose garden of the soul, how long will you go on crying "kû kû" like a turtledove?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a seven-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and fortieth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 240). The metre is "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on "-ū": ebrū, sū, mū, gīsū, ḫū, uyḫu, ṣu and kū kū. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 154b, VY 129a, Ü 51b), and the edition shows no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the cry "Teâlallah" rises on every side when the beloved's stature and brow are seen. The phrase expresses admiration by invoking the exaltedness of God and is given as a cry torn from the midst of pain. In the second couplet the down on the cheek is like a hair pricking the eye. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "ayva tüyü" (literally "quince down") as the fine fair hairs that first appear on the face. Just as the eye waters when a hair gets into it, the image of the down makes the lover weep. The same image occurs in the mahlas couplet of Ghazal 238 in the edition (our observation).

In the third couplet the ring of the locks is compared with the ring of the Haram. The Kubbealtı explains "harem" as a place no one may enter freely, a place to be revered; in its entry "Haremeyn" it writes that the word was used for the Kaaba and the Prophet's tomb, and for Mecca and Medina. To reach for the ring of the locks seems to the lover worth a thousand pilgrimages. The double use of "ḥalḳa" (ring) is a repetition (tekrir), and the closeness drawn between the Haram and the locks a hyperbole.

The meaning of the fourth couplet is not clear. The word "eşküñe" is read as "to your tears"; how the words "oġlan" (boy), "sāyıllıḳ" and "ḫū" (habit) in the second line are tied together is uncertain. The Kubbealtı explains "sâil" as one who asks and one who begs. In the translation we have given the two readings together; we have not bound the couplet to a single meaning.

The fifth couplet is an example of hüsn-i talil (fanciful aetiology). The Kubbealtı explains "şeb-rev" as one who goes by night, walks by night, a night traveller. The dark locks are like someone who roams at night; sleep, taking fright at this night walker, does not enter the lover's eyes. Sleeplessness is thus ascribed to the locks. In the sixth couplet the link between "semek", which the Kubbealtı explains as fish, and water becomes a simile: when the heart is parted from the dust of the beloved's path, it dies like a fish taken from water.

In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the poet likens himself to the turtledove. The Kubbealtı explains "fahte" as the turtledove and quotes couplets of Mesîhî and Koca Râgıb Paşa saying that this bird never rests in one place. That the lover who has reached the rose garden should still cry "kû kû" like a turtledove suggests a search that goes on even after union (our observation).

Bibliography

Online sources