Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Gerçi yetişdi ciger-kūşe yaşum ‘izzet ile
Şimdi sāyıllıġ ile ‘ömri geçer ẕillet ile
Beñzerem didügi-çün çeşme-i cān leblerüñe
Āb-ı zemzem yire geçdi utanup ḫaclet ile
Reşk-i ‘uşşāḳ ile cān virdise zāhid n’ola kim
Ḫıralıḳla dirilen lā-büd ölür miḥnet ile
Himmet it yüzümi sürem işigine göñül
Ḫod bilürsin k’irilür ‘arşa yüce himmet ile
Şeş cihetden ki yanarsın ṭutuşup şöyle Münīr
Yidi iḳlīmi ṭutarsın gibi bu şöhret ile

In English

1. My tear, a darling of my liver (a beloved child), grew up in honour; but now it spends its life in beggary (and also in flowing away), in abasement.

2. Because it claimed to resemble your lips, the fount of life, the water of Zemzem sank into the ground for shame and embarrassment.

3. If the ascetic gave up his soul from envy of the lovers, what of it? One who lives in folly (or in obstinacy) is bound to die in torment.

4. O heart, make an effort (himmet), so that I may rub my face upon her threshold; you know yourself that the Throne (the highest heaven) is reached by lofty aspiration.

5. Münîr, since you burn thus, set alight from all six directions, it is as though you would seize the seven climes with this fame.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and fifty-fourth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 254). The metre is "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". Ersoy's list of refrains gives the redif (refrain word) of this ghazal as "ile"; the rhyme rests on "-et": ‘izzet, ẕillet, ḫaclet, miḥnet, himmet and şöhret. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 158a, VY 136a, Ü 53b); no variant readings are recorded in the edition. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet rests on a subtle conceit that personifies the tear. In its entry "ciğer" the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "ciğerimin köşesi" (the corner of my liver) as a term of address for someone dearly loved, and "ciğerpâre" as a child loved like the corner of one's liver. The tear that breaks away from the liver is a child the lover has raised in honour. The word "sāyıllıġ" contains a pun (cinas): the Kubbealtı Lugatı gives "sâil" in separate entries both as beggar and as flowing, fluid. Because the tear is spilt on the ground, it is both flowing away and crawling on the ground like a beggar; there is also a contrast (tezat) between the ‘izzet (honour) of the first line and the ẕillet (abasement) of the second.

The second couplet rests on hüsn-i ta‘lîl (poetic aetiology). The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "zemzem" as the holy water drawn from the famous well beside the Kaaba, and the idiom "yerin dibine geçmek" (to sink into the ground) as to be greatly ashamed. The fact that Zemzem, as well water, lies beneath the ground is explained by the poet as its having sunk into the earth for shame after presuming to resemble the beloved's lip. In the third couplet the lovers and the ascetic are set against each other; there is a contrast between "cān virmek" (to give up one's soul), "dirilmek" (to live) and "ölmek" (to die). We understand the word "ḫıralıḳ" in this line as folly, starting from the senses "dazed" and "hîre-ser: stupefied, foolish" in the Kubbealtı Lugatı's entry "hîre"; the reading is not certain (our reading).

In the fourth couplet the word "himmet" is used twice. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains it as help, effort and the spiritual power of saints, and quotes Bâkî's line "Bu mesel-i meşhûrdur dağlar dayanmaz himmete" (it is a well-known saying that mountains cannot withstand resolve); Münîrî's words "the Throne is reached by lofty aspiration" have a similar proverbial air. The Kubbealtı gives "arş" as the highest heaven; there is also a contrast between threshold and Throne. The couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) is built on numbers. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "şeş cihet" as the six directions, every side, and "heft iklim" as the seven climes, the seven regions. The fame of the lover set alight from six directions spreads over the seven climes; a congruence of images (tenasüp) is set up between six and seven.

Bibliography

Online sources