Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Nergis-i mestüñ ki dil mülkine ṣaldı velvele
Düşdi tīr-i ġamzeñ ile cismüme hep zelzele
Dil raḳīb-i bed-nijādı didi kūyuñda görüp
Gül-şen-i cennetde n’eyler ite besdür mezbele
İki ‘ālem varlıġın yoluñda terk itdi göñül
Bu ne istiġnādur ol kim geçmedi bir ḫardala
Dil dehānı sırrınuñ bir ḥarfini fehm itmeden
‘Iḳd-ı zülfine ṭolaşdı müşkil oldı mes’ele
Āh-ı dil-sūzum yetişdi göklere beñzer Münīr
K’oldı şöyle gül-şen-i nīlūferī pür-meş‘ale

In English

1. Because of your drunken narcissus (eye), which has thrown the realm of the heart into tumult (velvele), an earthquake (zelzele) has struck my whole body with the arrow of your glance.

2. Seeing the base-natured rival in your street, the heart said: "What is a dog doing in the rose garden of paradise? A dunghill is enough for it."

3. On your path the heart gave up the existence of both worlds; what disdain is this, that she did not count it worth even a mustard seed?

4. Before the heart understood a single letter of the secret of your mouth, it became entangled in the knot of your curl; the problem became hard (to solve).

5. Münîr, it seems my heart-burning sigh has reached the heavens, for the lotus-coloured rose garden (the sky) has thus filled with torches (stars).

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and fifty-fifth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 255). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The number of this ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains in the introduction; the rhyme rests on the sounds "-ele, -ala": velvele, zelzele, mezbele, ḫardala, mes’ele and meş‘ale. Most of the rhyme words are of Arabic origin. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 158b, VY 136b, Ü 54a); 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 sets two onomatopoeic words side by side. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "velvele" as noise, uproar, and "zelzele" as earthquake, tremor of the earth, and records that both are formed in Arabic in imitation of sound. According to the same dictionary "nergis" (narcissus) figuratively means the beloved's eye, and the phrase "nergis-i fettân" (the seductive eye) is given as an example. The drunken eye throws the realm of the heart into uproar, and the arrow of the glance shakes the body; a congruence of images (tenasüp) is set up between realm, uproar and earthquake.

In the second couplet the beloved's street is likened to the rose garden of paradise, and the rival to a dog. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "mezbele" as a place where rubbish is thrown, a refuse heap; there is a sharp contrast (tezat) between the garden of paradise and the dunghill. In the third couplet the word "istiġnā", which the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains as "behaving coyly toward something, disdaining to stoop", describes the beloved's attitude. The same dictionary gives the phrase "hardal tanesi" (mustard seed) as figuratively meaning a very small thing. The heart has sacrificed both worlds at once, while the beloved has not valued this sacrifice even as much as a mustard seed.

The fourth couplet carries the language of the madrasa: the words "ḥarf" (letter), "fehm" (understanding), "müşkil" (difficult) and "mes’ele" (problem) evoke lessons and disputation (our observation). The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "ukde" as knot and, figuratively, a hard matter, a problem difficult to solve; the word "‘ıḳd" in the couplet is close to "ukde" in sound and sense and describes the knot of the curl (our observation). The beloved's mouth is so small that it is a secret; before the heart can solve this secret, it is caught in the knot of the curl. In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the lover's sigh rises to the sky, and the stars burn there like torches. In its entry "nilüfer" the Kubbealtı Lugatı records that this plant has white, pink, blue and yellow flowers; "gül-şen-i nīlūferī" (the lotus-coloured rose garden) here describes the blue sky (our observation). There is also an affinity between the meaning of the pen name "Münīr" (luminous) and the word "meş‘ale" (torch).

Bibliography

Online sources