Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

İḥyā-yı la‘l-i nābuña inkār ider faḳīh
Bilmez ne remz idügini sırr-ı nefaḫtü fīh
‘Uşşāḳ-ı nükte-dānuñ irilmez ḫayāline
İtme mücādele benüm ile sen ey faḳīh
Hem-demlik ile ‘ārife zāhid ḳaçan döner
Hem-riştelikle dürre şebe olamaz şebīh
Sūz-ı derūn yürek yaġın eritdise ne ġam
Şem‘ olamazdı rūşen eritmeseyidi pīh
Dīvāne göñlümün ḫaberin virdi bād-ı ṣubḥ
Sevdā-yı zülf-i yār ile olmış oñat sefīh
Ṣaḥrā-yı ‘ışḳuñ içre göñül vehm ider belī
Vaḥşet virür kişiye tehī olsa şöyle tīh
Mülk-i ḳanā‘at ehli ‘aceb ẕevḳ ider Münīr
Ṭūbā li-sākinīh vü büşrā li-zāviyīh

In English

1. The jurist (faqih) denies the life-giving power of your pure ruby lip; he does not know what mystery the secret of "nefaḫtü fīh" ("I breathed into him [of My spirit]") holds.

2. The thoughts of lovers who understand subtle points cannot be reached; O jurist, do not dispute with me.

3. When does the ascetic become a gnostic ('ārif) by keeping company (with gnostics)? Şebe (as we understand it, a dark, worthless stone) does not become like a pearl by being strung on the same thread.

4. If the burning within has melted the fat of my heart, what grief? The candle could not be bright had it not melted its tallow.

5. The morning breeze brought news of my mad heart: through its passion for the beloved's curl it has grown utterly foolish.

6. Yes, in the desert of love the heart is seized by imaginings (and fear); a wilderness gives a man dread and desolation when it is thus empty.

7. Münîr, the people of the realm of contentment enjoy a wondrous delight: "Blessed is the one who dwells there, and glad tidings to the one who keeps to its corner."

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a seven-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and fifty-seventh of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 257). The metre is "mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün". The number of this ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains in the introduction; the rhyme rests on "-īh": faḳīh, fīh, şebīh, pīh, sefīh, tīh and zāviyīh. The word "faḳīh" serves twice as rhyme, in the opening and second couplets. The second line of the pen-name couplet ("Ṭūbā li-sākinīh vü büşrā li-zāviyīh") is in Arabic; the "nefaḫtü fīh" of the opening couplet is also an Arabic phrase. The ghazal is found in two divan manuscripts (VT 159a, VY 132a). The edition's only variant reading is in the opening couplet: "Bilmez" (he does not know) appears in VT as "Bilmez mi" (does he not know); with this reading the line becomes a question. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal takes as its subject the dispute between the lover and the jurist and ascetic. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "fakih" as a scholar of Islamic law (fiqh), and "ihyâ" as bringing to life and, in Sufism, reviving dead hearts with faith, love and gnosis. The phrase "nefaḫtü fīh" in the opening couplet is an iktibas (quotation from the Qur'an): in verse 29 of the sura al-Hijr God says of man, "When I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My spirit" (rendered from the Diyanet translation); the Arabic text has "ve nefaḫtü fīhi min rūḥī". In its entry "nefh" the Kubbealtı explains the phrase "nefh-i ruh" as breathing a soul, giving a soul, and quotes a couplet by Yenişehirli Avnî that speaks of reviving the dead through "nefh-i Îsâ" (the breath of Jesus). The life-giving power of the beloved's lip is tied to this divine breath; but the jurist, looking only at the outward, does not understand this mystery.

In the second couplet the epithet "nükte-dân", which the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains as "witty, one who speaks with subtle wit", is given to the lovers; to dispute with the jurist is pointless. The third couplet has the character of irsal-i mesel (use of a proverbial saying). The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "ârif" as very perceptive, one who truly knows, possessed of gnosis, and "rişte" as thread. Just as a stone strung on the same thread as a pearl does not become a pearl, so the ascetic who sits with gnostics does not become a gnostic. We understand the word "şebe" as a black and worthless stone; we could not find an explanation of this word in the dictionaries (our reading). In the fourth couplet the lover likens himself to a candle: the candle gives light by melting its fat, and the lover is illumined by melting the fat of his heart. From the context we understand the word "pīh" as tallow (our reading).

In the fifth couplet the word "sevdā", for which the Kubbealtı Lugatı records the senses of love and of black melancholy (melancholia), is also linked with the blackness of the curl. The same dictionary explains "onat" as good, thorough, and "sefih" as foolish, given to pleasure. In the sixth couplet the Kubbealtı gives "tîh" as desert, and "vahşet" as both wildness and desolation, loneliness; the empty desert fills a man with dread, and the heart in the desert of love falls prey to imaginings. In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) contentment is conceived as a realm. The Kubbealtı explains "tûbâ" as an exclamation meaning "how blessed" and as the great tree believed to stand in paradise, "büşrâ" as glad tidings, and "zâviye" as corner and, historically, a dervish lodge. The Arabic line blesses the one who dwells in the realm of contentment and the one who withdraws to a corner of it; the word "zāviye" here also calls to mind the corner of the dervish in retreat (our observation).

Bibliography

Primary sources

Official sources

Books

  • Kubbealtı Lugatı (Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük), entries "fakih", "ihyâ", "nefh", "nüktedan", "ârif", "rişte", "sevdâ", "onat", "sefih", "tîh", "vahşet", "tûbâ", "büşrâ" and "zâviye". https://lugatim.com/s/tûbâ

Online sources