Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Siḥr ile gözüñ ḳılsa ne var göñlümi ġāret
Remz ile ḳılur la‘l-i lebüñ her dem işāret
Ġāyetde ḫarāb olmış idi mülk-i dil ammā
Sulṭān-ı ḫayālüñle yine oldı ‘imāret
Bir görme raḳībüñle kerem ḳıl bizi ey dost
‘Uşşāḳa yazuḳdur kim ola böyle ḥaḳāret
İderse revā ḳaşları miḥrābına secde
Şol kimse k’ide ḫūn-ı ciger birle ṭahāret
Cān ile göñül mümkin ise būse lebinden
Ḳılmaya Semerḳanda varan böyle ticāret
Luṭf it ḫaber-i yārı Münīrīye dem-ā-dem
Sensin bugün ey bād-ı ṣabā peyk-i beşāret

In English

1. What if your eye plunders my heart with magic; your ruby lips too give veiled signs at every moment.

2. The realm of the heart had been utterly ruined; but with the sultan of your image it has flourished again.

3. O friend, be kind, do not count us the same as your rival; it is a pity that lovers should be insulted so.

4. Whoever performs ablution with the blood of his liver may rightly bow down to the prayer niche of your eyebrows.

5. If heart and soul could obtain a kiss from his lips, (even the merchant) who travels to Samarkand could not make such a bargain.

6. O morning breeze, be kind, bring news of the beloved to Münîrî every moment; today you are the courier of glad tidings.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a six-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the twenty-sixth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 26). The metre is "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif); the rhyme is the sounds "-āret": ġāret, işāret, ‘imāret, ḥaḳāret, ṭahāret, ticāret, beşāret. When describing the kinds of rhyme, Ersoy gives the opening couplet of this ghazal among the examples of kafiye-i müessese, rhyme built with an elif (the tesis letter) separated from the rhyme letter by a voweled letter. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 104b), Vienna (VY 86b) and Istanbul University (Ü 22a) manuscripts; according to the apparatus VT and Ü read "raḳīb ile" instead of "raḳībüñle" in the third couplet. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet (matla) the eye is named as a sorcerer and the lips as a signaller who speaks in veiled terms. The eye plunders the heart with magic; the lips give "remz", hidden signs, at every moment. The words "siḥr" (magic) and "ġāret" (plunder), and "remz" (hint) and "işāret" (sign), form a congruence of images (tenasüp) two by two. The beloved's face speaks a language both dangerous and alluring.

The second couplet is built on the comparison of a country. The heart is a ruined country; the beloved's image is a sultan who comes to this country, and with his coming the country flourishes again. There is an open contrast between "ḫarāb" (ruined) and "‘imāret" (prosperity). Sultan, country and prosperity form a well-known frame in divan poetry for the beloved's rule over the heart.

In the third couplet the lover complains of being counted the same as the rival. The rival is, in divan poetry, the person the lover despises most; to be counted with him is therefore an insult. The reading "raḳīb ile" in VT and Ü does not change the meaning.

The fourth couplet is built with words of worship: "ṭahāret" (ablution, purity), "secde" (prostration) and "miḥrāb" (prayer niche). The likening of the eyebrow to the prayer niche is common in divan poetry. The lover who performs ablution with the blood of his liver, that is, who weeps blood from his pain, is worthy to bow down to the prayer niche of the eyebrow. Bearing in mind that ablution cannot be made with blood, the couplet says with a subtle paradox that love lays down its own rules; this interpretation is our own inference.

In the fifth couplet Samarkand is named as the city of merchants who travel far roads. The lover counts giving his heart and soul in return for a kiss from the beloved's lips the most profitable trade. In the pen-name couplet the morning breeze is called "peyk-i beşāret", the courier of glad tidings. The word "beşāret", while completing the rhyme, also recalls the breeze's office as messenger in divan poetry.

Bibliography

Online sources