Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün fe‘ūlün

Ne deñlü ḳıldum ise istiḫāre
Görünmez tevbe cām-ı la‘l-i yāre
Fiġān u nālem aṣlā itmedi kār
‘Aceb dil mi bu ya ḫod seng-i ḫāre
Ciger ḫūn oldı tīr-i ġamzeñ ile
Dökilür gözlerümden pāre pāre
Bugün ‘arż-ı cemāl it dime ferdā
Ki döymez cān-ı ‘āşıḳ intiẓāre
Nebāt-ı la‘lin añdum didi ol yār
Şeker mi istenür def‘-i ḫumāre
Yüzüñ mihriyle her ḥāli Münīrüñ
Cihānda gün gibi oldı āşkāre

In English

1. However often I have slept seeking a sign in a dream (istihare), no repentance from the beloved's ruby cup (her lip) appears to me (no sign of repentance comes in my dreams).

2. My cries and laments have had no effect at all; I wonder, is this a heart or a very hard stone?

3. My liver has turned to blood from the arrow of your glance; it pours from my eyes piece by piece.

4. Show your beauty today, do not say "tomorrow"; for the lover's soul cannot bear to wait.

5. I mentioned the ruby sugar of her lip; the beloved said, "Is sugar asked for to cure a hangover?"

6. Through the sun (and the love) of your face, every state of Münîr has become as plain as day in the world.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a six-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and sixty-third of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 263). The metre is "mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün fe‘ūlün"; this is a shorter measure of three feet, compared with the four-foot patterns used in most of the ghazals. The number of this ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains; the rhyme rests on the sound "-āre" in the words "istiḫāre, yāre, ḫāre, pāre, intiẓāre, ḫumāre, āşkāre", and the ghazal appears to have no redif (refrain word) (our observation). The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 160b, VY 137a, Ü 54b) and in the Pervâne Bey Anthology (PB 533b). According to the edition's apparatus, "itmedi" in the second couplet appears as "ḳılmadı" in VT and PB; the fifth couplet is not in PB. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet draws a religious practice towards the meaning of the rind, the free-spirited drinker. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains istihare as going to sleep after ablution and prayer in order to learn from a dream whether an undertaking will turn out well. The lover has slept seeking such a dream many times to learn whether repenting of wine and of the beloved's lip would be good for him, but has seen no sign of repentance in his dreams. The phrase "cām-ı la‘l" describes both the ruby-coloured cup and the beloved's lip; this pairing of drink and lip continues through the ghazal.

In the second couplet the beloved's heart is likened to a stone. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains the word "hârâ – hâre", when used of stone, as very hard, and gives the phrase "seng-i hârâ" with example couplets. The failure of the lover's cries to have any effect raises the question whether this heart is really a heart or a hard stone; there is also a closeness of sound between "ḫāre" in the rhyme and "istiḫāre" in the opening couplet. In the third couplet the liver turning to blood and pouring "pāre pāre" (piece by piece) from the eyes is a hyperbole resting on the convention of divan poetry that tears are the blood of the liver.

The contrast between "bugün" (today) and "ferdā" (tomorrow) in the fourth couplet voices an impatient demand. The fifth couplet is a small scene of conversation. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "humar" as the headache and dizziness that follow drinking. When the lover mentions the sugar of the beloved's lip, the beloved answers with a mocking question: what cures a hangover is not sugar but more wine. With this answer the sugar of the lip is refused and the lover is turned back to wine, that is, to another face of the lip (our interpretation). It is worth noting that this couplet is missing in PB.

In the pen-name couplet the word "mihr" carries a double entendre (tevriye). The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains it both as the sun and, figuratively, as love, friendship. The beloved's face is a sun and the lover's love also springs from it; so Münîr's state has come out into the open "gün gibi", as plain as day. In its entry "âşikâr" the Kubbealtı illustrates the usage "gün gibi âşikâr" (as plain as day); by linking this idiom to "mihr" in the sense of sun, the poet sets up a congruence of images (tenasüp).

Bibliography

Online sources