Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dil Türk-i çeşmüñüñ ki döyer küll-i cebrine
Söz yoḳ bu ḫaste göñlümüñ el-ḳıṣṣa ṣabrına
İḳlīm-i cānı ṭutdı gözi ẓulm ile tamām
Dil milketine ġamzesi girdise cebrine
Rūbeh-ṣıfat kenār budur ṭutduġum müdām
Āhū-yı çeşm pençe urar dil hizebrine
Gerçek ṣanınca ‘ahd-i raḳīb ile zülfüñi
İnansa yeg durur kişi Rumili gebrine
Şem‘-i mezārını bile götürdi bes Münīr
Aldı ḫayāl-i ḫaddüñi çün gitdi ḳabrine

In English

1. The heart endures all the tyranny of your Turk (cruel) eye; in short, there are no words for the patience of this sick heart.

2. His eye has seized the whole realm of the soul through oppression; if his glance entered the kingdom of the heart by force (no wonder).

3. The reason I always keep to the edge like a fox is this: the gazelle eye (of the beloved) strikes its paw at the lion of the heart.

4. Rather than believe the rival's oath and your curl to be true, a man had better trust an infidel of Rumelia.

5. Münîr took even the candle of his tomb along with him; for when he went to his grave, he took the image of your cheek with him.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and seventy-eighth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 278). The metre is "mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün". In the list of refrains in his introduction Ersoy places this ghazal under the refrain "-İne". The rhyme rests on the sound "-br": cebr, ṣabr, cebr, hizebr, gebr and ḳabr; the word "cebr" serves twice as rhyme, in the opening and second couplets. Most of the rhyme words are of Arabic origin; "gebr" is Persian. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 164a, VY 139a, Ü 56a); the edition records no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first two couplets of the ghazal present the beloved's eye as a conqueror. For the word "Türk" the Kubbealtı Lugatı records the sense, when said of the beloved, of a cruel, bloodthirsty person, as an allusion to the beloved's great cruelty and torment; it also gives the Old Turkish verb "döymek", to endure, to bear, with an example from Fuzûlî. The same dictionary explains "cebr" as compulsion, the use of force. The eye has taken the realm of the soul through oppression, and the glance has entered the kingdom of the heart by force. The words "iklîm" (realm), "mülk" (kingdom), "zulüm" (oppression) and "cebr" (force) build a picture of conquest.

The third couplet rests on a contrast (tezat). The Kubbealtı explains "rûbah" as fox and, figuratively, a cunning person, "âhû" as gazelle and, figuratively, a large and beautiful eye, and "hizber" as lion. The gazelle, a timid animal, strikes its paw at the lion; even the lion of the heart is defeated by the beloved's gazelle eye. Seeing this, the lover keeps to the edge like a fox. In this couplet the places of hunter and prey have been reversed (our observation).

The fourth couplet uses the word "gebr", which the Kubbealtı explains as a Zoroastrian, a fire-worshipper, noting that in the official language of the Ottoman state its plural "gebrân" denoted non-Muslims. The rival's oath and the beloved's curl are joined in untrustworthiness; a man had better trust an infidel of Rumelia than believe them. The association of the black curl with unbelief in the older poetry supports this comparison (our observation). The pen-name couplet contains a scene of death: candles are lit at graves, and Münîr, having taken with him the image of the beloved's shining cheek, has carried his own tomb candle along. There is a simile between cheek and candle resting on the light they share.

Bibliography

Online sources