Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Olmasa ezelden bu da ey dil bize ḳısmet
Öldürmez idi şöyle bizi cevr ile ‘İṣmet
Bī-çāre göñül çekdi elin cān u cihāndan
Derd-i ġam-ı yār ile ḳılur sīnede vaḥdet
Gerd-i rehini küḥl-i cilā-bīn idinürdüm
Bir kez elüme gireyidi ẕerrece furṣat
Her kişi yanar sūzuñ ile ḳanda deñersem
‘Işḳuña esīr olalı heftād ü dü millet
Ol la‘l-i revān-baḫş içün ey dost Münīrī
Biñ derd ile öldise n’ola cānına raḥmet

In English

1. O heart, had this too not been our lot from pre-eternity, İsmet (or: chastity) would not be killing us so with cruelty.

2. The helpless heart has withdrawn its hand from life and world; with the pain of sorrow for the beloved it keeps solitary retreat within the breast.

3. Had a mote of opportunity once come into my hands, I would have made the dust of his path a collyrium that brightens the eyes.

4. Since the seventy-two nations became captive to your love, wherever I go everyone burns with your fire.

5. O friend, if Münîrî died with a thousand pains for those life-giving ruby lips, what if mercy be upon his soul.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the twenty-eighth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 28). The metre is "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif); the rhyme is the sound "-et/-at": ḳısmet, ‘İṣmet, vaḥdet, furṣat, millet, raḥmet. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 105a) and Vienna (VY 85a) manuscripts; according to the apparatus VT reads "‘Işḳuñla" instead of "‘Işḳuña" in the fourth couplet. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The striking word of the opening couplet (matla) is "‘İṣmet". It is printed with a capital letter in the edition; Ersoy has read the word as a proper name. It is known that in divan poetry the beloved is sometimes addressed by a name, but the sources give no information on who this İsmet was. The word in its dictionary sense means "being kept from sin, chastity". Thus the line can be read in two ways: a beauty named İsmet kills the lover with cruelty, or the beloved's chastity, that is, his refusal to favour the lover, kills him. This double entendre (tevriye) is our own observation. The idea that fate was written in pre-eternity also enters the couplet with the words "ezel" (pre-eternity) and "ḳısmet" (lot).

In the second couplet the heart has withdrawn its hand from life and world. The word "vaḥdet" in its dictionary sense means unity, solitude, and in Sufism it brings to mind withdrawing into retreat. The heart is like a dervish who, with sorrow for the beloved, has withdrawn into solitude within the breast. The epithet "bī-çāre" (helpless) also suggests that this solitude is a necessity more than a chosen path; this interpretation is our own inference.

In the third couplet the dust of the path is likened to a collyrium that brightens the eye. To make the dust of the beloved's path into collyrium for the eye is a well-known idea in divan poetry expressing the lover's devotion and humility. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between "ẕerre" (mote) and "gerd" (dust).

In the fourth couplet the phrase "heftād ü dü millet" (the seventy-two nations) occurs. In its dictionary sense this phrase is used for all communities of faith, that is, for all mankind. Since all people are captive to the beloved's love, wherever the lover goes he finds someone burning with his fire. In the VT reading "‘Işḳuñla" the meaning turns into "since they became captive through your love".

In the pen-name couplet dying for "revān-baḫş" (life-giving) lips sets up a contrast. The lips that give life have taken the lover's life. The phrase "cānına raḥmet" (mercy upon his soul) is the formula of prayer said for one who has died, and the poet uses this formula for his own death.

Bibliography

Online sources