Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Şol ki biñ cān alur ey dil gül gibi bir ḫandeye
Raḥm idüp n’ola gülümserse ‘aceb ben bendeye
Gördügüm gibi leb-i gül-nāruña cān virdigüm
Nesne virmek ‘ādetā vardur kişi ṭurfandaya
Hīc baḳmaz ḫāk-i pāyüñde dile zülf-i ḫamuñ
Ger k’ideyidi naẓar kendü gibi efgendeye
Dikdi göz ḫaddüñe zülfüñden gider göñlüm velī
Dün içinde gitmek olmaz āteş-i tābendeye
Mihr-i ruḫsārına ḳarşu virdüñ āḫir cānuñı
Minnetüñ yoḳ mı Münīrī ṭāli‘-i ferḫundeye

In English

1. O heart, that beauty who takes a thousand lives with a laugh like a rose: if out of mercy he smiled at me, his slave, would it be a wonder?

2. As soon as I saw your lip like pomegranate blossom, I gave my life to it; it is the custom for a man to give something for the first fruit of the season (turfanda).

3. Your curving curl never looks at the heart lying in the dust of your feet; would that it had once looked upon one fallen like itself.

4. My heart has fixed its eye on your cheek and makes its way (to it) through your curl; but one cannot go to a blazing fire in the night.

5. Münîrî, at last you gave your life before the sun of his cheek; do you owe no gratitude to your auspicious fortune?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and eighty-third of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 283). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". In the list of refrains in his introduction Ersoy gives the refrain of this ghazal as "-E"; the rhyme rests on the sounds "-nde" and "-nda": ḫande, bende, ṭurfanda, efgende, tābende and ferḫunde. Most of the rhyme words are Persian; "turfanda", according to the Kubbealtı Lugatı, comes from the Persian "tervende". The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 165a, VY 142a, Ü 53a). The only variant recorded in the edition concerns the order of the couplets: the third and fourth couplets change places in the Ü manuscript. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between laughter and the rose: the beloved takes a thousand lives with a laugh that opens like a rose. The lover names himself with the word "bende", which the Kubbealtı explains as slave, servant, and expects from the beloved only a smile. The rhyme of "ḫande" (laugh) and "bende" (slave) is also close in sound.

The second couplet rests on an everyday custom. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "turfanda" as fruit or vegetables grown before their season or at the beginning of the season, and quotes from Fâik Reşat a scene in which a man bringing early marrows is asked "how much reward do you want in return for your gift?" It is a known custom to give a tip in return for first fruit; so the lover gave his life to the beloved's lip, like pomegranate blossom, at first sight. The lip is the fresh first fruit, and the life is its price.

In the third couplet the epithet "ḫam", which the Kubbealtı explains as curved, bent, qualifies the curl; the same dictionary explains "efgende" as fallen, wretched, helpless and enamoured. The curl hangs down, that is, it too has "fallen"; the heart, too, has fallen into the dust of the beloved's feet. The curl's not looking at the heart, fallen like itself, becomes a reproach through this kinship (our observation). The fourth couplet uses the word "dün", for which the Kubbealtı records the Old Turkish sense of night, with the example "dün içi: night-time". The curl is night, and the cheek is a fire that is "tâbende", which the Kubbealtı explains as shining; to walk towards a fire in the darkness of night is dangerous.

In the pen-name couplet the word "mihr", which the Kubbealtı explains both as sun and as love, is used with the cheek; the sun of the cheek also calls up the meaning of love (our observation). The Kubbealtı explains "tâli‘" as rising and as fortune, luck, and "ferhunde" as auspicious, blessed. Sun, rising and fortune form a congruence of images (tenasüp): the lover has given his life before the sun-like cheek and counts this an auspicious fortune.

Bibliography

Online sources