Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dūd-ı āhum birle çarḫuñ ṭondı şöyle nūrı āh
Ḳorḳaram k’āyīne-i ḫurşīd ola bir gün siyāh
Şöyle beñzer kim cihān-gīr olmaḳ ister yaşlarum
Cem‘ olup her yaña ṭurmaz gönderür ḫayl-i sipāh
Geç leb-i la‘linden ey dil ḳanuña ṣuṣama hīc
Ben saña didüm hele gitdi göñül benden günāh
Her ṭarafdan fetḥ-i bāb olurdı ben bī-çāreñe
Kūşe-i çeşm ile ḳılsañ luṭf idüp bir kez nigāh
Ḫaddüñ añduḳça Münīrī göge ṭutduġı yüzin
Bilür anı müstecāb olur du‘ā-yı ṣubḥ-gāh

In English

1. With the smoke of my sighs the light of the heavens has so dimmed that, alas, I fear the mirror of the sun will one day turn black.

2. It seems my tears want to become world-conquerors: gathering together, they send troops of soldiers in every direction without pause.

3. O heart, give up her ruby lip and do not thirst for your own blood at all; I have told you, and now the sin is off my hands.

4. If you would graciously cast a single glance from the corner of your eye, doors would open from every side for me, the helpless one.

5. That Münîrî turns his face to the sky whenever he recalls your cheek is because he knows that the prayer at dawn is answered.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and eighty-eighth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 288). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The ghazal does not appear in the list of refrains in Ersoy's introduction; it has no refrain, and the rhyme rests on the sound "-āh": āh, siyāh, sipāh, günāh, nigāh and ṣubḥ-gāh. The ghazal is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 166b); the edition records no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written. It shares its metre and its rhyme with tg 287, which immediately precedes it in the edition; "āh", "siyāh", "nigāh" and "ṣubḥ-gāh" are rhyme words in both ghazals (our observation).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the lover's sigh is a smoke rising to the sky. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "dûd" as smoke and gives its figurative sense as grief, worry, sorrow. The smoke has dimmed the light of the heavens, and the poet fears that the mirror of the sun will one day turn black. We understand the verb "ṭondı" in the line from the context as "has dimmed". Likening the sun to a mirror and having the mirror blackened by smoke is an exaggeration that conveys the greatness of the sigh.

The second couplet sets up a scene of war. The Kubbealtı explains "cihangir" as a great ruler who conquers the world, "hayl" as mounted soldiers, cavalry, and "sipah" as soldiers, an army. The tears that gather and flow in every direction are likened to the army of a ruler who sends troops everywhere to conquer lands. The phrase "fetḥ-i bāb" in the fourth couplet carries this scene on: the Kubbealtı explains "fetih" first as opening, being opened, and then as taking a place by war, and gives "feth-i bâb" (the opening of a door) with examples from Ahmedî and Niyâzî-i Mısrî. A single glance from the beloved will open doors to the lover on every side, while the "conquest" sense of the word recalls the world-conquering tears of the second couplet (our reading). The "kûşe-i çeşm" in the same couplet, with "kûşe", which the Kubbealtı explains as corner, means the corner of the eye.

In the third couplet the poet counsels his heart. The Kubbealtı lists "kanına susamak" (to thirst for one's own blood) among the idioms in the entry "susamak". The poet tells his heart not to thirst for the lip that will in the end shed its own blood. The red of the ruby lip and the red of blood stand side by side. The poet has warned his heart and so freed himself of responsibility: "I have told you, and now the sin is off my hands."

In the pen-name couplet the beloved's cheek is thought of together with the brightness of dawn. The Kubbealtı explains "müstecâb" as a request or prayer that is granted and quotes Zâtî's line "Ejder ayağı görünse müstecâb olur duâ" (if the dragon's foot is seen, the prayer is granted). Whenever Münîrî recalls the cheek he lifts his face to the sky, for he knows that the dawn prayer is granted; so the lover's recalling of the cheek turns into a prayer.

Bibliography

Online sources