Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḳanda kim dökerse yaşlu gözlerüm ḫūn-ı dili
Gül-şen olup yitişür ḫūnīn-ciger her bir güli
Olalı tīr-i ḫadengüñe hedef cān-ı ża‘īf
Ḳıldı ġamzeñ göñlümi pertāv oḳınuñ menzili
Dil şumār-ı ‘ıḳd-ı zülfüñle eger cān virdise
Derd-i serden ḳurtulup ḥall oldı cümle müşkili
Yaşlarum kūyında hem sāyildür ey dil hem yetīm
Ḫod yetīme ḳahr yoḳ men‘ itmek olmaz sāyili
Baña binüm yetdi şimden girü raḥm itmeñ Münīr?
Fī’l-ḥaḳīka ṭut kim āzād eyler olmış muḳbili

In English

1. Wherever my tearful eyes shed the blood of the heart, that place becomes a rose garden, and every one of its roses grows with a bleeding heart.

2. Ever since my feeble soul became the target of your arrow, your glance has made my heart the mark that the war arrow reaches.

3. If the heart has given up its soul counting the rings of your locks, it is freed from the headache and all its difficulties are resolved.

4. O heart, in her quarter my tears are both beggars (and flowing) and orphans (and peerless pearls); and indeed there is no oppressing the orphan, and the beggar may not be turned away.

5. (Ersoy has marked this couplet as one whose meaning could not be established; the following rendering is an attempt based on the words.) This much is enough for me; from now on show no pity, Münîr; in truth, consider that the fortunate one is the one who sets free. (The second line can also be read as "consider that he has set the fortunate one free".)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and ninety-eighth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 298). 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 "-İ"; the rhyme rests on the sound "-il": dil, gül, menzil, müşkil, sāyil and muḳbil. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 168b, VY 142a, Ü 60a); the edition records no variant readings. It is not known for whom or when it was written. In the edition the first line of the pen-name couplet ends with a question mark; by Ersoy's rule this mark indicates a couplet whose meaning could not be established, though the line may also be a question.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the blood of the heart is shed on the ground with the tears, and roses spring up wherever it falls; every rose, too, grows with a bleeding heart. The lover's blood has passed into the red of the rose.

The second and third couplets hold images of war and of the locks. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "pertab" or "pertav" as throwing, being thrown, and gives the phrase "pertav oku" as a war arrow, sometimes also a range arrow. The glance has made the heart the target of this arrow. In the third couplet the word "ıkd", which the Kubbealtı explains as necklace and string, describes the rings of the locks; it gives "şümar" as number, counting. The same dictionary explains "derd-i ser" as headache, trouble of the head. The heart that gives up its soul counting the rings of the locks is freed from the trouble of the head, and all its knots are undone. The links between "head" and locks, and between "ring" and "being undone", bind the couplet together (our reading).

The fourth couplet is the most striking in the ghazal. The Kubbealtı gives three separate entries for "sâil"; one of them is a person who asks and who begs, another means flowing, running. It explains "yetim" first as a child whose father has died and then as peerless, unique, giving the example "dürr-i yetim" (a peerless pearl). So in the beloved's quarter the tears are both beggars and flowing, both orphans and peerless pearls (our reading). The second line rests on the Sura al-Duha of the Qur'an. According to the Diyanet translation, the ninth and tenth verses of this sura say "Öyleyse sakın yetimi ezme!" (So do not oppress the orphan!) and "Sakın isteyeni azarlama!" (Do not rebuff the one who asks!); the verses are read "Fe emmel yetime fe la takher. Ve emmes saile fe la tenher". Münîrî's words "yetīme ḳahr yoḳ" and "men‘ itmek olmaz sāyili" recall these two verses in a Turkish phrasing. Emin Işık's entry "Duhâ Sûresi" in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi likewise notes that in this part of the sura it is enjoined to protect the orphan and the friendless and not to send away empty-handed those in need.

Ersoy has marked the pen-name couplet as one whose meaning could not be established. The meaning of the words "Baña binüm yetdi" is not clear; our rendering is an attempt based on the words. The Kubbealtı explains "mukbil" as one whose fortune is bright, fortunate, prosperous.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Official sources

Books

  • Kubbealtı Lugatı (Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük), entries "pertab", "ıkd", "şümar", "dert", "sâil", "yetim" and "mukbil". https://lugatim.com/s/sâil

Online sources