Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Dil-i āşüftenüñ ey bād-ı ṣabā nice demi
Çekdi zencīre didiler girih-i zülf-i ḫamı
Leb-i la‘line murādum bu ki cān tīzde virem
Āb-ı Ḥıżrı n’iderem yā ḫo dilā cām-ı Cemi
Ser-nüvişt olmış imiş başuma ḫaṭṭ-ı siyehüñ
Düzmeden kātib-i ḳudret daḫı levḥ ü ḳalemi
Ġamzeñüñ tīġine cān virmege ditrer yüregüm
Çāre ne böyle çalunmış çün anuñ da raḳamı
Pāsbān-ı ḥarem-i dil niçün oldı ya Münīr
Ki dile maḥrem ola ġayrlaruñ fikr ü ġamı

In English

1. O morning breeze, they say the knot of the beloved's curling lock has held the distracted heart in chains for so long.

2. My wish at your ruby lip is to give up my soul there without delay; O heart, what would I do with the water of Khidr (the water of immortality) or the cup of Jamshid.

3. Your black down had been written on my head as my destiny even before the Scribe of Power (God) set out the Tablet and the Pen.

4. My heart trembles at giving its life to the sword of your glance; but what remedy is there, since its decree too has been written so.

5. O Münîr, if the thoughts and griefs of others are to become intimates of the heart, why was there ever a guard for the heart's harem? (A guard's task is to keep strangers out; the poet objects to any grief but the beloved's entering his heart; our reading.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the three hundred and second of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 302). The metre is "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". In the list of refrains in his introduction Ersoy gives the refrain of this ghazal as "-İ"; the rhyme words are dem, ḫam, Cem, ḳalem, raḳam and ġam. The ghazal is found in all three manuscripts of the divan (VT 169b, VY 146b, Ü 59a). The phrase "levḥ ü ḳalem" in the third couplet appears in the Vienna manuscript as "levḥ-i ḳalem". It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the heart is described like a madman chained by the knot of the curl. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "âşüfte" as distracted, dishevelled, and "girih" as knot, quoting Fuzûlî's line "Açma kâkül girihin". The same dictionary's entry "zencîrî" means a madman fit to be chained; the link between the distracted heart and the chain comes from this range of meaning. That the news is told to the morning breeze seems connected with the breeze being the only thing that can scatter the curl and undo the knot (our reading).

In the second couplet the lover turns down two legendary gifts. The Kubbealtı introduces Khidr (Hızır) as the figure believed to have reached immortality by drinking the water of life, and explains "câm-ı Cem" as the cup of Jamshid, held in Iranian mythology to be the inventor of wine, and by extension wine itself. Both the water of immortality and the legendary cup are worthless beside giving up one's soul at the beloved's lip. This preference of death over immortality is the couplet's central contrast.

The third and fourth couplets come together around writing and destiny. The Kubbealtı explains "sernüvişt", from the Persian words for "head" and "written", as the writing on one's forehead, destiny, and "levh", in Sufism, as the Preserved Tablet that contains all knowledge of created things. By saying "on my head" the poet also brings out the "head" contained in "sernüvişt". The black down on the beloved's face was written on the lover's forehead before the Tablet and the Pen were created; this love, then, is a decree from pre-eternity. The fourth couplet carries the same image of writing further. The Kubbealtı also gives "rakam" the older sense of writing and quotes Fuzûlî's line "müjgânım rakam kılmaz". The decree that he must give his life to the sword of the glance has likewise been written and sealed; though the heart trembles, there is no escape.

In the pen-name couplet the heart is thought of as a harem. The Kubbealtı explains "pâsbân" as night watchman, guardian, and "mahrem" as someone close enough to know one's secrets. Harem, guard and intimate call one another up. The subject of the couplet is not stated; the verb "oldı" can be referred to the heart itself or to the poet, but in either reading the result is the same: the guard's existence has meaning only if strangers are kept outside.

Bibliography

Online sources