Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ṭolaşdıyısa zülfüñe göñlüm işi bitdi
El-ḳıṣṣa baña her ne kim itdiyse ol itdi
Ey dil ne ḳadar geldiyise ḫaṭṭı nigāruñ
Bāzīçe-i ‘ışḳuñ dimezem ṣaḳalı bitdi
Bilişlik iñen virmez olupdur bize ey dost
Beñzer ki ser-i kūyuñ iti bizi unutdı
Ben cehd ile anı niçe bir ṣaḳlayıbilem
Aḥvālümüzi yād u biliş külli işitdi
La‘l-i lebüñ aldısa n’ola cān-ı Münīri
İrgürdi ḥayāt-ı ebede ḫaylī iş itdi

In English

1. If my heart has got entangled in your tress, its business is finished; in short, whatever was done to me, that (tress) did it.

2. O heart, however far the down on the beloved's face has grown, I will not say "the beard of love's plaything has sprouted". (I will not give up the beloved because down has appeared on the face; see the commentary.)

3. O friend, it no longer shows us much acquaintance; it seems the dog at the head of your street has forgotten us.

4. With all my effort, how long can I keep it hidden? Stranger and acquaintance alike have all heard of our state.

5. If your ruby lip has taken Münîrî's soul, what of it? It has brought him to everlasting life and done a great deed.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the three hundred and seventeenth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 317). The metre is "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". In the list of refrains in his introduction Ersoy gives the refrain of this ghazal as "-di"; the rhyme rests on the sound "-t" in the words bitdi, itdi, bitdi, unutdı, işitdi and itdi. The word "bitdi" is repeated in the opening couplet and in the second couplet with two different meanings. The ghazal is found in two manuscripts of the divan (VT 173a, VY 145b). The Vienna manuscript has different readings in the second, third and fifth couplets; there the first line of the third couplet runs "İñende bilişlik bize virmez gibi olmış". It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The conceit of the ghazal is built on the two meanings of the verb "bitmek". In one entry the Kubbealtı Lugatı gives this verb the senses to come to an end, to run out, and explains the idiom "işi bitmek" as to be of no further use; in a separate entry it gives the same verb the sense to sprout, of seeds, and to grow, to come out, of hair and down. In the opening couplet the heart caught in the tress has its "business finished"; in the second couplet the beard "bitmek", that is, sprouts. The same word entering the rhyme twice with different meanings is a perfect pun (tam cinas).

The second couplet contains the word "hat". The Kubbealtı gives as one of its older senses the beard and moustache newly appearing on young men. In the couplet by Fıtnat Hanım that the Kubbealtı quotes for this sense, the down is named as an ornament that gives lustre to the beloved's cheek. Münîrî too says that however far the down has grown he will not say "the beard of love's plaything has sprouted"; that is, he will not abandon the beloved on the ground that the beloved has grown up and is no longer a plaything (our reading). The word "bâzîçe", which the Kubbealtı explains as toy and game, presents the beloved as the plaything of the game of love. The sense of "hat" as writing also comes to mind in the couplet, but there is no sign in the line that this sense is intended (our observation).

The third couplet rests on the divan motif of the dog in the beloved's street. The Kubbealtı explains "kûy" as village, quarter, neighbourhood and the place where the beloved is. Even the dog of the street no longer knows the lover; this says indirectly that the lover has long been unable to come to the beloved's door (our reading). The Kubbealtı gives "biliş" the sense of a known person, an acquaintance, a friend, and quotes Gevherî's line "Sırrımı açmayıp bilişe yâde" (not revealing my secret to acquaintance or stranger). The "yâd u biliş" of the fourth couplet, stranger and acquaintance, forms the same contrast; the love the lover tries to hide has been heard by everyone.

In the pen-name couplet there is a contrast (tezat) between the lip's taking of the soul and its giving of it. The ruby lip has taken Münîrî's soul, but in return it has brought him to "hayât-ı ebed", everlasting life. The Kubbealtı defines "ebed" as future time without end. Killing, for the beloved's lip, is thus shown as a favour. The phrase "iş itdi" in the last line is linked in sound with "işi bitdi" in the opening couplet; the ghazal opens and closes with the word "iş" (business, deed) (our observation).

Bibliography

Online sources