Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ḳadd-i bālāñ ile gören ḳaşuñı ey serv-ḳad
Dir ki āmennā elifi üzre düşmiş ṣanki med
Yıllar oldı kim göñül çāh-ı zeneḥdānuñdadur
Mihr-i ruḫsāruñı gözler baġlayup ġālib raṣad
Ey dil-i bī-çāre şey’ullāh-ı vaṣl-ı yār ile
Der-be-der dervāzeye girsem n’ola geyüp nemed
Hīc bir yirden ẓafer bulmamaġa Ye’cūc-i ġam
Ḳılmışam ḫaṭṭuñ ḫayālini göñül mülkine sed
Āteş-i ruḫsār-ı yāra diller olmışdur sipend
İrmesün diyü Münīr aña gezend-i çeşm-i bed

In English

1. O cypress-statured one; whoever sees your brow together with your tall stature says it is as if a madda sign had fallen upon the alif of "âmennâ" (we believe), and in wonder says "âmennâ".

2. For years the heart has been in the well of your chin-dimple; there it has set up a close watch, as at an observatory, and gazes at the sun of your cheek.

3. O helpless heart, what if, crying "şey'ullah" (something for God's sake) for union with the beloved, I put on felt and go from door to door through the city gates?

4. So that the Gog (Ye'cûc) of sorrow should find victory from no side, I have made the image of your down a rampart for the realm of the heart.

5. O Münîr, hearts have become rue seeds on the fire of the beloved's cheek, so that the harm of the evil eye should not reach it.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the thirty-ninth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 39). The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif); the rhyme is the sound "-ed": med, raṣad, nemed, sed, bed. To whom and when it was written is not known.

The ghazal shows a wide circulation: besides the three manuscripts of the divan (VT 106b, VY 88b, Ü 23b) it is also found in the anthologies of Pervâne Bey (PB 106b) and Edirneli Nazmî (MN 58b). Accordingly, the variant readings are many. In the second couplet Ü reads "ki" for "kim", and PB reads "gözleyen" (watching) for "baġlayup" (setting up). The third couplet stands fourth in Ü; for "girsem n'ola geyüp" PB reads "girüp n'ola geysem" and Ü "girsem geyüp n'ola". In the fifth couplet Ü changes the word order of the lines and reads "şerr-i çeşm-i gezend" for "gezend-i çeşm-i bed".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet (matla) is a play on letters. The beloved's upright stature is likened to the letter alif of the Arabic alphabet, and the arched brow to the madda sign set above the letter. The word "âmennâ" begins with an alif bearing a madda; when stature and brow are seen together, this alif with its madda appears. The couplet also carries a double entendre (tevriye): the onlooker says "âmennâ" (we believe), that is, he both sees how the word is written and comes to believe in the beauty. This solution is our own observation.

In the second couplet the dimple of the chin is likened to a well. In divan poetry the comparison of the chin-dimple to a well, especially the well into which Joseph was thrown, is a known conceit (mazmun). Münîrî adds to this the language of astronomy: "raṣad" in its dictionary sense means observing the heavenly bodies; "mihr" is the sun. From the bottom of the well the heart keeps watch on the sun of the cheek. The PB reading "gözleyen" (watching) makes the sense of watching in the couplet plainer.

The third couplet uses the language of the dervish life. "Şey'ullāh" is the phrase used by begging dervishes in the sense of "for God's sake"; "nemed" in its dictionary sense is felt and suggests the coarse garment worn by dervishes. There is closeness of sound and sense between "der-be-der" (door to door) and "dervāze" (city gate). The fourth couplet alludes to the rampart raised against Gog (Ye'cûc); this rampart told of in the Qur'an turns into the image of the down that protects the heart against the Gog of sorrow. The sense "line" of the word "ḫaṭṭ" also allows the rampart to be thought of as a boundary line.

The pen-name couplet works the belief in the evil eye. "Sipend" in its dictionary sense is the seed of wild rue and is thrown on the fire against the evil eye. The hearts have become rue on the fire of the cheek and protect it from the evil eye. The first two couplets of tg 40, which follows immediately in the edition, also work the image of the evil eye with the same words "sipend" and "gezend" (harm); this closeness is our own observation.

Bibliography

Online sources