Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gerçi kim dirler cihānda yoḳ durur cāndan leẕīẕ
Hīc ben dimezem aña la‘l-i cānāndan leẕīẕ
Ṭıfl-ı dil āb u hevā-yı ‘ışḳ ile yetişmegin
Şerbet-i zehr-i ġam oldı çeşme-i cāndan leẕīẕ
Va‘de-i ḫām-ı nigāra yaşlarum kār itmedi
Gerçi kim dirlerdi olur mīve bārāndan leẕīẕ
Yetişüp vaṣl-ı nigāra n’ola cān virdiyse dil
Bir daḫı ya‘nī cihānda var mıdur andan leẕīẕ
Senden ayru düşeli cānā Münīrī ḫasteñe
Hīc nesne gelmez oldı āh u efġāndan leẕīẕ

In English

1. Though they say there is nothing in the world sweeter than life, I never hold it sweeter than the ruby lip of the beloved.

2. Because the child of the heart grew up on the water and air of love, the sherbet of sorrow's poison has tasted to it more delicious than the spring of life.

3. My tears had no effect on the beloved's unripe (empty) promise; though they used to say that fruit grows sweet with rain.

4. What if the heart, having reached union with the beloved, gave up its life? Is there, in truth, anything in the world more delicious than that?

5. O my soul, since he fell apart from you, nothing has seemed more delicious to your sick Münîrî than sighs and laments.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the forty-fourth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 44). The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is "-dan leẕīẕ" (more delicious than); Ersoy's list of refrains also gives this ghazal with the refrain "-dan leziz". The rhyme is the sound "-ân": cān, cānān, cān, bārān, an(dan), efġān. The word "cān" (life, soul) stands twice in rhyme position, in the opening and second couplets. The poem is found in all three manuscripts of the divan (VT 107b, VY 90a, Ü 24a). According to the apparatus Ü reads "Dimezem ben hīc" for "Hīc ben dimezem" in the first couplet and "ḫaste-dil" for "ḫasteñe" in the fifth. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built on the idea of "taste", and each couplet weighs what is more delicious and why. The opening couplet (matla) begins with a common saying meaning "there is nothing sweeter than life" and objects to it: for the lover the beloved's lip is sweeter than life. Taking up a popular saying and turning it round is an example that fits the TDV's observation on Münîrî's use of proverbs and idioms in his poems; identifying the saying as a proverb is our own inference.

In the second couplet the heart is likened to a child. "Āb u hevā" in its dictionary sense means water and air, that is, climate; "hevā" also means desire, passion. The heart that has grown up in the climate of love, being used to it, finds the poison of sorrow sweeter than the spring of life. The contrast between poison and sherbet conveys a way of seeing that turns the pain of love into sweetness.

The third couplet builds an image of fruit. The beloved's promise is "ḫām": both unripe and empty, a word not kept. It is known that fruit ripens and sweetens with rain, but the lover's tears, pouring like rain, have not been able to ripen this unripe promise. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among the words "ḫām" (unripe), "mīve" (fruit) and "bārān" (rain); the double entendre (tevriye) resting on the two senses of "ḫām" is our own observation.

In the fourth couplet reaching union and giving up one's life is counted the most delicious thing in the world; the idea that death in love is happiness carries the couplet. The second line of the couplet takes the form of a question, but the answer is hidden within it. In the pen-name couplet, however, all tastes have been lost with separation; now only sighs and laments give pleasure to the sick Münîrî. The ghazal thus carries the notion of "delight" from the sweetness of the lip to the pain of separation.

Bibliography

Online sources