Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Her ki bu silsile-i zülf-i dü-tādan dem urur
Ṣanma ‘ālemde kim ol bād-ı hevādan dem urur
Nükhet-i ḫūb u sebük-serlik ile zülf-i ḫamuñ
Geh ṣabā andan u ol gāh ṣabādan dem urur
Gitdi ṣaḥrālara yüzin ṭolayup müşk-i Ḫıṭā
Lāf-ı zülfüñle bilelden ki ḫaṭādan dem urur
Ney gibi nāle-i dil-sūza dil āheng ideli
Ḳıldı ‘uşşāḳı muḥayyer ki nevādan dem urur
Sūz-ı ‘ışḳ ile Münīrī gibi rūşen-dil olan
Ṣubḥ-ı ṣādıḳ gibi ‘ālemde ṣafādan dem urur

In English

1. Whoever speaks (dem urur) of the chain of this twofold lock (parted to either side), do not think that in this world he speaks of empty desire, of mere air.

2. Because of the fragrance and lightness (playfulness) of your curling lock, now the morning breeze speaks of it, now it speaks of the breeze (each draws breath from the other).

3. The musk of Khitai, ever since it understood that vying with your lock was an error (ḫaṭā), has wrapped its face (veiled it in shame) and gone off to the deserts.

4. Ever since the heart, like the reed flute, tuned itself to the heart-burning lament, it has bewildered the lovers, for it speaks of melody (nevā). In the couplet "uşşāḳ", "muḥayyer" and "nevā" are also the names of musical modes (makam).

5. One whose heart is lit by the fire of love like Münîrî's breathes, like the true dawn, of purity and joy in this world.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the eighty-third of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 83). The metre is "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". Ersoy's list of refrains gives the ghazal the refrain (redif) "dem urur" (speaks of, breathes); the rhyme is the "-ā" sound before it: dü-tā, hevā, ṣabā, ḫaṭā, nevā and ṣafā. The ghazal is found in only two manuscripts of the divan (VT 117a, VY 98b); it is not recorded in the Ü manuscript or in the anthologies of response poems. No variant readings are given in the apparatus. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built on the two senses of the idiom "dem urmak". "Dem" means both breath and word; "dem urmak" means to speak of something or boast of it, and it also evokes breathing, blowing an instrument such as the reed flute (ney), and striking up a melody. The poet changes these senses from couplet to couplet.

In the opening couplet (matla) the word "silsile" (chain) recalls the theme of the madman bound in the chain of the lock. "Bād-ı hevā" means both wind and empty desire; one who speaks of the chain of the lock is not speaking idly, he is a madman truly bound in that chain. In the second couplet there is an exchange between the lock and the morning breeze (saba): the breeze carries the scent of the lock, and the lock waves in the breeze. Each speaking of the other is also like each drawing breath from the other.

In the third couplet there is a pun (cinas) between "Ḫıṭā" (Khitai, the Central Asian land reckoned the home of the musk deer) and "ḫaṭā" (error). The musk, having presumed to rival the black and fragrant lock, is ashamed and has veiled its face and withdrawn to the deserts. The fact that the musk deer lives in the steppes gives a basis for this flight; this is an inference.

The fourth couplet is woven of musical terms. Besides the words "ney" (reed flute), "nāle" (lament), "āheng" (harmony, tuning) and "dem urmak" (to blow), the words "uşşāḳ", "muḥayyer" and "nevā" are used both in their everyday senses (lovers, bewildered, melody) and as names of musical modes (makam). The occurrence of these three mode names together is our own observation.

In the pen-name couplet there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) of light between "ṣubḥ-ı ṣādıḳ" (the true dawn) and "rūşen-dil" (bright of heart). The dawn's "dem urması" is its breaking, its spreading as if drawing breath; the heart lit by the fire of love likewise scatters joy over the world like this dawn.

Bibliography

Online sources