Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

‘Arūs-ı ġoncayı tezyīn ider meger nergis
Ki dizdi rīşte-i sebze dür ü güher nergis
Teferrüc itmege āb-ı revānı ḥaşmet ile
Derīçe ḳaṣr-ı zebercedden açdı her nergis
Getürdi Yūsuf-ı gülden meger ki müjde yine
‘Azīz-i Mıṣr-ı çemen oldı tāc-ver nergis
‘Aṣā-yı ḥażret-i Mūsā mıdur ki mu‘ciz ile
Elinde ejder ider anı heft-ser nergis
Vücūda gelse gerek diyü yine ṭıfl-ı nebāt
Elinde ṭutdı ṭurur ḫurde-i şeker nergis
Piyāde-i şeh-i güldür kim ol rikābınca
Revān olur ṣaluban çignine siper nergis
‘Aceb mi pīr-i muġāndur dinilse bāde-fürūş
Müdām elinde ki böyle ḳadeḥ ṭutar nergis
Bu bir ayaḳ mey-i nāb ile nice ser-ḫoş olur
Ṣalınışında getüre anı meger nergis
Ḳadeḥde ben ḳomazam cür‘a didügidür anuñ
Ki vaḳthā ḳadeḥin ser-nigūn ider nergis
Şarāb u sebze vü āb-ı revānı terk idemez
Ṣafā vü ‘ayş u müdām ile ḫoş geçer nergis
Dem-ā-dem iş idinüp za‘ferān yidügiçün
Çemende şöyle feraḥ-nāk olup güler nergis
Hezār lu‘b ile gül-şende ḳarşusına gülüñ
Füsūn u lu‘b ile aġzından od ṣaçar nergis
Başına pīrehen ü cāmesini ṣardı ṭurur
Meger ki āb-ı revānı yüzüp geçer nergis
İrişdi çün dem-i nev-rūz şāhid-i gülden
Diler ki faṣd ide bes çekdi nīşter nergis
Kebūter-i ḥarem-i murġ-zār-ı ‘ālemdür
Cihānda ḳanda dilerse uçar ḳonar nergis
Açılmadın daḫı biñ gülde biri ‘ālemde
Neyiki ḳāmetini böyle ḫam dutar nergis
Ṭaḥayyül ile seḥer seyr-i gül-sitān itdüm
Bu şi‘ri gördüm oḳur bülbül ü yazar nergis
Meger kim itdi gözüñ ālına naẓar nergis
Ki kend’özin unudup düşdi bī-ḫaber nergis
Cerīde düzmiş idi defter-i cemālüñden
İrişdi murġ-ı seḥer-ḫᵛān diyü açar nergis
Şu‘ā‘-ı mihr-i ruḫuñ yaḫmasun yüzüm diyü
Külāhı kūşesini sāye-bān ider nergis
Ḫayāl-i çeşmüñi gözümde isterem her dem
Ki bilürem olur āb içre tāze ter nergis
Ḫadeng-i ġamzeñ ucından çün olmadı ma‘lūl
Gözine penbe vü beyża urup n’ider nergis
Füsūn-ı nergis-i mestüñ mi baġlar uyḫusını
Ki gül-sitānda dem-ā-dem çeker seher nergis
Serāçe-i çemen-i gül-sitān-ı cān içre
Ḫayāl-i çeşmüñ ile bitdi ser-be-ser nergis
Çemende yādına ser-mest ü ḫūnī gözlerüñüñ
Ayāġ üzre ṭurup ṭolular içer nergis
İrürdi peyk-i ṣabā müjde-i viṣālüñi kim
Külāhını göge ol şevḳ ile atar nergis
Yüzini bir daḫı görem mi diyü sen ṣanemüñ
Bu niyyet üzre ṭurup günde fāl açar nergis
Ḫadeng-i ġamzeñi görüp dir el-amān lāle
Füsūn-ı çeşmüñi añup dir el-ḥaẕer nergis
Meger ki leblerüñe beñzerem dimiş ġonca
Bu sözi işidüp incindi baş ṣalar nergis
Firāḳ u hicrüñ odı ḳılmasaydı cānına kār
Bu vech ile neden olaydı pür-şerer nergis
Devām-ı devlet-i şeh Bāyezīd ḫān içün
Götürdi ḥācet elin yüz göge ṭutar nergis
Görelden ol şeh-i gītī-penāhuñ izi tozın
İdindi ḫalḳ-ı cihān gibi tāc-ı ser nergis
Yetişse ḳaṭre-i bārān-ı ebr-i luṭfı anuñ
Virürdi tāze vü ser-sebz her ḥacer nergis
Ṭavāf-ı Ka‘be-i kūyuñçün ey şeh ehl-i çemen
Düzetdi ḳāfileler oldı rāh-ber nergis
Diler ki micmere-gerdānı ola meclisüñüñ
Getürdi ‘anber-i ḫām ile kāseler nergis
Kebūter-i şeh-i mülk-i çemendür irişdi
Bir iki nāmeyile ḳapuña seḥer nergis
Şükūfe-zāruña yüz sürmege bahāneyile
Getürdi bāġ-ı cināndan piyāz-ı ter nergis
Nis̱ār idem diyü seyr-i çemende maḳdemüñe
Gözi ṭabaḳlarına ṭoldurur güher nergis
Ḥarāmī gibi ṣabā ḳıldı varlıġın tārāc
Yetişdi kūyuña yüz süre dād umar nergis
Bilür ki meclisüñüñ lāzımıdur elbette
Ḥarīr-i ḫāṣ ile altun süzek düzer nergis
Gözi dikilü ṭoġan gibi evvelā ki gelür
Açup gözini hemān yüzüñe deñer nergis
Şarāb-ı ‘ışḳuñ ile germ olup çemende müdām
Başında kāse-i mey ṭopṭolu döner nergis
Eline girdi mi ḥükm-i cihān-muṭā‘uñ kim
Öpüp başına ḳoyup gözine sürer nergis
Ṣabā ki eyledi gül-zāra sen şehi da‘vet
Getürdi kūşe-i gül-şende mā-ḥażar nergis
Bilür ki feyżüñ irer cümle-i cihāna tamām
Eline ṭās aluban geldi cerr ider nergis
Diler ki sen şehe ide żiyāfet ehl-i çemen
Sütūn-ı sebz ile bes ḫaymeler ḳurar nergis
Ḫayāl-i bezmüñ ile yaḳdı meş‘ale biñ biñ
Başından ayaġa göz oldı yol deñer nergis
Yüzini mihrüñ ile gāh ḫāk-sār eyler
Gehī ṣabāya hevāñ ile baş ḳoşar nergis
Pür itdi kīsesini la‘l-i nāb ile ġonca
Urundı devlet ü sāyeñde tāc-ı zer nergis
Geh oldı meş‘ale-dārı ḥarīm-i meclisüñüñ
Geh oldı bezmüñe sāḳī-i sīm-ber nergis
İrişdimi çemene bād-ı ṣarṣar-ı ḳahruñ
Ṣarardı beñzi ṭurup ḳurudı geçer nergis
Ṣafā-yı bezmüñ ile görmemişdür uyḫu yüzin
‘Aceb mi şöyle uyuḳlarsa her seḥer nergis
S̱enā vü medḥüñ içün bāġ-ı ṭab‘a el ṣundum
Yetişdi her yañadan niçe bu ḳadar nergis
Bunuñ gibi ḳanı bir ḫurde-rīz ü ‘işve-nümā
Getürdi ḥıdmetüñe gerçi niçeler nergis
Seḥerde niçe kim el götüre du‘āña Münīr
Tażarru‘ ile baş açup niyāz ider nergis
Nitekim ide ḳabāsını ġonca dībādan
Nitekim uruna gül-şende tāc-ı zer nergis
Niçe ki gül-şen-i nīlūferīde şām u seḥer
Görine mihr gül ü aḫter ü ḳamer nergis
Hemīşe-gül-şen-i ḥüsnüñi tāze dutsun Ḥaḳ
Kim oldı sāye-i medḥüñde nām-ver nergis

In English

1. The narcissus must be adorning the bride that is the rosebud, for it has strung pearls and jewels on the thread of green stalk. (The white petals of the narcissus are likened to pearls, the yellow crown at its centre to a jewel and its green stem to a thread.)

2. To gaze with majesty upon the flowing water, every narcissus has opened a window in an emerald-green pavilion. ("Zebercet" in the dictionary sense is a green stone resembling emerald; the pavilion is the green leaves. In the Vienna manuscript the word "teferrüc" is written differently, but as the edition prints it with missing letters it cannot be read.)

3. The narcissus must have brought good news once more from the Joseph that is the rose, for it has become the crowned Aziz of the Egypt of the meadow. (There is an allusion to the story of Joseph: the bearer of good news about Joseph is rewarded, and Joseph himself rises to the rank of Aziz in Egypt. The crown-shaped centre of the narcissus is the Aziz's crown.)

4. Is it the staff of Moses, that the seven-headed narcissus turns it miraculously into a dragon in its hand? (There is an allusion to Moses' staff turning into a serpent. "Heft-ser" in the dictionary sense means "seven-headed"; the narcissus, which bears several flowers on one stalk, is likened to a many-headed dragon.)

5. Because the child of the plants is to be born again, the narcissus is holding small sweets in its hand. ("Nebāt" in the dictionary sense means both plant and rock sugar; hence "ṭıfl-ı nebāt" (child of the plants) is mentioned together with sugar. It is as if sweets had been made ready for the spring plants whose birth is awaited.)

6. The narcissus is a foot soldier of the rose king; beside his stirrup it marches with its shield slung on its shoulder. (The round flower of the narcissus is likened to a shield and the rose to a sovereign.)

7. Is it any wonder if the narcissus, which always holds a cup like this in its hand, is called the wine-selling elder of the Magi? ("Pîr-i muğan" in the dictionary sense is the old keeper of the tavern. The cup-shaped centre of the narcissus is likened to a goblet.)

8. How does the narcissus get so drunk on this single cup of pure wine? Judging by its swaying, it must bring that drunkenness itself. ("Ayak" in old Turkish means both foot and cup; for the narcissus standing on a single stalk both senses are thought of together. The connection of the second line is not entirely clear.)

9. When the narcissus now and then turns its cup upside down, it is saying, "I leave no dregs in the cup." (The narcissus flower that hangs its head toward the ground is likened to a cup drained to the last drop and turned over.)

10. The narcissus cannot leave wine, greenery and flowing water; it passes its time pleasantly in joy and merriment and with wine forever. ("Müdām" in the dictionary sense means both "always" and "wine"; both can be read in this line.)

11. Because it has made a habit of eating saffron without pause, the narcissus laughs so merrily in the meadow. (This rests on the old belief that saffron makes one merry and laugh; the yellow centre of the narcissus is likened to saffron.)

12. In the rose garden, facing the rose, the narcissus with a thousand tricks, with spells and sleight of hand, breathes fire from its mouth. (The image of a juggler breathing fire is used for the orange-yellow centre of the narcissus.)

13. The narcissus stands with its shirt and garment wound about its head; it must be about to swim across the flowing water. (One who swims across water ties his clothes on his head; the white petals of the narcissus growing by the water are likened to clothes wound about the head.)

14. When the time of Nevruz arrives from the rose beauty, the narcissus wants to let her blood; that is why it has drawn its lancet. ("Faṣd" in the dictionary sense is bloodletting from a vein; the pointed leaf of the narcissus is the lancet.)

15. The narcissus is the dove of the sanctuary of the world's meadow; in the world it flies and alights wherever it pleases. ("Murġ-zār" in the dictionary sense is a meadow; its spelling also recalls the word "murġ" meaning "bird" and so matches the dove. The doves of a sanctuary are the birds of a holy precinct held inviolable.)

16. While not one rose in a thousand has yet opened in the world, why does the narcissus hold its stature so bent?

17. In my imagination I went out at dawn to view the rose garden; I saw that the nightingale was reciting this poem and the narcissus was writing it.

18. The narcissus must have looked upon the wiles of your eye, for it forgot itself and fell down senseless. ("Āl" in the dictionary sense means guile, deception. In divan poetry the eye is associated with the narcissus; here the narcissus is overcome before the beloved's eye.)

19. The narcissus had drawn up a register from the book of your beauty; it opens it, saying the dawn-singing bird has arrived. ("Cerīde" in the dictionary sense is a register or record; the opening of the narcissus at dawn is likened to a book being opened to be read to the bird.)

20. So that the rays of the sun of your face may not burn my face, the narcissus makes the brim of its cap into a sunshade.

21. I want the image of your eye in my eye at every moment, for I know that the narcissus stays fresh and lively in water. (The eye filled with tears is likened to water, and the beloved's eye to the narcissus.)

22. Since the narcissus has not been wounded and made ill by the tip of the arrow of your glance, what is it doing with cotton and egg white on its eye? (For pain in the eye, cotton and egg white used to be laid on it; the white petals of the narcissus are likened to them. The Vatican manuscript reads "ma‘lūm" (known) instead of "ma‘lūl" (ill).)

23. Is it the spell of your drunken eye that binds its sleep, so that in the rose garden the narcissus keeps sitting up until dawn without rest? ("Seher çekmek" is understood here as staying awake until morning.)

24. Within the tent of the meadow of the rose garden of the soul, narcissi have sprung up from end to end with the image of your eye. ("Serāçe" in the dictionary sense is a small tent or pavilion.)

25. In the meadow, in memory of your drunken, bloodthirsty eyes, the narcissus rises to its feet and drinks brimming cups. ("Ayāġ" can here too be read as both foot and cup.)

26. The courier of the morning breeze was bringing the good news of union with you, so the narcissus, in that joy, throws its cap to the sky. (Throwing one's cap in the air was an old way of showing joy.)

27. Wondering whether it will ever see the face of an idol like you again, the narcissus stands with this intention and opens a book of omens every day. (The daily opening of the flower is likened to the opening of a book of divination.)

28. Seeing the arrow of your glance, the tulip cries "mercy"; recalling the spell of your eye, the narcissus cries "beware".

29. The rosebud must have said, "I resemble your lips"; hearing this, the narcissus took offence and shakes its head. (The narcissus nodding in the wind is likened to someone shaking his head in refusal.)

30. Had the fire of parting and separation from you not worked upon its soul, why would the narcissus be so full of sparks?

31. The narcissus has raised the hand of supplication for the continuance of the reign of Shah Bayezid Khan, and holds its face toward the sky.

32. Ever since it saw the dust of the footsteps of that shah who is the refuge of the world, the narcissus, like the people of the world, has taken it as the crown upon its head. (The Vatican manuscript reads "Ezelden" (since pre-eternity) instead of "Görelden" (since it saw).)

33. If a single drop of the rain from his cloud of grace were to reach it, every stone would yield a fresh and verdant narcissus.

34. O shah, the people of the meadow have formed caravans to circle the Kaaba of your street; the narcissus has become their guide.

35. The narcissus wants to be the one who carries the censer about your assembly; it has brought bowls full of raw ambergris. (Ambergris is a fragrant substance; there is a reference to the scent of the narcissus.)

36. The narcissus is the dove of the king of the realm of the meadow; at dawn it has reached your gate with a letter or two. (The image of the letter-carrying dove rests on the white petals of the narcissus.)

37. On the pretext of rubbing its face on your flower garden, the narcissus has brought a fresh onion from the garden of paradise. ("Piyāz" in the dictionary sense is an onion; there is a reference to the narcissus growing from a bulb.)

38. So that it may scatter offerings at your arrival when you stroll in the meadow, the narcissus fills the platters of its eyes with jewels. ("Nis̱ār" in the dictionary sense is the coins and jewels scattered before a great person on his arrival.)

39. The morning breeze, like a brigand, plundered its possessions; the narcissus has reached your street and, rubbing its face there, hopes for justice.

40. The narcissus knows that your assembly certainly has need of it; it makes a golden süzek of the finest silk. ("Süzek" can be understood here in the dictionary sense of a strainer; this is not certain.)

41. The narcissus comes like a falcon with its eyes sewn shut; on its first arrival, as soon as it opens its eyes, it turns toward your face. (There is a reference to the sewing shut of the eyes of hunting falcons in training; the closed narcissus bud is likened to a seeled eye.)

42. Warmed by the wine of your love, the narcissus turns ceaselessly in the meadow with a wine bowl filled to the brim upon its head.

43. Has your decree, which the world obeys, fallen into its hand, that the narcissus kisses it, sets it on its head and touches it to its eyes? (Kissing a sovereign's decree and placing it on one's head was a sign of respect.)

44. When the morning breeze invited you, the shah, to the rose garden, the narcissus brought to the corner of the rose garden whatever it had at hand. ("Mā-ḥażar" in the dictionary sense means whatever is at hand.)

45. The narcissus knows that your bounty reaches the whole world in full; it has come with a bowl in its hand and is begging for alms. ("Cerr" in the dictionary sense is collecting alms by begging; the cup of the narcissus is likened to a begging bowl.)

46. The people of the meadow wish to give a feast for you, the shah; the narcissus pitches tents on green poles.

47. With the image of your assembly the narcissus has lit thousands of torches; it has become all eyes from head to foot and watches the road for you.

48. At times the narcissus rubs its face in the dust out of love for you, at times, out of longing for you, it vies with the morning breeze. ("Mihr" means both sun and love, and "hevā" both air and desire; both senses suit the couplet. "Baş koşmak" is understood here as to vie, to strive.)

49. The rosebud has filled its purse with pure ruby; the narcissus too, under your fortune and your shadow, has put on a golden crown.

50. At times the narcissus became the torchbearer of the inner chamber of your assembly, at times the silver-bodied cupbearer of your feast.

51. Has the tempest of your wrath reached the meadow, that the narcissus has turned pale, withered and is passing away? ("Ṣarṣar" in the dictionary sense is a cold and violent wind.)

52. Because of the delight of your assembly the narcissus has not seen the face of sleep; is it any wonder if it dozes like this every dawn?

53. For your praise and eulogy I stretched out my hand to the garden of my nature; from every side so many narcissi grew. (The narcissi here are the couplets of the kaside with the refrain "nergis".)

54. Many indeed have brought narcissi to your service; but where is one such narcissus, scattering subtleties and displaying charm, as this? ("Ḫurde-rīz" in the dictionary sense means one who scatters small things, one who speaks fine witticisms.)

55. However much Münîr raises his hands in prayer for you at dawn, so much does the narcissus, with head uncovered, humbly make its supplication.

56. So long as the rosebud makes its robe of silk brocade, so long as the narcissus wears a golden crown in the rose garden,

57. so long as, night and day, in the lotus-coloured rose garden, that is the sky, the sun appears as the rose and the stars and moon as the narcissus, (The Vienna manuscript reads "Görine yine mihr".)

58. may God keep the rose garden of your beauty ever fresh; the narcissus too has won renown in the shadow of your praise.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Turkish kaside (qasida) of fifty-eight couplets and is numbered Kaside 16 in the edition. The kaside is a long verse form in which every couplet keeps the same rhyme, usually written to praise a ruler. The metre is "mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilâtün mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "nergis" (narcissus); Ersoy too mentions "nergis" separately among the kaside refrains of the divan. The rhyme rests on the sound "r" (güher, her, tāc-ver, şeker, siper, ṭutar, geçer, güler, ṣaçar); Ersoy cites this kaside among the examples of rhyme built on the final rhyming letter alone. The kaside is found in the Vatican (VT 29a) and Vienna (VY 38b) manuscripts. The heading in the edition, "Der-medḥ-i Sulṭān Bāyezīd ‘azze naṣruhu", means "In praise of Sultan Bayezid; may his victory be glorious". In the Vatican manuscript the heading, although printed in the edition with missing letters, can be read as "ve lehū eyżan" (again by him). The sources give no information on when the kaside was presented.

The sections of the kaside can be clearly seen in the text. Couplets 1-16 are an opening section that describes the spring garden through the narcissus. In couplet 17 the poet says that at dawn, in his imagination, he walked through the rose garden and saw "this poem" being recited by the nightingale and written by the narcissus. Couplet 18 is a new opening couplet (matla) with both lines ending in "nergis"; couplets 18-30 address the beloved like a ghazal (gazel) set within the kaside. Couplet 31 is the girizgâh, the transition; the narcissus raises its hands for the continuance of the reign of Shah Bayezid Khan, and the patron's name appears here. Couplets 32-52 are the medhiye, the praise proper. In couplets 53-54 the poet praises his own poem, and in couplet 55 he passes to prayer with the pen name (mahlas) "Münīr". The last three couplets are a prayer built on the pattern "nitekim … niçe ki …" (so long as …).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The whole order of images in the kaside is bound to the flower in the refrain, and almost every couplet dresses the narcissus in a different guise. The narcissus is a woman adorning a bride (1), someone looking at the water from a pavilion window (2), the crowned Aziz of Egypt (3), a prophet bearing the staff of Moses (4), a foot soldier of the rose king (6), the elder of the Magi who keeps the tavern (7), a juggler breathing fire (12), a traveller who winds his clothes about his head and swims across the water (13), a surgeon drawing his lancet (14) and a dove of the sanctuary (15). Most of these images arise from the look of the flower: the white petals become pearls, cotton, egg white, clothing and letters; the yellow-orange centre is a crown, a cup, saffron, sparks and fire; the bent stem is an overturned cup, a bowed stature and a dozing head. Explanations of this kind, which tie a fanciful cause to a feature of the flower, are examples of the figure called hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology): the narcissus laughs because it eats saffron (11), it turns its cup over because it says "I leave no dregs" (9), it is full of sparks because the fire of separation has worked upon its soul (30).

In the ghazal section the narcissus is tied to the established eye image of divan poetry. The beloved's eye is the "drunken narcissus" (23); the narcissus in the garden falls senseless on looking upon its wiles (18), lays cotton on its eye against the arrow of the glance (22), stays awake until dawn (23) and consults omens to see the beloved again (27). In couplet 28 the tulip and the narcissus are made to answer each other with "mercy" and "beware" before the glance and the eye. In the medhiye, on the other hand, the narcissus becomes a servant at the sovereign's assembly: it carries the censer (35), brings letters like a dove (36), fills the platters of its eyes with jewels for scattering (38), kisses the decree (43), takes up a bowl and begs for alms (45), pitches tents (46), holds a torch and serves as cupbearer (50). In couplet 37 the "fresh onion" brought from the garden of paradise is a witty detail resting on the fact that the narcissus grows from a bulb.

Wordplay is also frequent in the kaside. In couplet 5 "nebāt" can be read as both plant and rock sugar, in couplet 10 "müdām" as both always and wine, and in couplet 48 "mihr" as both sun and love and "hevā" as both air and desire; in couplets 8 and 25 the word "ayak" also carries its old Turkish sense of cup. In couplets 53-54 the refrain turns back upon the poem itself: the poet says that he stretched out his hand to the garden of his nature for praise and that "so many narcissi" grew from every side; here the narcissi are the couplets of the kaside, and the poet claims that his own kaside is unmatched among these flowers. This is a short example of the fahriye, the self-praise section of the kaside. In the prayer section the sky is imagined as a lotus-coloured rose garden; the sun is the rose, the stars and moon are the narcissus (57). Ersoy gives no information that the kaside was written as a nazire (response poem) to any poet.

Bibliography

Online sources