Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün fe‘ūlün

Münīrī ister iseñ bī-fenā genc
Ḳanā‘at gencin ola fāriġ ol var

In English

1. Münîrî, if you want an imperishable treasure, let contentment be your treasure; let go (of the world) and go your way. (We understand "fāriġ ol var" as "give up and go on your way"; this is our reading.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This couplet is the first of the nine pieces gathered in the edition under the heading "Müfredler". The Kubbealtı Lugatı defines the müfred as a single couplet not bound to other couplets and without rhyme between its lines; this couplet fits the definition exactly, its lines ending on "genc" and "var" without rhyming. The metre is "mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün fe‘ūlün". Ersoy writes in his introduction that the nine müfreds of the divan are found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT) and that all of them are in Turkish; they stand on folios 180b-181b of that manuscript. When and for whom it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poet addresses himself by his pen name (mahlas) and gives a short piece of advice: the treasure that does not run out is contentment. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "genc" as treasure; the word occurs twice in the two lines, and the repetition carries the advice. In the first line what is sought is a "bī-fenā" (imperishable) treasure; in the second the treasure is named. The same dictionary explains "fâriğ" as one who has given up, renounced, withdrawn; "fāriġ ol" means withdraw from the world.

Contentment is treated more than once in Münîrî's müfreds; the 3rd müfred also says that without contentment a person is never satisfied. The plain, advising language of the couplet suits the short, self-contained form of the müfred.

Bibliography

Online sources