Original Persian Text

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

Ey ki ḫūnīn-ciger ez-la‘l-i dür-efşān-ı toyīm
Cān be-leb āmede v’ez ḥoḳḳa-i mercān-ı toyīm
Ber-dil-i teşne-i mā ḳaṭre-i ābī ne-resīd
Sālhā şod ki pey-i çāh-ı zeneḫdān-ı toyīm
Hem-dem-i bezm-i ġam-ı ‘ışḳ-ı to şod dil ki müdām
Gāh ser-mest ü gehī vālih ü ḥayrān-ı toyīm
Ger be-nezd-i to ‘azīzīm vü ger ḫᵛār çi ġam
Lillāhi’l-ḥamd ki der-mülk-i cihān ān-ı toyīm
Ez-ser-i luṭf bi-yā ber-ser-i bālīn-i Münīr
Ġālib ey şem‘-i Çigil yek şebe mihmān-ı toyīm

In English

1. O beloved, because of your pearl-scattering ruby lip our liver has turned to blood, and because of your coral casket our soul has come to our lips. (The pearls stand for the teeth and for speech, the coral casket for the small red mouth; "the soul coming to the lips" means being on the point of death.)

2. For years we have been in pursuit of the well of your chin's dimple; not even a drop of water has reached our thirsty heart.

3. The heart has become a companion in the gathering of the grief of your love; we are ever now drunk, now bewildered and in wonder at you.

4. Whether we are dear to you or despised, what grief is that; praise be to God that in the realm of the world we are yours. ("Lillāhi’l-ḥamd" is Arabic for "praise belongs to God".)

5. Be so kind as to come to the head of Münîr's pillow; O candle of Çiğil, it seems we are your guest for one night. (Çiğil is a Turkic people and land famed for its beauties; Ersoy understands it as "beauty of Çiğil".)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet ghazal (gazel) written in Persian; in the edition it is the hundred and third of the Persian ghazals (fg 103). The metre is "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is the phrase "-ı toyīm" (we are yours, we are your ...); in Ersoy's list of refrains the ghazal is given with this refrain. The rhyme is the sound "-ān": efşān, mercān, zeneḫdān, ḥayrān, ān, mihmān. Ersoy counts this ghazal among his examples of kafiye-i müreddefe (rhyme with a long vowel before the rhyme letter). The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 86a) and Vienna (VY 68b) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The refrain restates in every couplet the lover's belonging to the beloved: the lover is the one whose liver bleeds for his lip, the thirsty one pursuing his well, his admirer, his property and his guest. The "we" of the refrain makes the ghazal seem to speak with the voice of all lovers rather than of a single one; in the last couplet, however, this "we" comes down to Münîr's sickbed.

The opening couplet is built of precious stones. The lip is ruby, the teeth and speech are pearls, the mouth is a coral casket; the adjective "dür-efşān" (pearl-scattering) expresses both the brightness of the teeth and fine speech. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among ruby, pearl and coral. These precious stones bring the lover only pain: the liver has turned to blood, the soul has come to the lips. A link of colour is also set up between the red ruby and the bleeding liver.

In the second couplet the dimple of the chin is likened to a well. For years the lover has pursued this well, yet not a drop of water has reached his thirsty heart. The congruence of images between well and water, thirst and drop expresses that, for all the depth of the well, union has not come about. The third couplet passes into the language of the gathering; in the gathering of grief the heart has become a companion, and the lover is now drunk, now bewildered.

In the fourth couplet there is a plain contrast between "‘azīz" (dear, precious) and "ḫᵛār" (despised, worthless). For the lover it does not matter how he is seen beside the beloved; what matters is to be his property. The Arabic phrase "Lillāhi’l-ḥamd", which comes in between, turns this submission into a sentence of thanksgiving. In the pen-name couplet (mahlas) the lover is on his sickbed. He asks the beloved to be so kind as to come to his bedside and calls him the candle of Çiğil; the candle brings to mind both beauty and the light that lights the night. The words "guest for one night" suggest that the beloved's coming on this visit may fall on the last night of the lover's life. The words pillow, candle and night turn the scene into a sickroom.

Bibliography

Online sources