Original Persian Text

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

Billāh ey bād-ı ṣabā be’şnev to ez-men yek kelām
Ḥāl-i hicrāneş be-gūyī pīş-i yārem ve’s-selām
Z’iştiyāḳ u ḥasret-i dīdār-ı rūḥ-efzā-yı ū
Derd ü ġam ber-men ḥelāl ü zindegānī şod ḥarām
Kāşkī der-rūz-ı evvel āşnāyī hem ne-būd
Īnçonīn fürḳat ki mā-rā mī-küşed her ṣubḥ u şām
Nā-çeşīde leẕẕet-i nūş-ı viṣālet-rā henūz
Pīş zehr-ālūd-ı hicrān mī-resed ber-men müdām
Ġāyet ü pāyān ne-dāred şerḥ-i hicrāneş Münīr
Ḳıṣṣa-rā kūteh konem kār-ı men ez-vey şod tamām

In English

1. For God's sake, O morning breeze, hear one word from me: tell my beloved the state of separation from him, and that is all. ("Ve’s-selām" is Arabic for "and peace"; it is used to close a speech in the sense of "and that is all".)

2. From longing and yearning to see his soul-reviving face, pain and grief have become lawful to me, and living forbidden.

3. Would that there had been no acquaintance on the first day; then there would be no such separation as kills us every morning and evening.

4. Before I have even tasted the honey of union with you, the poison-laced pain of separation reaches me without end.

5. O Münîr, the telling of separation from him has neither end nor limit; let me cut the story short: because of him my business is finished.

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 fourth of the Persian ghazals (fg 104). The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif) and does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains. The rhyme is the sound "-ām": kelām, selām, ḥarām, şām, müdām, tamām. 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 86b) and Vienna (VY 69a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with a scene of sending news. The lover asks the morning breeze to hear a word from him and to tell the beloved the state of separation. In divan poetry the morning breeze (saba) is the wind that carries news between lover and beloved; addressing it here as a messenger who hears and passes on words is the figure of personification (teşhis). That the opening couplet ends with the words "ve’s-selām" is of interest: the phrase carries both the greeting at the close of a letter and the sense "that is all, the end of the matter". The news given to the morning breeze therefore closes like a letter.

The second and third couplets are built on contrasts. In the second couplet "ḥelāl" (lawful) and "ḥarām" (forbidden) face each other: pain and grief have become lawful for the lover, and living forbidden. These two words, taken from the language of Islamic law, express that everything in the lover's life has been turned upside down. In the third couplet the contrast of "ṣubḥ" (morning) and "şām" (evening) says that separation kills the lover at every hour of the day. The wish "kāşkī" (would that) at the head of the couplet voices plainly the regret felt for the acquaintance of love's first day.

The fourth couplet rests on the contrast of taste and poison. "Nūş", in its dictionary sense, means honey and a sweet drink; before the lover has yet tasted this honey of union, the poison of separation comes to him without end. Separation coming before union is a reversal of the expected order, and the bitter irony of the couplet springs from this.

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) returns to the language of word and news of the opening couplet. The account of separation has no end; the poet decides to cut the story short and closes his speech with "kārem tamām şod" (my business is finished). This phrase expresses both the ending of the tale and the lover's being spent. The first rhyme of the ghazal is the word "kelām" (word), the last "tamām" (finished); the ghazal thus opens with a word being begun and closes with its ending. The words "şerḥ" (account, commentary) and "ḳıṣṣa" (story) are also parts of this language of speech.

Bibliography

Online sources