Original Persian Text

Metre: mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün

Ṣabā k’ez gül-şen-i kūy-ı gül-endāmem zened ger dem
Zi-reşkeş ḫāk mī-bāşem şeved der-hem revān gerdem
Zi-gerd-i ḫāk-i pāy-i ū be-dest-i men ne-mī-üfted
Egerçi behr-i ū her dem cihān-rā çün ṣabā gerdem
Demī k’ez ġamze-i şūḫet merā yek ‘işve peydā şod
Men-i dil-ḫaste cānem-rā be-rāh-ı to fedā kerdem
Hemīn ḥālet buved lā-büd ser-encāmem dem-i āḫir
Be-derd ü miḥnet-i ‘ışḳet ki ber-‘ālem ser-āverdem
Ḫalāṣ-ı vey ne-mī-dānem zi-sūz-ı sīne key başed
Bi-y-efrūzed Münīr īn āteş-i dil ez-dem-i serdem

In English

1. If the morning breeze should boast of the rose garden in the street of my rose-bodied beloved, out of jealousy I turn to dust; that dust mingles with the wind, and I go flowing along (towards the beloved). (Ersoy too understands the couplet as the dust mingling with the wind and going to the beloved.)

2. Though for his sake I roam the world every moment like the morning breeze, not a speck of the dust of his foot falls into my hand.

3. The moment one coquettish look appeared to me from your playful glance, I, wounded at heart, sacrificed my soul on your path.

4. At the last breath my end will surely be this very state: that with the pain and trial of your love I have brought my life to its close in this world.

5. I do not know when he will be freed from the burning of the breast; let Münîr kindle this fire of the heart from my cold breath. (The speaker addresses the poet; "dem-i serd", in its dictionary sense, means a cold breath, that is, a deep and hopeless sigh.)

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 seventh of the Persian ghazals (fg 107). The metre is "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün". The ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains; the couplet endings meet in the sound "-erdem": ger dem, gerdem, gerdem, kerdem, āverdem, serdem. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 87b) and Vienna (VY 69a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

A sound play stands out in the opening couplet. The first line ends "zened ger dem" (if it should boast), the second "revān gerdem" (I go flowing, I become). Between "ger dem", made of two separate words, and the single word "gerdem" there is a pun (cinas) of the kind that classical rhetoric builds with a compound expression; this observation is our own. In the second couplet "gerdem" returns in the rhyme, this time meaning "I roam". The Persian verb "gerdīden", in its dictionary sense, means both to turn or roam and to become; the poet uses the same word in two couplets with two different meanings.

The first two couplets are built around the morning breeze (saba). In divan poetry saba is the wind that passes through the beloved's street and carries his scent, and is therefore both the lover's messenger and his rival. Here the lover is jealous of saba speaking of the beloved's garden and wishes to become dust and mingle with the wind, so as to reach the beloved. In the second couplet the lover roams the world like saba itself, yet cannot obtain even the dust of the beloved's foot. The words dust, earth and wind form a congruence of images (tenasüp) across the two couplets.

Another feature of the ghazal is that the word "dem" occurs in every couplet, each time with a different meaning: in the first "dem zeden" (to speak of, to boast), in the second "her dem" (every moment), in the third "demī" (a moment), in the fourth "dem-i āḫir" (the last breath), in the fifth "dem-i serd" (a cold breath). In its dictionary sense the word means both breath and moment; this repetition is our own observation. In the fourth couplet "ser-encām" (end) and "ser-āverden" (to bring to an end) rest on the same word "ser".

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) is built on a contrast. The lover's breast is burning, and the speaker tells Münîr to kindle the fire in his heart from a cold breath. Lighting a fire with a cold breath is a paradox; the colder and more hopeless the sigh, the higher the heart's fire flares. Ersoy too understands the couplet in this direction.

Bibliography

Online sources