Original Persian Text

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

Dīdem ān ebrū-yı nūn u ‘ayn-çeşm ü mīm-fem
Ḳultü yā ‘aynī e-hünne fitnetün ḳālet ne‘am
‘Ārıż u zülf-i siyāheş dil be-hem dīd ü be-goft
Men ra’ā fī’l-cenneti nūran ḳarīnen bi’ẓ-ẓulem
Dil zi-cām-ı la‘l-i nābet cür‘a’ī ḫᵛāhed müdām
Şerbetün min fīk ḫayrun leẕẕeten ‘an cām-ı Cem
Ey ṣabā ez-kārbān-ı būy-ı zülf-i yār-ı men
Ci’te lī bi’l-beşr ra’yen ve’hve ni‘me’l-muġtenem
Ger zi-to ez-cām-ı ‘ışḳ-ı yār porsend ey Münir
Ḳul lenā’l-‘ayşü’l-müdāmi bi’l-müdāmi ve’n-ni‘am

In English

1. I saw that brow like the letter nun, that eye like the letter ayn, that mouth like the letter mim. I said, "O my eye, are these a temptation?" It said, "Yes." (The second line is in Arabic.)

2. The heart saw his cheek and black curls together and said, "Who has seen in Paradise a light set beside darkness?" (The second line is in Arabic.)

3. The heart always wants a sip from the cup of your pure ruby lip; for a draught from your mouth is better in sweetness than the cup of Jem. (The second line is in Arabic; the cup of Jem is the cup that divan poetry ascribes to Jamshid, the legendary king of Iran.)

4. O morning breeze, from the caravan carrying the scent of my beloved's curls you have come to me with joyful news; what a fine spoil this is. (The second line is in Arabic; Ersoy understands it as "you brought news of his health".)

5. O Münîr, if they ask you about the cup of the beloved's love, say: "Ours is a lasting life with wine and with blessings." (The second line is in Arabic; the word "müdām" occurs twice here, meaning both "lasting" and "wine".)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet ghazal (gazel); in the edition it is the hundred and ninth of the Persian ghazals (fg 109). In every couplet the first line is in Persian and the second in Arabic. In classical poetry such poems, in which two or more languages are used together, are called mülemma; in this ghazal the alternation of languages line by line is kept up regularly from beginning to end. The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains; the rhyme is the sound "-em": fem, ne‘am, ẓulem, Cem, muġtenem, ni‘am. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 87b) and Vienna (VY 157) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built on comparisons with letters. In divan poetry the brow is likened for its curve to the letter "nun" (ن), the eye for its shape to "ayn" (ع), and the mouth for its smallness to "mim" (م). After listing these three letters the poet ends the couplet with an Arabic question and answer: the lover asks his eye whether these are a temptation (fitne), and the answer is "ne‘am", that is, "yes". In Arabic the word "ne‘am" is written with exactly the letters nun, ayn and mim (نعم). Thus the beloved's brow, eye and mouth, put together, form the word "yes"; the one who answers is the beloved's face itself. This letter play is our own observation. The word "‘aynī" (my eye), with which the lover addresses his eye, also shares the name of the letter ayn; in Arabic "‘ayn", in its dictionary sense, means eye.

The second couplet works the contrast of light and darkness. The cheek is bright, the curls are black; their standing side by side is an extraordinary sight, like seeing in Paradise a light joined to darkness. The comparison with Paradise lifts the beloved's beauty above worldly measures.

The third and fifth couplets come together around the motif of wine. In the third couplet the beloved's lip is a cup, and a sip from it is placed above the cup of Jem. In the fifth couplet the word "müdām" occurs twice in the same line: "el-‘ayşü'l-müdām" (lasting life) and "bi'l-müdām" (with wine). In its dictionary sense the word means both lasting and wine; since it carries two meanings with the same spelling, there is a perfect pun (cinas) here. The Persian "müdām" (always) of the third couplet seems to prepare this play; this connection is our own inference. In the fourth couplet saba again appears as the messenger who brings the beloved's scent; picturing the scent as a "caravan" forms a congruence of images (tenasüp) with counting the news it brings as a "spoil".

Bibliography

Online sources