Original Persian Text

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

Eyyühe’l-‘uşşāḳ fī nāri’l-firāḳi bi’l-müdām
Kāne ‘aynen selsebīlen fe’şrabū ke’se’l-müdām
Sāḳī-i cān-baḫş elinden ṭoġdı beñzer āftāb
Lāḥa berḳun ‘an tecellī’r-rāḥ min ke’si’l-müdām
Ḥırmet-i mey ẓāhirest ü pīş-i mā ne’bved ḥelāl
Ger zi-dest-i yār mī-bāşed ne-mī-gūyem ḥarām
Ḳısmet-i bezm-i ezeldür ḥāṣılı bu çāre ne
Zāhide bādām u ḥelvā ‘āşıḳa ṣahbā vü cām
Yā recā’e’r-rūḥ fī ḳalbi’l-Münīriyyi’l-ḥaḳīr
Ente ġāyātü’l-münā fī küll-i ḥālin ve’s-selām

In English

1. O lovers who burn without pause in the fire of separation, (wine) is like the spring of Salsabil; drink from the cup of wine. (The couplet is in Arabic; Salsabil is the spring of Paradise named in the Qur'an. Ersoy understands it as "drink continually from the wine that is like the water of Paradise against the fire of separation"; depending on which line "bi'l-müdām" is attached to, the couplet can be read in two ways.)

2. From the hand of the life-giving cupbearer it is as if the sun had risen; a lightning flash has shone from the appearing of wine in the cup of wine. (The first line is in Turkish, the second in Arabic.)

3. That wine is forbidden is plain, and with us too it is not lawful; but if it comes from the beloved's hand, I do not call it forbidden. (The couplet is in Persian.)

4. In short, this is the share dealt out at the feast of pre-eternity; what can be done? To the ascetic fell almonds and halva, to the lover red wine and the cup. (The couplet is in Turkish.)

5. O hope of the spirit in the heart of this lowly Münîrî, in every state you are the utmost of desires, and that is all. (The couplet is in Arabic.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet ghazal (gazel); in the edition it is the hundred and twelfth of the Persian ghazals (fg 112). The edition places it among the Persian ghazals, but the ghazal is built in three languages. The first and fifth couplets are Arabic. In the second couplet the first line is Turkish ("elinden ṭoġdı beñzer") and the second Arabic. The third couplet is Persian. The fourth couplet is Turkish ("ḳısmet-i bezm-i ezeldür", "bu çāre ne"); Ersoy does not give its meaning. Poems of this kind, in which several languages are used together, are called mülemma. 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 "-ām": müdām, müdām, müdām, ḥarām, cām, selām. Ersoy counts this ghazal among his examples of kafiye-i müreddefe (rhyme with a long vowel before the rhyme letter). The poem is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 88b). To whom and when it was written is not known.

There is a marked closeness between this ghazal and the one immediately before it in the edition (fg 111). Both mix Arabic, Persian and Turkish couplets, both rhyme on the sound "-ām", and both end their pen-name couplet with the words "ve's-selām". The two ghazals also stand one after the other in the Vatican manuscript (88a and 88b). This resemblance is our own observation; there is no information on whether the two poems were written together.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the word "müdām" rhymes in both lines of the same couplet: in the first "bi'l-müdām", in its dictionary sense, means continually, without pause; in the second "ke'se'l-müdām" means the cup of wine. The same word coming into the rhyme with two different meanings is a perfect pun (cinas). The phrase "kāne ‘aynen selsebīlen" recalls the Qur'anic words "a spring therein named Salsabil" (al-Insan 18); this allusion is our own observation. Wine is offered as a spring of Paradise against the fire of separation; the contrast between fire and spring is the mainstay of the couplet.

In the second couplet the sun rises from the cupbearer's hand and lightning flashes in the cup. The brightness of wine is told in images of light; sun, lightning and tecelli (appearing, manifestation) form a congruence of images (tenasüp). In the third couplet the lover openly grants that wine is forbidden, then adds a condition: wine that comes from the beloved's hand is not counted forbidden. The contrast between forbidden and lawful ties the two lines of the couplet together.

The Turkish fourth couplet rests on the idea that everyone's share was fixed in pre-eternity. At the feast of pre-eternity almonds and halva fell to the ascetic, wine and cup to the lover; the poet presents his own choice as destiny and so leaves no room for the ascetic's objection. A light mockery may be felt in the comparison of the ascetic fond of sweets with the lover fond of wine; this is our own inference. In the Arabic pen-name couplet (mahlas) the poet calls himself "ḥaḳīr" (lowly) and proclaims the beloved the utmost of all desires.

Bibliography

Online sources