Original Persian Text

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

Ger zi-rāz-ı Leylī-i zülf-i to bīrūn efkenem
Ḫalḳ-ı ‘ālem-rā heme ber-ḥāl-i Mecnūn efkenem
Müflis-i ‘ışḳam velī ez-çeşm-i gevher-bār-ı men
Künc-i her vīrāne-rā ṣad genc-i Ḳārūn efkenem
Esb-i himmet-rā be-meydān-ı ġamet geştem süvār
Na‘rahā ber-künbed-i gerdān-ı gerdūn efkenem
Āḫir ez-tīr-i ḫadeng-i ġamze-i dil-dūz-ı to
Pīş-i la‘let mī-revem ez-rīş-i dil ḫūn efkenem
Bā-vücūd-ı seyl-i eşk-i çeşm-i gevher-bār-ı men
Ber-heme ‘ālem ṣadā-yı Nīl ü Ceyḥūn efkenem

In English

1. Were I to bring out the secret of your curls, black as Layla, I would cast all the people of the world into the state of Majnun. ("Leylī", in its dictionary sense, means of the night, black as night; Ersoy too explains the word as "black".)

2. I am a bankrupt pauper of love, yet thanks to my jewel-raining eye I scatter a hundred treasures of Korah (Karun) into the corner of every ruin.

3. In the arena of your grief I have mounted the horse of resolve; I hurl war cries at the dome of the turning sky.

4. At last, (wounded) by the arrow of your heart-piercing glance, I go before your ruby lip and pour out blood from the wound of my heart. ("Ḫadeng", in its dictionary sense, is a kind of arrow made of poplar wood.)

5. With the flood of tears from my jewel-raining eye I send the roar of the Nile and the Oxus (Ceyhun) across the whole world.

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 sixteenth of the Persian ghazals (fg 116). The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is the word "efkenem" (I cast, I send forth); in Ersoy's list of refrains the ghazal is given with this refrain. The rhyme is the sound "-ūn": bīrūn, Mecnūn, Ḳārūn, gerdūn, ḫūn, Ceyḥūn. The ghazal has no pen-name couplet (mahlas); the poet's name does not occur in the last couplet. This is our own observation, and in Ersoy's renderings too there is no address in the last couplet. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 89b) and Vienna (VY 71b) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is a poem of hyperbole. In every couplet the lover says he will do some great deed that will affect the world, and the refrain "efkenem" carries these deeds: bringing out the secret, casting people into Majnun's state, scattering treasure, hurling cries at the sky, pouring out blood, sending a roar across the world. The use of the same verb with a different object in each couplet gives the ghazal its unity.

The opening couplet alludes to the story of Layla and Majnun. The word "leylī" calls Layla to mind and also, in its dictionary sense, means black as night; so the beloved's black curls resemble Layla. If the secret of these curls were revealed, all people would go mad with love like Majnun. Proper names also stand out in the rhymes: Majnun, Korah and the Oxus come at the ends of couplets.

In the second couplet there is a clear contrast between "müflis" (bankrupt) and "genc" (treasure). The lover is poor, but the tears that fall from his eyes are like jewels and scatter Korah's treasures into every ruin. The idea that treasure lies hidden in ruins is a well-known motif in divan poetry; there is also a likeness of sound between "künc" (corner) and "genc" (treasure). Korah (Karun) is the figure remembered for his wealth and said to have been swallowed by the earth together with his treasures.

In the third couplet the words horse, arena and rider build a scene of battle or of the javelin game; the lover spurs his horse in the arena of grief and hurls cries at the sky. There is a pun (cinas) built on near-sounding words between "gerdān" (turning) and "gerdūn" (the sky, the wheel of heaven); this observation is our own. In the fourth couplet the arrow of the glance wounds the lover, and he pours his blood before the beloved's ruby lip; there is a congruence of colour between the redness of blood and the ruby. In the last couplet the flood of tears is measured against the rivers Nile and Oxus. The phrase "çeşm-i gevher-bār" (jewel-raining eye) occurred in the second couplet too; so the treasure at the start of the ghazal and the flood at its end come from the same eye.

Bibliography

Online sources