Original Persian Text

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

Çün zi-tīr-iġamzeet şod küştenem ceffe’l-ḳalem
Ger güzīr ez-vey ne-bāşed v’er buved key mī-rehem
Bā-vücūd-ı hestī-i ḫod mis̱l-i la‘let nādirest
Ān ki nādir mī-şeved ma‘dūm gerded ke’l-‘adem
Mī-keşed bālā nihāl-i ḳāmetet ez-eşk-i çeşm
Şāḫ-ı gül ez-neşv ü nem lā-büd buved der-neşv ü nem
Der-firāḳ-ı hicr-i ān dil-ber ki rāhī mī-füted
Mī-revīm ey dil be-zārī dest-i mā vü dest-i ġam
Naḳş-ı ebrūyeş ki der-bālā-yı ū dīdem Münīr
Ber-dilem fī’l-ḥāl āmed ṣūre-i nūn ve’l-ḳalem

In English

1. Since my being slain by the arrow of your glance is written in destiny, since the pen has dried, whether there is escape from it or not, when would I flee? ("Ceffe'l-ḳalem" is Arabic and in its dictionary sense means "the pen has dried", that is, what is written is written, destiny is fixed. Ersoy understands the second line as "would I ever fear this?")

2. A thing with an existence of its own, like your ruby lip, is rare; and what is rare comes to be counted as non-existent, like nothingness. ("Ke'l-‘adem", "like nothingness", at the end of the line is Arabic.)

3. Your sapling stature grows tall from the tears of my eye; the rose branch too surely grows and flourishes in moisture and freshness.

4. O heart, in separation from that heart-taker who sets out on the road, we go moaning, our hand in the hand of grief. (The couplet can be read in two ways: the one who "sets out on the road" may be the beloved or the lover; Ersoy understands it as the lover setting out hand in hand with grief.)

5. O Münîr, when I saw the shape of his eyebrow above, on his face, at once the sura "Nun. By the pen" came into my heart.

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 twenty-third of the Persian ghazals (fg 123). Arabic phrases occur in some lines: "ceffe'l-ḳalem", "ke'l-‘adem", "nūn ve'l-ḳalem". 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": ḳalem, rehem, ‘adem, nem, ġam, ḳalem. The poem is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 91a). To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first and last couplets of the ghazal end with the word "ḳalem" (pen). In the opening couplet "ceffe'l-ḳalem" (the pen has dried) refers to the pen of destiny: that the lover will die by the arrow of the beloved's glance was written in pre-eternity and can no longer change. The words "güzīr" (remedy, escape) and "rehīden" (to be saved) in the second line also take up the theme of escape from this destiny; the lover does not complain of destiny and has no thought of fleeing it. In the pen-name couplet (mahlas), "nūn ve'l-ḳalem" is the first verse of the Qur'anic sura al-Qalam, which begins "Nun. By the pen". The beloved's brow, which resembles the letter "nun" in its curve, reminds the lover of this sura. Thus the ghazal opens and closes with the word pen; this connection is our own observation. The pen that wrote the lover's death and the pen the brow recalls stand at the two ends of the same poem.

The second couplet is a play of ideas on existence and non-existence. A thing like the beloved's lip, that is, his mouth, is very rare; and what is rare is as good as non-existent. In divan poetry the beloved's mouth is thought to be so small that it is almost invisible, counted as non-existent; the couplet states this shared motif like a rule of logic. The second line recalls a known Arabic maxim meaning "the rare is like the non-existent"; this resemblance is our own observation. There is a contrast between "hestī" (existence) and "ma‘dūm" and "‘adem" (non-existence).

In the third couplet the beloved's stature is likened to a sapling, and the lover's tears to the water that waters it. The second line supports this with a fact of nature: the rose branch grows in moisture. The phrase "neşv ü nem" (growth and moisture) is repeated twice in the line; the repetition stresses that growth depends on watering. In the fourth couplet grief is personified and becomes a travelling companion with whom the lover walks hand in hand. The phrase "dest-i mā vü dest-i ġam" (our hand and the hand of grief) expresses this companionship in a concrete image.

Bibliography

Online sources