Original Persian Text

Metre: mefā‘ilün fe‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün

Be-ḥaḳḳ-ı āteş-i ‘ışḳ-ı nigār u ḥālet-i ū
Demī be-şevḳ be-sūzed merā ḥarāret-i ū
Ġulām-ı bāde-fürūşem ki der-mey-āşāmī
Zi-muḥtesib ne-ḫorem ġam be-yümn-i himmet-i ū
Eger zi-ḫāk-i vücūdem es̱er ne-mī-māned
Ḫalel-peẕīr ne-bāşed zi-dil maḥabbet-i ū
Miyān be-ḫıdmet-i pīr-i muġān ez-ān bestem
Zi-tāc u taḫt merā bihterest ḫıdmet-i ū
Be-künc-i mey-gede cārūb-kārī’ī ki merāst
Be-cām-ı Cem ne-dehīm ü be-cāh u ḥaşmet-i ū
Çü tāb-ı nūr-ı Sühā maḥv şod vücūd-ı Münīr
Henūz rū ne-nümūd āftāb-ı ṭal‘at-ı ū

In English

1. By the fire of love for the picture-lovely beloved and by his state, may his heat burn me for a moment with longing.

2. I am the slave of the wine-seller; by the blessing of his lofty favour I do not fear the market inspector while I drink wine. (Ersoy says "cupbearer" instead of "wine-seller".)

3. Even if no trace remains of the earth of my being, the love for him I feel in my heart will not lessen.

4. I have girded my waist for the service of the pîr-i mugân for this reason: his service is better to me than crown and throne.

5. The sweeper's work that falls to me in the corner of the tavern we would not exchange for the cup of Cem, nor for his rank and majesty.

6. Before the sun of his face had even appeared, Münîr's being was wiped away like the glimmer of the star Sühâ. (Ersoy understands the couplet to mean that Münîr vanished as soon as the beloved showed his face.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a six-couplet ghazal (gazel) written in Persian; in the edition it is the hundred and thirty-sixth of the Persian ghazals (fg 136). The metre is "mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilâtün mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is the suffix "-i ū" (his); in Ersoy's list of refrains this ghazal is given with the refrain "-ı ū". The rhyme is the syllable "-et": ḥālet, ḥarāret, himmet, maḥabbet, ḫıdmet, ḥaşmet, ṭal‘at. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 95a) and Vienna (VY 75a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Ersoy counts this ghazal among the seventeen Persian ghazals that are nazires (response poems) to Hâfız of Shiraz, and gives its counterpart as page 192 of the Istanbul 1290 (1873-74) printing of Hâfız's Divan; the TDV article also records that seventeen Persian ghazals are nazires to Hâfız. Ersoy does not identify the ghazal he means by its opening couplet. The Hâfız ghazal in the same metre and refrain opens with the couplet "Be-cān-ı pīr-i ḫarābāt u ḥaḳḳ-ı ṣoḥbet-i ū / Ki nīst der-ser-i men cüz hevā-yı ḫıdmet-i ū" (By the soul of the master of the tavern and by the due of his company, there is nothing in my head but the longing to serve him); the identification is our own observation. Both opening couplets begin with an oath, "by the due of". The rhymes "himmet-i ū", "maḥabbet-i ū" and "ḫıdmet-i ū" found in Hâfız's ghazal are also in Münîrî's; Hâfız's phrase "āteş-i maḥabbet" (the fire of love) also seems to be spread across Münîrî's first and third couplets.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal begins with an oath, and the lover asks to be burned as if it were a wish. The second and fourth couplets build the world of the rind (the free-spirited drinker) that Hâfız also loved. The muhtesib, in its dictionary sense, is the official who supervises the market and public morals; catching and punishing drinkers is also his task. Because the lover takes refuge in the favour of the wine-seller, he does not fear the muhtesib. To "gird the waist" for the pîr-i mugân, the wise master of the tavern, in its dictionary sense means to put on the sash and make ready for service; this service is held above crown and throne.

In the fifth couplet the sweeper's work is compared with the cup of Cem. Cem is Jamshid, the king of Iranian legend, and in divan poetry he is remembered by his world-revealing cup. Sweeping the corner of the tavern will not be exchanged for a legendary king's cup, rank and majesty. This contrast between the lowest work and the highest sovereignty turns the rind's scale of values upside down.

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) rises into the sky. Sühâ, in its dictionary sense, is a star in the constellation of the Great Bear that is hard to see because it is very faint. When the sun rises the stars cannot be seen; the beloved's face is the sun and Münîr is Sühâ. Although the pen name means "illuminating", the poet likens himself to the faintest star; this fine humility is our own observation. The same image occurs in the fourth of Münîrî's Turkish ghazals: "Gün ṭoġsa nā-bedīd olur elbette pes sühā". The phrase "henūz rū ne-nümūd" in the text means word for word "has not yet shown his face"; Ersoy, however, gives the meaning as "had only just shown it". The difference between the two readings is whether the vanishing happens before the sun rises or as soon as it rises.

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