Original Persian Text

Metre: müfte‘ilün mefā‘ilün müfte‘ilün mefā‘ilün

Ān ki dilem be-ġamze bord cān u serem fedā-yı ū
V’ān ki merā be-‘işve küşt ḫāk-i rehem berā-yı ū
Cān u ten-i nizār-ı men-ḫaste ki şod çonīn zi-ġam
Zehr-i ecel şeved meger ey dil-i men şifā-yı ū
Ḫıdmet-i mey-fürūş-rā key ne-konem be-cān edā
Sırr-ı cihān be-dil nümūd cām-ı cihān-nümā-yı ū
Bāde-i ṣāf-ı ‘ışḳ-ı to k’ū ḥaḳ-ı ‘āşıḳ-ı to şod
Ṣūfī-i ḫırḳa-pūş-rā keşf ne-şod ṣafā-yı ū
Çeşm-i Münīr egerçi hest sürḫ zi-ḫūn-girīsten
Cevher-i ḫāk-i pāy-ı tost küḥl-i vey ü cilā-yı ū

In English

1. May my soul and my head be a sacrifice to the one who carried off my heart with a sidelong glance; and for the one who killed me with coquetry, I am the dust of his path.

2. O my heart, for the soul and wasted body of me, the sick one brought to this state by grief, the cure, it seems, will be the poison of death.

3. Why should I not perform the service of the wine-seller with heart and soul; his world-revealing cup has shown the secret of the world to my heart. (Ersoy says "cupbearer" instead of "wine-seller".)

4. The delight of the pure wine of your love, which is the due of your lover, was not revealed to the cloak-wearing Sufi.

5. Though Münîr's eye has grown red from weeping blood, the essence of the earth your foot treads is its kohl and its polish.

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 thirty-seventh of the Persian ghazals (fg 137). The metre is "müfte‘ilün mefâ‘ilün müfte‘ilün mefâ‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is the suffix "-yı ū" (his); in Ersoy's list of refrains this ghazal is given with the refrain "-ı ū", together with the two preceding ghazals. The rhyme is the sound "-ā": fedā, berā, şifā, nümā, ṣafā, cilā. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 95a) and Vienna (VY 75a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet (matla) is built of two parallel lines. In the first, soul and head are sacrificed to the beloved who took the heart with a glance; in the second, the lover becomes dust on the path of the beloved who kills with coquetry. These two halves, beginning "Ān ki" and "V'ān ki" (the one who, and the one who), list two weapons of the same beloved, the glance and coquetry. The lover's answer in both cases is to count himself as nothing.

In the second couplet sickness and medicine are turned around. Only the poison of death can cure the pain of the lover, worn to skin and bone by grief. Counting poison as a cure is a contrast, and it rests on the divan view of death as release from the pain of love.

The "cām-ı cihān-nümā" (world-revealing cup) in the third couplet is an allusion to the cup of Jamshid, the legendary king of Iran, which showed all that happened in the world. Here the cup is in the hand of the wine-seller and shows the secret of the world to the lover's heart. The word "cihān" (world) occurring twice in the same line strengthens this link. In return the lover is ready to pay for his service with his soul.

In the fourth couplet there is a play on words based on likeness of sound: "ṣāf" (pure, clear), "ṣūfī" (Sufi) and "ṣafā" (delight, ease of heart) are built from the same sounds. The delight of the pure wine is not revealed to the Sufi wrapped in his cloak. The word "keşf", in its dictionary sense, means the lifting of a veil, and in Sufism it describes the opening of hidden truths to the heart; that unveiling is denied to the Sufi is a jab at outward piety. This play of sound is our own observation.

In the pen-name couplet (mahlas) a congruence of images (tenasüp) is set up between the reddened eye and kohl. Kohl, in its dictionary sense, is the black cosmetic drawn on the eye, and it was once also thought to be good for the eyes. The cure for the eye reddened from weeping blood is the earth trodden by the beloved's foot. The words "cevher" (jewel, essence) and "cilā" (polish) make this earth shine like a precious stone; the eye grows bright by looking at the beloved's footprint.

Bibliography

Online sources