Original Persian Text

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

Zi-şevḳ-ı la‘l-i to ḫūn şod derūn-ı sāġar-ı mey
Ḫacil zi-çeşme-i nūş-ı to āb-ı kevs̱er-i mey
Zi-rāz-ı ‘ayş-ı nihān-ı to mī-koned peydā
Be-‘ārıż-ı to ki ḫod-rā nümūd cevher-i mey
Meger ki cāme-i ḫod-rā be-bāde rehn nihād
Be-mey-fürūş-ı cihān gül ki mī-dehed zer-i mey
Ṣılā-yı mey-gedeem dād u goft bāde-fürūş
Zi-perde-i ‘ınebī şod bedīd duḫter-i mey
Zi-şevḳ-ı bāde-i la‘leş reved Münīr lā-büd
Be-künc-i mey-gede ‘ömrī ki reft ber-ser-i mey

In English

1. From longing for your ruby lip the inside of the wine cup has turned to blood; the Kevser water of wine, too, was put to shame before the fountain of your sweet mouth.

2. When the essence of wine shows itself on your cheek, it reveals the secret of the pleasure and revelry you enjoy in hiding.

3. The rose, it seems, has pawned its own garment for wine; it is the rose that gives the gold of wine to the wine-seller of the world. (Ersoy understands this to mean that the rose pawned its garment in exchange for wine worth gold.)

4. The wine-seller called me to the tavern and said, "From behind the veil of the grape, the daughter of wine has appeared."

5. Münîr, from longing for the wine of his ruby lip, cannot help going to the corner of the tavern; his life has passed away over the wine.

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 forty-sixth of the Persian ghazals (fg 146). The metre is "mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilâtün mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is the phrase "-i mey" (of wine), and it is given thus in Ersoy's list of refrains too. The rhyme is the sound "-er": sāġar, kevs̱er, cevher, zer, duḫter, ser. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 97a) and Vienna (VY 78a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is a wine ghazal from beginning to end, and in each couplet the refrain joins wine to something else in a possessive phrase: the cup of wine, the Kevser of wine, the essence of wine, the gold of wine, the daughter of wine and the head of wine. These phrases bring wine to life as if it were a being; at times wine is jealous, at times it gives away a secret, at times it appears from behind a veil as a daughter.

In the opening couplet (matla) the red wine in the cup is thought of as a heart that has turned to blood from longing for the beloved's lip. Kevser, in its dictionary sense, is the name of a river or pool in Paradise. Even if wine had its own "Kevser water", it would be ashamed before the fountain of the beloved's mouth. Tying the colour of wine to blood and its taste to shame is a poetic aetiology (hüsn-i talil).

In the second couplet the effect of wine appears on the cheek. The flushing of the drinker's cheek betrays the secret of hidden revelry; here the beloved too has been drinking, and his cheek gives him away. In the third couplet an exchange is set up between rose and wine. The rose has pawned its petals, that is, its garment, for wine. Finding such a cause for the falling of rose petals is poetic aetiology. That the yellow centre of the rose may be named as "zer" (gold) is our own inference; Ersoy explains "zer-i mey" as "wine worth gold".

In the fourth couplet there is a well-known figure of divan poetry: wine is thought of as the "daughter" of the grape. Here "duḫter-i mey" (the daughter of wine) appears from behind the veil of the grape; the skin of the grape is a veil, and the juice within is the daughter behind this veil. The wine-seller's calling the lover to the tavern is news that this daughter is ready to appear. Ersoy understands "bāde-fürūş" (wine-seller) as "cupbearer".

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) ties all the wine images of the ghazal to the beloved's lip. The reason Münîr goes to the tavern is not real wine but the wine of the beloved's ruby lip; that is why his life has passed over wine.

Bibliography

Online sources