Original Persian Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün

Ān şeh-süvār-ı ḥüsn ki ‘ālem be-kām-ı ūst
Der-her dü kevn ḫuṭbe-i ḫūbī be-nām-ı ūst
Der-hicr-i zülf ü ḫāl ü ḫadet ḥāl-i dil me-pors
Bā-āh u nāle ān ki reved ṣubḥ u şām-ı ūst
Dil ez-ṭavāf-ı kūy-ı to ḫālī ne-mī-şeved
Z’ān-rū ḥarīm-i kūy-ı to beytü’l-ḥarām-ı ūst
Ān k’ū be-pāy-būs-ı segānet ne-mī-resed
Besten ṭama‘ be-vaṣl-ı to sevdā-yı ḫām-ı ūst
Şādem be-devr-i ġuṣṣa-i zülfeş Münīrīyā
Maḳṣūd-ı men zi-ḥażret-i ‘İzzet devām-ı ūst

In English

1. That masterful rider of the field of beauty, by whose wish the world turns; in both worlds the sermon of beauty is read in his name. ("Şeh-süvār", in its dictionary sense, means a skilled, valiant rider. To have the Friday sermon read in someone's name means, in its dictionary sense, the recognition of his sovereignty.)

2. Do not ask about the state of the heart in separation from your lock, your mole and your cheek; its morning and its evening pass in sighs and moans.

3. The heart is never idle from circling your street; for the sanctuary of your street is its Beytü'l-haram. ("Beytü'l-ḥarām" is one of the names of the Kaaba; "ḥarīm", in its dictionary sense, is the inviolable, guarded inner precinct of a place.)

4. For one who cannot even reach to kiss the feet of your dogs, to set his greed on union with you is his raw passion. (Ersoy reads it as "one who has not attained the honour of kissing your dog's feet". "Sevdā-yı ḫām" is a raw, unripened desire.)

5. O Münîrî, I am glad in the age of grief over his lock; my wish from His Majesty the Mighty is that this age should last. ("Ḥażret-i ‘İzzet" means God.)

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 twenty-ninth of the Persian ghazals (fg 29). The metre is "mef‘ûlü fâ‘ilâtü mefâ‘îlü fâ‘ilün". The refrain (redif) is "-ı ūst", that is, "is his". In Ersoy's list of refrains the ghazal with the refrain "ūst" is given as number 28; in the edition this refrain is found in the present ghazal, while ghazal 28 has no refrain. The number in the list appears to be a slip. The rhyme is the sound "-ām": kām, nām, şām, ḥarām, ḫām, devām. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 68b) and Vienna (VY 52a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet portrays the beloved as a sovereign. He is the masterful rider of the field of beauty; the world works by his wish, and in both worlds the sermon of beauty is read in his name. The words sermon, name, king and wish form a congruence of images (tenasüp) resting on the image of sovereignty. Counting the beloved the ruler of the land of beauty is common in divan poetry; Münîrî extends this sovereignty over both worlds through the image of the sermon.

In the second couplet the lover's state is not to be asked about, for his morning and evening pass in sighs and moans. The contrast (tezat) of "ṣubḥ u şām" (morning and evening) expresses a continuity that takes in the whole day. The third couplet turns to the image of the pilgrimage. The heart circles the beloved's street without pause, because the sanctuary of that street is its Kaaba. The words circumambulation, sanctuary and Beytü'l-haram form a congruence of images; the words "ḥarīm" and "ḥarām" come from the same root, and this closeness lends the couplet a harmony of sound. The lover's going round the beloved's street is shown here as a constant turning, like worship.

The fourth couplet sets a measure between humility and raw desire. Münîrî counts it "sevdā-yı ḫām", a raw passion, for one who cannot even reach to kiss the feet of the beloved's dogs to hope for union. The opposition of raw and ripe carries the idea that in love one must advance by degrees. The pen-name couplet (mahlas) closes on an unexpected gladness: the lover is glad in the age of grief over the lock and asks God that this grief continue. To feel joy in grief and to wish it to last is a contrast; the pain of love is a blessing for the lover. The image of the sermon and sovereignty at the beginning of the ghazal also finds an answer in the words "devr" (age) and "devām" (continuance) at the end: like the beloved's reign of beauty, the lover's grief too endures as an age.

Bibliography

Online sources