Original Persian Text

Metre: mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün

Be-her vaḳtī ki īn dil-rā ḫayāl-i rūy-ı yār āyed
Men ez-ḫodī revem lā-büd be-cānem nīz kār āyed
Zi-feryād-ı Te‘āllallāh şeved her kūşe pür-ġavġā
Be-her cāyī ki nā-geh ān şeh-i çābük-süvār āyed
Be-devr-i gül me-şev ġāfil zi-cām-ı bāde-i ṣāfī
Buved rūzī ki ba‘d ez-to besī ‘ahdī bahār āyed
Esās-ı tevbeem muḥkem kocā ḫᵛāhed şod ey zāhid
Zi-dest-i sāḳī-i meh-rū ki cām-ı ḫoş-güvār āyed
Mis̱āl-i ḫaṭṭ-ı to ḫᵛāhem nüvişten ber-varaḳ z’ān rū
Zi-kilk-i ‘anber-āmīzem ġubār-ı müşk-bār āyed
Zi-la‘l-i cān-fezā-yı to şeker-rīzī konem her dem
Ez-ān naẓm-ı dür-efşānem revān u āb-dār āyed
Ġulām-ı kemterīnet-rā kocā īn devlet-i şāhī
Ki der-ḫayl-i segān-ı to Münīrī ber-şomār āyed

In English

1. Whenever the image of the beloved's face comes to this heart, I cannot help passing out of myself, and my soul too is set to work. (Ersoy understands the second line as "my soul comes up to my mouth".)

2. Wherever that nimble horseman, that king, suddenly arrives, every corner fills with tumult from cries of "Teâlallah". ("Te‘āllallāh", in its dictionary sense, means "God is exalted"; it is an exclamation of admiration.)

3. In the season of the rose do not be heedless of the cup full of pure wine; a day will come when, after you, many a spring will come and go.

4. O ascetic, how could the foundation of my repentance stay firm while a pleasant-tasting cup comes from the hand of the moon-faced cupbearer.

5. I wish to write the likeness of your down upon the page; for from my ambergris-mingled pen there rises a dust that scatters musk. ("Ġubār", in its dictionary sense, means dust; the name is also given to a very finely written style of calligraphy and to the first down on the face. Ambergris and musk are dark, fragrant substances; ink and the down are likened to them.)

6. Because of your life-giving ruby lip I scatter sugar at every moment; that is why my pearl-scattering verse comes out flowing and lustrous. ("Āb-dār", in its dictionary sense, means watery, lustrous, fresh; the lustre of a pearl is also called "āb".)

7. Where is such royal good fortune for the lowliest of your slaves, that Münîrî should be counted among the pack of your dogs. (Ersoy understands the couplet as "What a fortune worthy of kings it is that even a lowly slave like Münirî should be counted among the beloved's dogs".)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a seven-couplet ghazal (gazel) written in Persian; in the edition it is the forty-fifth of the Persian ghazals (fg 45). The metre is "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün". The refrain (redif) is the verb "āyed" (comes); in Ersoy's list of refrains this ghazal stands alone with the refrain "āyed". The rhyme is the sound "-ār": kār, süvār, bahār, ḫoş-güvār, müşk-bār, āb-dār, ber-şomār. Ersoy counts this ghazal among his examples of kafiye-i müreddefe (rhyme preceded by a long vowel). The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 72a) and Vienna (VY 56a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with the image of the beloved. Whenever this image comes to the heart the lover passes out of himself; the refrain "āyed" here describes the coming of the image, and throughout the ghazal the things that come change: the image, the beloved herself, spring, the cup, the dust rising from the pen, flowing verse and the good fortune of servitude. In the second couplet the beloved is a nimble horseman, a king; wherever she suddenly arrives, people cry out "Teâlallah" in admiration. Seeing the beloved as a mounted king is an example of the comparison of the beauty to a ruler that is common in divan poetry.

The third and fourth couplets return to the gathering. The third couplet recalls the shortness of life and counsels making the most of the season of the rose with wine; after you, too, many a spring will come. In the fourth couplet the ascetic is addressed: while a pleasant-tasting cup comes from the cupbearer's hand, the foundation of repentance cannot stay firm. Through the words foundation, firm and repentance, repentance is likened to a building; this building is torn down by the cupbearer's cup. This opposition between the ascetic and the libertine (rind) is among the familiar themes of divan poetry.

The fifth and sixth couplets concern the poet's own writing and verse. The poet wishes to write the beloved's down upon the page; his pen is scented with ambergris and musk, and the "gubâr" rising from it is both dust and the name of a fine style of script, as well as of the down. The words pen, page, writing and gubâr form a congruence of images (tenasüp). In the sixth couplet the verse scatters sugar with the sweetness it takes from the beloved's lip and therefore becomes "dür-efşān" (pearl-scattering), "revān" (flowing) and "āb-dār" (lustrous). Ersoy says in his introduction that the poet uses these epithets when assessing his own poetry and cites this couplet as an example. These words, which carry the meanings of pearl, water and lustre together, serve to praise at once the fluency and the worth of the verse. The pen-name couplet (mahlas), after this claim, turns to humility: Münîrî regards even being counted among the beloved's dogs as a fortune worthy of kings. The dog in divan poetry is the faithful guard who never leaves the beloved's door, and the lover's likening himself to it is an expression of his devotion.

Bibliography

Online sources