Original Persian Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün

Çün çeng dü-tā şod ḳad-i men ez-elem-i çend
Ey ney to merā hem-nefesī kon be-dem-i çend
Ta‘ẓīm-i men īn bes ki merā der-pey-i ‘İzzet
Āmed seg-i kūy-ı to ‘afāllāh ḳadem-i çend
Der-her ḳadem-i men be-reh-i ‘aşḳ-ı to ey dost
Īs̱ār koned merdüm-i çeşmem direm-i çend
Çün aḫter-i men geşt muḫālif be-ser-i ceng
Ez-dūd-ı dil-i men be-firistem ‘alem-i çend
Ber-ṭavf-ı ser-i kūy-ı vey ez-ḫāk-i Münīrī
Āḫir be-ber ey bād-ı ṣabā subḥ-dem-i çend

In English

1. From a few sorrows my stature has become bent double like the harp; O reed flute, you too be my companion in grief for a few breaths. (The çeng is a stringed instrument with a curved body. "Hem-nefes", in its dictionary sense, means one who shares the same breath, a close friend; the playing of the reed flute with the breath gives this word a second meaning.)

2. This is honour enough for me: after the Divine Majesty, God forgive me, the dog of your street came a few steps after me. (The couplet is obscure. Ersoy understands the word "‘İzzet" as the Truth, that is, God, and explains the couplet as "After God, my reverence, God forgive me, is for your dog's coming a few steps". "‘Afāllāh" is an exclamation asking God's forgiveness for the excess of the words.)

3. O friend, at every step I take on the road of your love, the pupil of my eye scatters a few dirhams. (The dirham is a silver coin; the scattered dirhams are tears. "Merdüm" means both the pupil of the eye and a human being.)

4. Since my star turned against me at the outset of battle, I send forth a few banners from the smoke of my heart. ("Aḫter", in its dictionary sense, means star and figuratively fortune. Ersoy explains the smoke of the heart as "the sighs it has heaved".)

5. O morning breeze, take up a few dawns' worth of Münîrî's dust and carry it at last there, so that it may circle the head of her street. (Ersoy understands the word "dust" as "the dust of his grave".)

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 fifty-second of the Persian ghazals (fg 52). The metre is "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün". Every couplet ends with the word "çend" (a few), that is, the refrain (redif) is "-i çend"; this ghazal does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains. The rhyme is the sound "-em": elem, dem, ḳadem, direm, ‘alem, subḥ-dem. According to Ersoy's apparatus the poem is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 73b). To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet begins with the image of an instrument. The lover's stature, bent double by sorrows, resembles the harp; the poet therefore calls upon the reed flute and asks it to be his companion in grief for a few breaths. Harp and reed flute, as two instruments of the gathering, form a congruence of images (tenasüp); the lament of the reed flute will accompany the lover's lament. Since the word "hem-nefes" means both close friend and one who shares the same breath, a double entendre (tevriye) is created between the reed flute played with the breath and the lamenting lover. The double meaning of "dem", both breath and moment, supports this play.

The second couplet is the boldest place in the ghazal. According to Ersoy's reading, the lover says that, after God, the greatest honour shown to him is that the dog of the beloved's street came a few steps after him. The excess of this hyperbole is also shown by the poet's inserting the words "‘afāllāh" (God forgive me). The dog in divan poetry is the faithful guard of the beloved's door; even attention from it is an honour for the lover. In the third couplet the tears are likened to silver dirhams. At every step taken on the road of love the pupils of the eyes scatter dirhams; the old custom of scattering coins on the road where great men passed is the ground of this comparison. The human sense of the word "merdüm" also makes it easier to imagine the pupil of the eye as a person scattering money.

The fourth couplet speaks in the language of war. The star of fortune has turned against the lover at the outset of battle; he answers by sending forth banners from the smoke of the sighs rising from his heart. The dark colour and the rising of the smoke of sighs give birth to the image of the banner; the words star, battle and banner form a congruence of images. The pen-name couplet (mahlas) closes with the thought of death. The poet asks the morning breeze to take up a few dawns' worth of his dust and carry it to the beloved's street, to have it circle there. According to Ersoy's explanation this dust is the dust of the poet's grave; even after his death the lover wishes to reach the beloved's door as dust. The morning breeze carrying news and scent between lover and beloved is common in divan poetry; here the breeze carries the lover himself.

Bibliography

Online sources