Original Persian Text

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

Dilem k’ez çeşm-i ḫūn-rīzet çü-murġ-ı nīm-bismil şod
Me-keş ber-ḳaṣd-ı ū ḫancer ki taḥṣīl-i to ḥāṣıl şod
Tecellī mī-koned her-dem fürūġ-ı ‘aks-i ruḫsāreş
Dil-i ‘uşşāḳ-rā k’ey dil be-nūr-ı ‘ışḳ ḳābil şod
Be-dest āverdeneş yā Rab ‘aceb bāşed ki mī-bīnem
Bi-şey‘ lillāh pā-būset be-her sū eşk sāyil şod
Be-levḥ-i dil ki her naḳşī zi-ġayr-i ṣūret-i yārest
Be-seylāb-ı dü çeşm-i men bi-ḥamdillāh ki zāyil şod
Kodāmīn seyr-i kevkeb şod ne-mī-dānem Münīr imşeb
Ki ‘aḳs-i pertev-i rūyeş çerāġ-ı şem‘-i maḥfil şod

In English

1. My heart, from your blood-shedding eye, has become like a half-slaughtered bird; do not draw a dagger with intent to kill it, for what you sought has already been gained. ("Nīm-bismil", in its dictionary sense, is a half-slaughtered animal in its death throes. "Taḥṣīl" means striving to gain, "ḥāṣıl" what has been gained; the two words are from the same root.)

2. The radiance of the reflection of her cheek manifests itself at every moment in the hearts of the lovers; O heart, see, the heart has become receptive to the light of love. ("Tecellī", in its dictionary sense, is appearing, showing oneself; in Sufism it is the reflection of the divine light upon the heart.)

3. O Lord, what a strange thing it would be to win her: I see that the tears, saying "something for God's sake", have become beggars and flowed from every side to kiss your foot. ("Bi-şey‘ lillāh" is the beggars' cry, "something for the love of God". The Arabic word "sāyil" means both begging and flowing; Ersoy understands this word as "flowing forth".)

4. Praise be to God that whatever figure there was on the tablet of the heart other than the beloved's image has been washed away by the flood of my two eyes.

5. O Münîr, I do not know what star moved tonight, that the reflection of the radiance of her face became the lamp of the candle of the gathering. (The couplet can be read in two ways: "seyr-i kevkeb" can be understood as the course of a star across the sky, that is, an auspicious movement of the stars; Ersoy, however, understands the couplet as "I do not know how one could watch the stars when the reflection of the brightness of the beloved's face is the lamp and candle of our gathering". In the Vatican manuscript there is, instead of "imşeb", another word whose letters could not be printed in the edition.)

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-fourth of the Persian ghazals (fg 54). The metre is "mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün mefâ‘îlün". The refrain (redif) is the verb "şod" (became); in Ersoy's list of refrains fg 48, 49, 54 and 69 are shown with this refrain. The rhyme is the sound "-il", and all the rhyme words are Arabic: bismil, ḥāṣıl, ḳābil, sāyil, zāyil, maḥfil. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 74b) and Vienna (VY 58a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet sets up a scene of hunting and sacrifice. The beloved's blood-shedding eye has turned the lover's heart into a half-slaughtered bird; the poet tells the beloved not to draw a dagger, for what she wished has already come about. The word "nīm-bismil" calls to mind the fluttering of a bird in its death throes; the words eye, blood, dagger and bird form a congruence of images (tenasüp). "Taḥṣīl" and "ḥāṣıl" are words from the same root used together, an example of the figure of derivation (iştikak).

The second couplet moves into the language of Sufism. The radiance of the beloved's cheek "manifests itself" in the hearts of the lovers, and the heart becomes receptive to the light of love. The words manifestation, light and receptivity recall the Sufi idea of the reflection of the divine manifestation upon the heart. The third couplet is the most skilful place in the ghazal. The tears run to kiss the beloved's foot with the beggars' cry "something for God's sake". Since the Arabic word "sāyil" means both begging and flowing, the tears are at once a beggar and flowing water; this is a double entendre (tevriye) that works the two meanings together. Ersoy has taken the word in the sense of flowing; the sense of beggar is supported by the words "bi-şey‘ lillāh" in the line.

In the fourth couplet the heart is a tablet, and no figure remains on it except the beloved's image; the flood of tears has washed away the other images. The words tablet, figure and image form a congruence of images; the tears' wiping away everything other than the beloved expresses the oneness of love in the heart. This idea is close to the image of the tablet of the heart in the opening couplet of fg 42, which comes earlier in the edition. The pen-name couplet (mahlas) closes with the image of the gathering and light. The radiance of the beloved's face has become the candle and lamp of the gathering; the poet tries to explain this by a movement of the stars, or, in Ersoy's reading, finds it pointless to watch the stars while such a light is present. The words star, candle, lamp and radiance form a congruence of images.

Bibliography

Online sources