Original Persian Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Tā-ḫayāl-i dāne-i ḫālet be-dil der-mī-fütād
Ḫırmen-i ‘ömr-i men-i bī-çāre-rā ber-bād dād
Ka‘beteyn-i her dü ‘ālem-rā ne-y-endāzī zi-dest
Der-bisāṭ-ı ‘ālem-i ma‘nī kocā yābī küşād
Key buved bā yek dü rindī mey-gede mā-rā naṣīb
Kūşe-i gül-zār u yār u sāḳī-i ḥūrī-nijād
Ne zi-yārem raḥm u ne ez-ṭāli‘em fer mī-resed
Der-cihān hemçün men-i üftāde ey dil kes me-bād
Ḫāṭır-ı mecmū‘ eger ḫᵛāhī to der-‘ālem Münīr
Bu’gẕer ez-kes̱ret be-‘ışḳ-ı yār mī-kon ittiḥād

In English

1. Ever since the image of the grain of your mole fell into my heart, it has given the harvest of the life of helpless me to the wind. (The black mole is likened to a grain; giving the harvest to the wind is the scattering and loss of everything. In the Vatican manuscript the word "dāne-i" appears in another form whose letters could not be printed in the edition.)

2. If you do not throw away the "ka‘beteyn" of the two worlds, how will you find an opening on the carpet of the world of meaning. (The couplet can be read in two ways. Ersoy understands the word "ka‘beteyn" as the Kaaba and explains the couplet as "If you do not abandon the Kaaba of both worlds, how will you spread the carpet of the world of meaning". The word, in its dictionary sense, is "the two knucklebones", that is, the two dice of backgammon; "endāḫten" means to throw, "bisāṭ" a carpet or game board, "küşād" an opening. In this reading the couplet says that whoever does not throw the dice of the two worlds cannot open the game on the board of the world of meaning.)

3. When will it fall to our lot to have, with one or two libertines (rind), a tavern, a corner of the rose garden, the beloved and a cupbearer of houri-like nature.

4. Neither mercy comes from my beloved nor good luck from my fortune; O heart, may no one in the world be as fallen as I. ("Fer", in its dictionary sense, means radiance, good luck, power.)

5. O Münîr, if you want peace of heart in the world, pass beyond multiplicity and attain union in the love of the beloved. ("Ḫāṭır-ı mecmū‘", in its dictionary sense, is a collected, undistracted heart, that is, peace of mind; "kes̱ret" means multiplicity, "ittiḥād" union. Ersoy understands it as "pass beyond multiplicity and be annihilated in the love of the beloved".)

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-fifth of the Persian ghazals (fg 55). The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif); it does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains either. The rhyme is the sound "-ād": fütād, dād, küşād, nijād, me-bād, ittiḥād. 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 74b) and Vienna (VY 58b) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built on an image of farming. The beloved's black mole is a grain; when the image of this grain falls into the heart, the harvest of the lover's life is given to the wind. The words grain, harvest and wind form a congruence of images (tenasüp). Where a grain falling to the ground would be expected to grow, here the grain that falls into the heart scatters the whole harvest; a small mole's leading to great ruin gives the couplet a meaning built on contrast.

The second couplet is the most obscure and the most interesting place in the ghazal. Ersoy connects the word "ka‘beteyn" with the Kaaba and understands the couplet as saying that one cannot open onto the world of meaning without abandoning the two worlds. Yet the dictionary meaning of the word is two dice, that is, knucklebones, and the other words in the couplet also support the language of the game: "endāḫten" means to throw, "bisāṭ" a carpet or game board, "küşād" an opening. In this reading the couplet says that whoever does not throw away the two worlds like the dice of a game cannot make an opening in the world of meaning. That the word also calls up the Kaaba gives the couplet a depth of double entendre (tevriye). Both readings arrive at the same conclusion, the thought that meaning cannot be reached without leaving behind concern for this world and the next.

The third couplet is a libertine wish: a few libertine friends, a tavern, a corner of the rose garden, the beloved and a houri-like cupbearer. In the fourth couplet this wish goes unanswered; neither does the beloved show mercy nor fortune give help, and the lover wishes that no one in the world be as fallen as he. The pen-name couplet (mahlas) closes in the language of Sufism. Multiplicity scatters the heart; whoever seeks peace must pass beyond multiplicity and attain union in the love of the beloved. There is a contrast between "ḫāṭır-ı mecmū‘" (the collected heart) and "kes̱ret" (multiplicity). A correspondence is also drawn between the scattered harvest of the opening couplet and the collected heart of the pen-name couplet: the ghazal opens with scattering and ends with counsel to gather oneself.

Bibliography

Online sources