Münîrî, Tuyugh 13: The Merciless Eyes

Tuyugh 13 — Veh ki Türk-i bī-amāndurgözlerüñ

Amasya05 Editorial Board • Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk • 01 October 2026 • Updated: 07 October 2026 • 3 min reading

In Münîrî's tuyugh with the refrain "gözlerüñ", the beloved's eyes are a merciless Turk who orders the glance, "Come on, at once", to lay waste the realm of the heart.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Veh ki Türk-i bī-amāndurgözlerüñ
Āfet-i mülk-i cihāndur gözlerüñ
Ḳılmaġa dil mülkini her dem ḫarāb
Ġamzeñe haydi hemān dir gözlerüñ

In English

1. Alas, your eyes are a merciless Turk; your eyes are the calamity of the realm of the world. To lay waste the realm of the heart every moment, your eyes say to your glance (gamze): "Come on, at once."

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a four-line tuyugh; in the edition it is the thirteenth of the tuyughs (tyğ 13). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The redif is "gözlerüñ" (your eyes) and the rhyme is the sound "-ān": bī-amān, cihān, hemān; the third line ("ḫarāb") is unrhymed. In the first line "bī-amāndur" and "gözlerüñ" are printed joined together in the edition; the text is given as in the edition. The quatrain is found in all three manuscripts (VT 178a, VY 149b, Ü 62b). It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The quatrain describes the beloved's eyes as a raider or plunderer. The Kubbealtı records that in older literature the word "Türk", when used for the beloved, means "a cruel, bloodthirsty person" because of the beloved's many torments, and also "beautiful, a charmer". "Türk-i bī-amān", the merciless Turk, carries both senses together. The Kubbealtı gives "aman" the senses of security, safety, and the assurance given to an enemy in war; the eyes give no one this assurance.

The words "mülk-i cihān" (realm of the world), "dil mülki" (realm of the heart) and "ḫarāb" (laid waste) complete the image of war and plunder: the eyes are the calamity of the world and give orders to the glance to lay waste the realm of the heart. In the last line a relation like that between a commander and his soldier is set up between the eyes and the glance; "haydi hemān dir" is a lively command taken from spoken language. The closeness of sound between "cihāndur" and "hemān dir" in the rhyme is also noticeable.