Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Dildâr iledir şâm u seher gönlümüz amma
Zâhirde ırağız veli mânada kariniz

In English

1. Our heart is with the beloved evening and morning; but outwardly we are far, while in meaning (in truth) we are near.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is quoted as a single couplet; Çınar cites it as "Divan G 287/3", the third couplet of the 287th ghazal. The second line ends with "kariniz" ("we are near"); it may be thought that the ghazal has the refrain "-iz" ("we are"). The source does not state the metre; the lines appear to fit the hezec pattern "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün" of aruz. This identification is ours.

The text is taken from Fatih Çınar's 2019 article introducing a treatise written at Nigârî's request; Çınar quotes the poems from A. Azmi Bilgin's edition of the divan.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet rests on one of the basic distinctions of Sufism, that between zâhir (the outward, the visible) and mâna (the inward, the truth). The lover is outwardly far from the beloved, but his heart is with him evening and morning; hence in truth he is near him. The utterance can be read both as a thought consoling the pain of separation in human love and as a Sufi conception of nearness based on the belief that God is nearer to His servant than his jugular vein.

There are three separate contrasts, between "zâhir" (outward) and "mâna" (meaning), between "ırak" (far) and "karîn" (near), and between "şâm" (evening) and "seher" (dawn), and the couplet is built on these oppositions. The phrase "şâm u seher", naming the two ends of the day together, gives the sense of "always". "Irağız" ("we are far") is a common form in Azerbaijani and Old Anatolian Turkish.

Historical Context

Çınar quotes the couplet in the section where he explains that Nigârî took as his subject the experience of being with God, which is the basis of the idea of unity: being far outwardly and near inwardly. The couplet may also be thought of in connection with Nigârî's separation from his followers in his last years, when he was exiled from Amasya to Harput; but since the date of the ghazal is unknown, this is no more than an association. For the poet's literary personality see Nigârî: Poet and Works.

Bibliography

  • Fatih Çınar, "Nakşî-Hâlidî Şeyhi Hamza Nigarî'nin İsteğiyle Yazılan Bir Ehl-i Beyti Müdafaa Risalesi: Risâle fî Ta'n li-men Hâlefe Ali Radıyallahu Teâlâ Anh", Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, VII/1, 2019, pp. 125-150; the poem on p. 131. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/803338

Online sources