Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Müfte‘ilün Fâ‘ilün Müfte‘ilün Fâ‘ilün

Tîr ü kemânıyla yâr eylediği bâza bah
Bâzî-i ebrûyı gör çeşm-i çep-endâza bah
‘İşve-i cânâneye cilve-i peymâneye
Gamze-i şâhâneye dîde-i şehbâza bah
Bî-ser ü pâ pey-revân fırka-i cânbâzı gör
Câna heves eylemez zümre-i serbâza bah
Meclis-i hûbâna var seyr eyle gör kim ne var
Âh ne nazlar satar dilber-i tannâza bah
Mey-kede-i mihrde ‘âşık-ı küstâhlar
Şâm ü seher nev-be-nev eylediği nâza bah
Sayha-i sâzendeye levha-i hânendeye
Seyr eyle hûy hâyı gör pâ-yı ser-endâza bah
Hey hey-i ehl-i safây vey vey-i ehl-i semâ‘
Âh-ı ciger-hârı gör güm güm-i âvâza bah
Kulkul-i peymâneye gulgul-i mestâneye
Sûziş-i sâzendeye zemzeme-i sâza bah
Lehçe-i güftâr-ı yâr bâde-i la‘l-i nigâr
Nutkın açup söylüyor ‘âşık-ı dilbâza bah
Güfte-i erbâb-ı dil çokdu velî nükte-i
Mîr Nigârîyi gör Hâfız-ı Şîrâza bah

In English

1. Look at the game the beloved plays with her arrow and bow; see the play of the brow, look at the eye that shoots its arrow with a sidelong glance.

2. Look at the beloved's coquetry, the display of the goblet, the royal glance, the falcon-like eye.

3. See the band of those who stake their lives, followers without head or foot (who have left everything behind); look at the company of those who stake their heads and care nothing for life.

4. Go to the gathering of the beauties, watch, see what is there; ah, look at the airs the coquettish charmer puts on.

5. In the tavern of love look at the ever-new airs the brazen lovers put on evening and morning.

6. To the cry of the player, to the song of the singer; watch, see the hubbub, look at the foot that tosses the head (in the dance). (The couplet has been understood approximately.)

7. To the "hey hey" of the people of joy, the "vay vay" of the people of the samâ‘; see the sigh that tears the liver, look at the boom boom of the sound.

8. Look at the gurgle of the goblet, the hum of the drunken, the burning of the player, the strains of the instrument.

9. To the sweet tongue of the beloved's speech, to the wine of the beauty's lip; look at the heart-beguiling lover who opens his mouth and speaks. (The sense of the couplet is uncertain.)

10. The words of the people of the heart are many, but see the subtlety of Mîr Nigârî, look at Hafez of Shiraz.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Drum, goblet and crowd: the ghazal is full of the sounds of a samâ‘ gathering. In the seventh and eighth couplets Nigârî lets the gathering be heard: the people of joy cry "hey hey", the people of the samâ‘ moan "vay vay", the drum beats "güm güm", the goblet gurgles "kulkul", a hum rises "gulgul" from the drunken, the instrument makes its "zemzeme". The "hûy hây" of the sixth couplet is also the noise of the crowd. These imitative sounds bring a liveliness seldom found in the divan ghazal and set the reader in the middle of the gathering. Words such as player, singer and the foot that turns tossing the head show that music and dance go together there.

The rhythm of the ghazal joins in this liveliness. The metre is "müfte‘ilün fâ‘ilün müfte‘ilün fâ‘ilün", and every line breaks in two in the middle. Nigârî marks the break with internal rhymes: "‘işve-i cânâneye / cilve-i peymâneye", "sayha-i sâzendeye / levha-i hânendeye", "kulkul-i peymâneye / gulgul-i mestâneye". Each half-line thus repeats like a step, and the ghazal comes close to a dance tune.

The refrain "bah" is the Azerbaijani pronunciation of the verb "bak", look, and since it is written in Arabic letters with "hı" (خ), the ghazal stands in that letter's section. The eleven rhyme words before the refrain (bâz, çep-endâz, şehbâz, serbâz, tannâz, nâz, ser-endâz, âvâz, sâz, dilbâz, Şîrâz) close on a long "â" and a "z". In the first and third couplets the word "bâz" turns up in different compounds: the game the beloved plays with arrow and bow, "şehbâz" meaning falcon, "cânbâz", one who stakes his life, "serbâz", one who stakes his head.

Hafez of Shiraz is named in the closing couplet, where the poet sets himself beside him. The words of the people of the heart are many, but whoever looks at Nigârî's subtlety has seen Hafez. The name of Hafez, held to be the greatest master of the Persian ghazal, settles into the final sound of the ghazal through the rhyme word "Şîrâz".

Bibliography

Online sources