Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün

Bî-karâr olmuş vücûdum hem-çü bîd
Tâ gözümden servin olmuş nâ-pedîd
Bir güzelsin kim sana yokdur bedel
Çünki sen tek dîde-i ‘âlem ne-dîd
Dil-rübâ vü cân-fezâsın hoş-likã
Mâşaallâh âferîn hub âferîd
Ni‘met-i vaslın temennâdır bana
Eyleme mahrûm u kılma nâ-ümîd
Bülbül-i dil gülşen-i kûyında mı
Görmezem çokdan ki olmuş nâ-pedîd
Hâzıram savt-ı salâya muntazır
Beyle kim hel min şehîd hel min şehîd
‘Âlem-i sevdânı gezdim görmedim
Sen tek ey Mîr Nigârî ey ferîd
Bî-elem gezdin fezâ-yı vahşeti
Ey emîr ey şîr-i hûrşîd ey reşîd

In English

1. Since your cypress stature vanished from my eye, my being has grown restless (trembling) like a willow.

2. You are such a beauty that none can take your place; for the eye of the world has not seen one like you.

3. You are heart-stealing, soul-increasing, fair of face; God be praised, bravo, (God) has created (you) beautifully.

4. The blessing of union with you is my wish; do not deprive me, do not leave me without hope.

5. Is the nightingale of the heart in the rose garden of your street? I have not seen it for a long time, it has vanished.

6. I am ready, waiting for the call to be sounded, "hel min şehîd, hel min şehîd" (is there anyone to be a martyr).

7. I have wandered the world of passion and seen none like you, O Mîr Nigârî, O peerless one.

8. O emir, O lion of the sun, O mature one, you have wandered the empty wilderness without sorrow.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The rhyme rests on Persian words ending in a long "î", each written with dâl: bîd, nâ-pedîd, ne-dîd, âferîd, ümîd, şehîd, ferîd, reşîd. "Bîd" in the first couplet is the willow; in divan poetry the willow, trembling ceaselessly in the wind, is an image of restlessness and fear. When the beloved's cypress stature vanishes from sight, the lover's being trembles like a willow: the cypress standing upright and the willow bending and trembling are set against each other. In the third couplet "âferîn" and "âferîd" stand side by side. The first is a word of praise, the second means in Persian "created"; "hûb âferîd", created beautifully. The likeness of sound ties the praise to the creation.

"Hel min şehîd" in the sixth couplet means in Arabic "is there anyone to be a martyr", and is uttered as a salâ, a call. The lover says he awaits this call and is ready to answer it. The words recall "Hel min nâsırin yensurunî", is there anyone who will help me, the call attributed to Husayn at Karbala; given Nigârî's love for the Prophet's household the echo may not be chance, but the edition draws no link.

The last two couplets turn in an unexpected direction. The seventh says "I have wandered the world of passion and seen none like you", and the address turns to the pen name: "ey Mîr Nigârî, ey ferîd", O peerless one. Either of two readings fits: the poet praises himself, or he sets his pen name in the middle of an address to the beloved. In the eighth the address goes on: "ey emîr", O emir. The word "Mîr" in the pen name is itself a shortened form of "emîr", a title given to descendants of the Prophet; so the emir of the last couplet is most likely the poet himself. "Şîr-i hûrşîd", lion of the sun, recalls the lion and the sign of Leo, counted in the old astrology as the house of the sun.

Bibliography

Online sources