Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün

Benem Mecnûn-ı bî-pervâ benem Ferhâd-ı bî-imdâd
Benem binâ-yı bî-âlet benem üstâd-ı bî erkãd
İşim düşvârdır zîrâ ki sevdâ Bîsütûnumdur
Meded ey şâh-ı Şîrîn el-meded ey Hüsrev-i evtâd
Ayakdaşam ser-i zülfünle tâ âşüfte ser-geşte
Beyâbân-gerd ü peymâ-yı tarîkam meskenim berbâd
Gözün Leylâ ‘ızâr u mehveşin ‘Azrâ lebin Şîrîn
Dilim Mecnûn feryâd u figãnım Vâmık u Ferhâd
Tutup dâmân-ı gamzen hıdmet eyler merdüm-i çeşmim
Tamâm olmak diler kim kâmil olmaz merd-i bî-üstâd
Hadengin almasın pîr-i mugãnın çekmesin yayın
Kûy-ı dildâra bulmazsın tarîk ey tâlibü'l-irşâd
Gezer Mîr Nigârî hayret-efzâ kûh u sahrânı
Meded ey Şâh-ı evtâd el-meded ey Seyyidü'l-efrâd

In English

1. I am the heedless Majnun, I am the unaided Farhad; I am the builder without tools, I am the master without "erkãd". (The meaning of the word "erkãd" is not clear.)

2. My work is hard, for passion is my Bisitun; help, O Shah of Shirin, help, O Khusraw of the evtâd.

3. I am a fellow traveller of the tip of your tress; distracted and dizzy I wander the deserts and measure the roads; my dwelling is ruined.

4. Your eye is Leylâ, your moon-like cheek Azrâ, your lip Shirin; my heart is Majnun, my cry Vâmık and my lament Farhad.

5. The pupil of my eye (merdüm, which also means man) holds the skirt of your glance and serves; it wants to mature, for a man without a master does not become perfect.

6. Unless the elder of the Magians takes up his arrow and draws his bow, O seeker of guidance, you will not find the way to the beloved's street. (The edition gives no gloss; the sense is approximate.)

7. Mîr Nigârî wanders mountains and deserts in growing bewilderment; help, O Shah of the evtâd, help, O Lord of the efrâd.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The fourth couplet fits three famous love stories into a single couplet. In the first line the beloved's eye is Leylâ, her cheek Azrâ, her lip Shirin; in the second the lover's heart becomes Majnun, his cry Vâmık, his lament Farhad. The pairs Leylâ and Majnun, Vâmık and Azrâ, Shirin and Farhad are spread across the two lines in the same order. Rhetoric calls this "leff ü neşr": first a series of words is listed, then a second series matching it is given; when the order is kept it is named "leff ü neşr-i müretteb". The beloved's face is the sum of three heroines, the lover's states the sum of three heroes.

In the first couplet the poet likens himself to Farhad and ties his story to his own craft: a builder without tools is like Farhad, who cut through the mountain of Bisitun with his pick. In the second couplet passion is the Bisitun the lover must cut through. The call for help that follows turns the story in an unexpected direction. "Şâh-ı Şîrîn", Shirin's shah, is Khusraw, Farhad's rival in the tale; Nigârî asks him for help and calls him "Hüsrev-i evtâd", the Khusraw of the evtâd.

Evtâd and efrâd are terms of the Sufi hierarchy of saints. The evtâd are the four great saints believed to guard the four quarters of the world; the efrâd are saints outside the hierarchy, bound directly to God. The final couplet calls out "Şâh-ı evtâd" and "Seyyidü'l-efrâd". To whom the call is addressed the edition does not explain; a spiritual guide, Ali or the Prophet may be meant. The saying of the fifth couplet, "a man without a master does not become perfect", joins this call: the lover knows he cannot mature on the Sufi path without surrendering to a guide. "Merdüm" means both the pupil of the eye and a man; the pupil holding the skirt of the glance is likened to an apprentice clinging to his master's skirt.

Bibliography

Online sources