Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlün Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlün

Âlûde-i sevdâyam isrâyı gör ey zâhid
Âşûbe-i Leylâyam huşyârı gör ey zâhid
Ser-defter-i bî-‘âram dîvâne-i kühsâram
Mecnûn-ı cünûn-kâram sâlârı gör ey zâhid
Ser-nâme-i rindânam pervâne-i hûbânam
İnkâr ile uğraşma în-kârı gör ey zâhid
Ser-halka-i rindânın düş pâyine vir cânın
Her ne dilesen iste bâzârı gör ey zâhid
Dahl itme kadeh-hâre gel tavr-ı taleb-kâre
Seyr eyle nazar-dâre envârı gör ey zâhid
Meyhâne-i ma‘nâda bel bağlamış irşâda
Destinde gezer bâde devvârı gör ey zâhid
Kırmış kadeh-i nâmı mestâne çeker câmı
Gel Mîr Nigârîyi bî-‘ârı gör ey zâhid

In English

1. I am stained with passion, see (this) night journey (isrâ), O ascetic; I am one whom Leylâ has thrown into turmoil, see the (truly) sober one, O ascetic. (The sense of the couplet is uncertain.)

2. I head the register of the shameless, I am the madman of the mountains, the Majnun whose work is madness; see the commander, O ascetic.

3. I am the title page of the rinds, the moth of the beauties; do not busy yourself with denial, see this work, O ascetic.

4. Fall at the feet of the head of the rinds' circle, give your soul; ask for whatever you wish, see the market, O ascetic.

5. Do not meddle with the cup-drinker, come to the way of the seekers; watch the one who has the gaze, see the lights, O ascetic.

6. In the tavern of meaning he has girded himself for guidance; wine goes round in his hand; see the one who passes the cup, O ascetic.

7. He has broken the cup of reputation and drunkenly drains the goblet; come, see shameless Mîr Nigârî, O ascetic.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The second line of the third couplet rests on a play on words: "İnkâr ile uğraşma, în-kârı gör", do not busy yourself with denial, see this work. The first is the Arabic "inkâr", denial; the second the Persian "în kâr", this work. Two phrases very close in spelling and sound show the ascetic two separate ways: either he will busy himself with denial or see the work before him. The whole ghazal is a call to the ascetic to "see", and the refrain "gör ey zâhid" points each time to something else: the lover stained with passion, the commander of madness, the market of the rinds, the lights, the one who passes the cup, and at last shameless Nigârî.

The sixth couplet is the key to the ghazal. The "meyhâne-i ma‘nâ", tavern of meaning, is in Sufi language the dervish lodge; there someone has girded himself for "irşâd", guiding the disciples, and wine goes round in his hand. "Devvâr", one who turns, may be said of the cupbearer passing the cup from hand to hand as well as of the elder who leads the gathering. In the couplet before, the ascetic was urged to fall at the feet of the head of the rinds' circle and give his soul. It can be thought that Nigârî, a Naqshbandi sheikh, describes his own gathering in these couplets; the man shown to the ascetic in the last couplet is he.

There are internal rhymes in the middle of the lines: sevdâyam and Leylâyam, bî-‘âram with kühsâram and cünûn-kâram, rindânam and hûbânam, kadeh-hâre with taleb-kâre and nazar-dâre, ma‘nâda and irşâda, nâmı and câmı. Each line breaks into two halves, and the repetition of "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlün" makes the break plain. The edition is silent on what "isrâ" in the first couplet means here.

Bibliography

Online sources