Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlü Mefâ‘îlü Fe‘ûlün

Sevdâ-zede olmuş dil-i sûzun elemi var
Ne sohbeti ne sâzı ne şâd-âne demi var
Ne sâkî-i dil-hâhı ne nây u ne nevâsı
Ne bâde-i dil-şâdı vü ne câm-ı Cemi var
Firkat-zede olmuş yine çerhun siteminden
Ya‘kûb-ı dilin hüzn-ile vîrân haremi var
Bir dâğ-ı ciger eyledi Mevlâ bize ihsân
Hakkın yine erbâb-ı dilâna keremi var
Eyvâh ne sabr eyleyem âh eylemeyem kim
Bağrımdaki bir Yûsuf-ı hüsnün veremi var
Büt-hâne-i mihnetde gezer hâli perîşân
Bî-çâre dilin firkat-i zîbâ sanemi var
Bir dem güzer it Mîr Nigârîye nazar kıl
Teftîş eyle ey nûr gözüm gör ne gamı var

In English

1. The burning heart stricken with passion has grief; it has no conversation, no music, no joyful moment.

2. It has no cupbearer to its liking, no reed flute or melody; no heart-gladdening wine, no cup of Jamshid.

3. Through the sphere's cruelty it is again stricken with separation; the Jacob of the heart has a sanctuary ruined by sorrow.

4. The Lord has granted us a wound of the liver; God still has generosity for the people of the heart.

5. Alas, how shall I be patient, how not sigh; in my breast is the consumption brought by a Joseph of beauty.

6. The helpless heart wanders, its state scattered, in the idol-house of hardship; it has the separation from a lovely idol.

7. Pass by for a moment, look at Mîr Nigârî; O light of my eye, look into him, see what grief he has.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The first two couplets are a list of absences, each item counted with "ne", neither: no conversation, no music, no joyful moment; no cupbearer to its liking, no reed flute and melody, no heart-gladdening wine, no cup of Jamshid. Though the refrain is "var", there is, the only thing that exists in these couplets is grief. The heart's being deprived of every ornament of a gathering is told with the plain force of a Turkish refrain.

The third and fifth couplets take two scenes from the story of Joseph. The heart is likened to Jacob, who wept for years after losing Joseph, and has a "harem", an inner room, ruined by sorrow; the "beytü'l-ahzân", house of sorrows, where Jacob wept comes to mind. In the fifth couplet the lover's breast holds "bir Yûsuf-ı hüsnün veremi", the consumption of a Joseph of beauty. Consumption is the disease that wastes a person away slowly; the pain caused by a beloved as fair as Joseph wastes the lover in the same way. The heart becomes both Jacob and a sick man wasting in Joseph's absence.

The fourth couplet speaks with an acceptance that resembles consolation: the Lord has granted us a wound of the liver, God has generosity for the people of the heart. The wound is counted not a punishment but a favour. "Büt-hâne", idol-house, in the sixth couplet describes in divan poetry the place where beauties gather; the heart wanders scattered in this idol-house. Closing the ghazal, the poet calls the beloved "nûr gözüm", light of my eye, and asks her to pass by for a moment and look into his grief. The rhyme words elem, dem, Cem, harem, kerem, verem, sanem and gam are bound together before the refrain "var".

Bibliography

Online sources