Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün

Bezm-i ‘uşşâka ki ol yâr-ı cefâ-cûy gelür
Şehr-i Bağdâda sanasın ki Hülâgûy gelür
Her taraf müşk saçup gãliye-efşân iderek
Döküp ol âhû-veşem gerdene gîsûy gelür
Gãliye müşk-feşândır bu gün âhû-yı sabâ
Gãlibâ dilber-i gül-bûy u semen-rûy gelür
Rûşen olsun gözün ey dil ki bu şeb halvetine
Reşk-i hûrşîd-i felek mâh-ı melek-hûy gelür
Meger ol kâkül-i sâye-i sabâ-yı seherî
Uğramış bile ki dil-cûy u semen-bûy gelür
Dil-i şeydâ yine hûy hâya düşüpdür bu gün
Meger ol ‘ârız-ı gül kâkül-i gül-bûy gelür
Şekker-efşânlık ider Mîr Nigârî imdi
Hâmûş ol meclise ey tûtî şirîn-gûy gelür

In English

1. When that cruelty-seeking beloved comes to the lovers' gathering, you would think Hülagü were coming to the city of Baghdad.

2. Scattering musk on every side and sprinkling gâliye (a scent of musk and ambergris), that gazelle-like beloved of mine comes with her tresses spilled over her neck.

3. Today the gazelle of the morning breeze scatters gâliye and musk; surely the rose-scented, jasmine-faced heart-stealer is coming.

4. O heart, joy to your eyes; tonight there comes to your solitude the angel-natured moon, the envy of the sun in the sky.

5. The dawn breeze must have passed by the shade of that forelock, for it comes soothing the heart and smelling of jasmine.

6. The mad heart has again fallen into an uproar today; that rose cheek, that rose-scented forelock, must be coming.

7. Mîr Nigârî now scatters sugar; O sweet-spoken parrot, be silent, he is coming to the gathering.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The first couplet compares the coming of the beloved with the fall of a city. The Mongol ruler Hülagü took Baghdad in 1258, put an end to the Abbasid caliphate and had the city plundered, an event the Islamic world remembered as a great catastrophe. Nigârî likens the arrival of the cruelty-seeking beloved at the lovers' gathering to that invasion: the gathering is Baghdad, the beloved Hülagü. The harshness of the comparison sets up a curious contrast with the rest of the ghazal, where the same arrival is described with musk, gâliye and jasmine, with the gladness of a feast day. For the lover the beloved's coming is both ruin and good news.

The refrain "gelür" repeats the same report in every couplet: someone is coming. Yet for most of the poem who is coming is guessed from scent and trace. The morning breeze of the third couplet scatters musk, so the rose-scented beauty is "gâlibâ", most likely, on the way. In the fifth the breeze smells of jasmine, so it must have passed through the shade of the forelock. In the sixth the heart has fallen into an uproar, and "meğer", it must be, that rose cheek is coming. The poet offers no clear picture; the beloved arrives before arriving, through her scent and the turmoil she stirs in the heart.

"Gözün aydın", joy to your eyes, in the fourth couplet is a phrase of good tidings still used in Turkish. The moon that will come to the night's solitude is of a beauty to make the sun jealous and has the nature of an angel. The signature couplet changes the one who comes. It is Mîr Nigârî who scatters sugar, that is, speaks sweet words, and the poet tells the sweet-tongued parrot to be quiet, for the true master of speech is coming to the gathering. At the start it was the beloved's arrival being heralded; at the end the one arriving is the poet himself.

Bibliography

Online sources