Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gördüm ser-i kûyunda agyâr gezer ey yâr
Fi'l-hâl didim elbet gülzâr degül bî-hâr
Vaslın taleb itdükce bir mâni‘ zuhûr eyler
‘Add eylemezem eb‘âd gencîne degül bîmâr
Görgeç ruhunı gönlüm tersâlığa yüz tutdı
Cân virdi habîbâne büthânede bî-inkâr
‘Aşk âteşine teskîn bir yerde bulunmaz çün
Cennetde makãm itse ‘uşşâk degül bî-nâr
Serv-kaddine yârin meyl eylemedin düşdün
Ey zâhid-i pest-himmet ey sôfî-i bî-mikdâr
Serdâr-ı harâbâtam kim çekse ayağımdan
Sermest-i dilberâne eyler hünerim ikrâr
Şehdâb-ı ma‘ârifle serşâr gezer cânım
Ey Mîr Nigârî ey hoş lehce şirîn güftâr

In English

1. O beloved, I saw rivals wandering at the head of your street; at once I said, surely there is no rose garden without thorns.

2. Whenever I seek union with you an obstacle appears; I do not count the distances, there is no treasure without a serpent.

3. On seeing your cheek my heart turned to Christianity; in the idol house, without denial, it gave up its life like a lover.

4. Since no relief for the fire of love is found anywhere, lovers are not without fire even if they take up their dwelling in paradise.

5. O ascetic of low aspiration, O worthless Sufi, you fell (to the ground) without bowing to the beloved's cypress stature.

6. I am the commander of the taverns; whoever drinks from my cup, drunk as if on his beloved, acknowledges my art.

7. O Mîr Nigârî, O you of pleasant accent and sweet speech, my soul goes about brimming with the honey syrup of gnosis.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The construction of the rhyme is the real skill of this ghazal. The first four couplets end in words formed with the Persian prefix "bî-", without, and each completes a short maxim like a proverb. "Gülzâr değil bî-hâr": there is no rose garden without thorns, and the rivals in the beloved's street are those thorns. "Gencîne değil bî-mâr": there is no treasure without a serpent; by the old belief a snake kept watch over every treasure, and the obstacle barring union is that snake. This second rhyme hides a further play, since "bî-mâr", snakeless, is written the same as "bîmâr", sick: no treasure is reached without a serpent, and no love without sickness. The fourth couplet brings "bî-nâr", fireless: even if the lover enters paradise he takes his fire with him, for the fire of love never dies down.

The ghazal reaches its boldest point in the third couplet. The heart that sees the beloved's cheek turns to "tersâlık", Christianity, and gives up its life in the idol house, denying nothing. In divan poetry the beauty is often a "tersâ-beççe", a Christian youth, and the place where he is found a church or an idol temple. The heart's change of faith is, in the language of Sufism, the sign of a love that passes beyond outward rules, and Nigârî uses the tradition with a familiar daring.

The ascetic and the Sufi are once more the target in the fifth couplet: they have fallen down without bowing to the beloved's cypress stature, that is, they have prostrated themselves without seeing the one truly worthy of it. In the sixth the poet introduces himself as "serdâr-ı harâbât", the commander of the taverns. "Ayağımdan" may again carry the sense of cup here: whoever drinks from his cup acknowledges his art. The "şehdâb-ı ma‘ârif", the honey syrup of gnosis, of the signature couplet reveals the knowledge behind the language of the tavern; the drink that fills the poet's soul is the knowledge of God.

Bibliography

Online sources