Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün

Ol ki sevdâ-yı cihân-ârâya cân eyler fedâ
Murtazâdur gûyiyâ vasfı anundur Lâ-fetâ
Her kim ol dildâr sevdâsında çekmiş mihneti
Dem-be-dem eyler safâ tutmuş reh-i hayrü'n-nisâ
Kim tarîk-i Hakda cân virmiş ki bulmuş devleti
Hâsıl itmiş kurbeti bulmuş kemâl-ı Murtazâ
Tâcı târâc eylemiş ol yâr-ı sevdâ sende kim
Subh u şâm eyler safâ bulmuş mezâk-ı müctebâ
Âferîn ol ‘âşık-ı şeydâya kim virmiş revân
Râh-ı Hakda kılmış ol kâr-ı şehîd-i Kerbelâ
Dâmen-i sevdâda her kim hayme-zendür subh u şâm
Tanrı Ahmed hakkı ol tutmuş reh-i Âl-i ‘abâ
Bî-murâd olmaz Nigârî ben gibi her kim tutup
Sînesinde çâr-pâ dâğ-ı Muhammed Mustafâ

In English

1. Whoever sacrifices his soul to the passion that adorns the world is as if he were Murtazâ (Ali); the attribute "Lâ fetâ" is his.

2. Everyone who suffers hardship in the passion for that beloved enjoys delight at every moment; he has taken the path of the best of women (Fatima).

3. Whoever gives his life on the path of God has found fortune; he has attained nearness and found the perfection of Murtazâ.

4. Whoever's crown that beloved of passion has plundered enjoys delight morning and evening; he has found the taste of Müctebâ (Hasan). (The couplet is not clearly understood.)

5. Bravo to that love-mad lover who gives his life; on the path of God he has done the deed of the martyr of Karbala (Husayn).

6. Everyone who pitches his tent at the skirt of passion morning and evening has, by God, by Ahmed, taken the path of the Âl-i abâ (the People of the Cloak).

7. O Nigârî, no one who like me bears on all sides of his breast the brand of Muhammad Mustafa (the wound of love for him) remains without his wish. (The word "çâr-pâ" is not clearly understood here.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

The ghazal is a sequence naming the Prophet's family in turn. The first and third couplets name Murtazâ, that is Ali; the second Fatima as "hayrü'n-nisâ", the best of women; the fourth Müctebâ, that is Hasan; the fifth Husayn, the martyr of Karbala; the sixth the "Âl-i abâ", who embrace them all. The final couplet brings the name of Muhammad Mustafa. The Âl-i abâ are the five persons whom, according to tradition, the Prophet gathered under his cloak: the Prophet, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn. The seven couplets of the ghazal thus go round these five like a ring.

The thought of the poem is built the same way in each couplet: whoever sacrifices something on the path of passion attains the state of one of the Prophet's household. The one who gives his soul is like Ali; the one who bears hardship is on Fatima's path; the one who gives his life on God's path has done what Husayn did at Karbala. The "Lâ-fetâ" of the first couplet points to the saying associated with the battle of Uhud, "Lâ fetâ illâ Ali, lâ seyfe illâ Zülfikâr" (there is no hero but Ali, no sword but Zulfiqar). The self-sacrifice of the path of love is set on a par with the historical self-sacrifice of the Prophet's family.

Love for the Prophet's household holds a decisive place in Nigârî's life and poetry. Fatih Çınar, in his article introducing a treatise written at the sheikh's request that criticises those who opposed Ali, shows how this love was defended in Nigârî's circle; the same stance lay at the centre of the poet's dispute with the ulema of Amasya. This ghazal, however, does not carry the harshness of that dispute; it presents love as an ethical model. The "dâğ-ı Muhammed" of the pen-name couplet is the wound that love for the Prophet leaves in the breast; the meaning of the word "çâr-pâ" here is not clear. Even the rhyme words belong to that love: Lâ-fetâ, hayrü'n-nisâ, Murtazâ, müctebâ, Kerbelâ, Âl-i ‘abâ, Mustafâ, all ending, like the neighbouring ghazals, in a long "â".

Bibliography

  • Nigârî, Nigârî Dîvânı, ed. A. Azmi Bilgin, Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2017 (e-book, Kültür Eserleri Dizisi 482), poem 15, pp. 21-22. https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/TR-194361/nigari-divani.html
  • Fatih Çınar, "Nakşî-Hâlidî Şeyhi Hamza Nigarî'nin İsteğiyle Yazılan Bir Ehl-i Beyti Müdafaa Risalesi: Risâle fî Ta'n li-men Hâlefe Ali Radıyallahu Teâlâ Anh", Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, VII/1, 2019, pp. 125-150. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/803338

Online sources