Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün

Bir âteşdir bana yâd eyledikce gezdigin yerler
Ciger biryân ider andukca bağrım ezdigin yerler
Mezâk-ender-mezâkam arturur ‘ömrüm ziyâd eyler
Tilin tek rişte-i cânım elinde gezdigin yerler
Hayâl itdikce mest eyler dil-i müştâk-ı sahbânın
Ne yerlerdir gözüm ey nâzenînim sezdigin yerler
Safâlar arturur her lahza ‘uşşâka virür lezzet
Çeküp sîne-i sûzânıma dâğlar dizdigin yerler
Kılur töhmet rehâya deşt-i Çîne serzeniş eyler
Gazâl-i nâzenîn-âsâ gezüp hûb süzdügün yerler
Gönül yâd eyledikce lahte lahte kan döker çeşmim
Gezüp avlağların avların ey büt süzdügün yerler
Çıkar cân dem-be-dem berbâd olur ten yâd kıldıkca
Elin Mîr Nigârînin elinden üzdügün yerler

In English

1. The places where you walked are a fire to me whenever I recall them; whenever I remember the places where you crushed my breast, my liver is roasted.

2. The places where you walked holding the thread of my soul in your hand like a wire add taste to my taste and lengthen my life.

3. O my coy one, what places are those where my eye perceived you; when I picture them they make drunk the heart that longs for wine.

4. The places where you drew and set in rows the brands on my burning breast add to joy every moment and give lovers delight.

5. The places where you walked like a coy gazelle and narrowed your eyes so prettily put Rehâ to blame and shame the desert of China.

6. O idol, whenever the heart recalls the places where you roamed your hunting grounds and eyed your prey, my eye sheds blood in pieces.

7. Whenever I recall the places where you drew your hand away from Mîr Nigârî's hand, the soul departs moment by moment and the body falls to ruin.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Like "Yâdımdan çıkmaz", two ghazals earlier in the divan, this poem recalls the places where the beloved was; the metre, the refrain and most of the rhyme words are shared. Yet the two poems see the same places differently. In the earlier ghazal memory is a source of ease and maturity, and the beloved's portrait is written in the heart without a pen. Here the places are a fire: recalling them roasts the liver, makes the eye shed blood and draws the soul out. The verbs of the refrain, "gezdiğin, ezdiğin, dizdiğin, süzdüğün, üzdüğün", you walked, crushed, set in rows, eyed, drew away, turn to the beloved and list one by one what she did to the lover.

The close of the ghazal gives the most painful memory of all: the place where the beloved drew her hand away from Mîr Nigârî's. The crushing of the breast or the rows of brands in the earlier couplets stay within the familiar language of divan poetry; the parting of hands in the last is as concrete as a scene. The poet says that whenever he recalls this place his soul departs and his body falls to ruin. The beloved who in the second couplet walked about holding the thread of his soul like a wire has, in the seventh, let go of that hand.

The fifth couplet reaches into the world of the musk deer. The desert of China is held in divan poetry to be the home of the musk gazelle; because the beloved walked like a gazelle and narrowed her eyes there, those places are lovely enough to shame even the desert of China. Which place is meant by "rehâ", named beside China in the same line, is unclear; the context invites a land known for musk, but the edition's reading has been kept. The sixth couplet makes the beloved a hunter: she roams her hunting grounds and eyes her prey, the lovers.

Bibliography

Online sources