Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün

Bî-nevâyam miskînem yek-dem nazar
Eylegil ey mâye-i asl-ı hüner
Mestem er ma‘zûram ey ehl-i vera‘
Çâre ne kim beyle geçmişdir kader
Tağyîr[i] kãbil degül takdîr-i Hak
İ‘tikãdın yok mıdur ey bî-haber
Erganûn esrâr söyler bî-hisâb
Hızr-ı deryâ-yı ledünnîdir meger
Ke'l-Felâtûn takrîr eyler bend bend
Nây-ı hikmetden neler söyler neler
Mest-i bî-pervâ surâhî-i Nedîm
Söyler esrâr-ı hakîkatdan haber
Söyler ey sermest-i sevdâ kıl şitâb
Gir tarîk-ı mihre seyr it bî-hatar
Sarf kıl nakd-ı revânın hâsıl it
Hâk-i pây-i mihrden kühlü'l-basar
Tâc-ı tecrîd taht-ı sevdâ mülk-i gam
Hakk-ı mevrûsumdı mahsûs ez peder
Pîşrevlik lutf-ı Mevlâdır bana
Hâsıl olmaz kim bu reftâr ez hüner
Bir nazardandur mücerred kim çenîn
Şi‘r-i şekker nazm-ı ter şîrîn eser
Yâ ‘Azîme'l-hulk ü yâ Hayre'l-beşer
Kesmegil Mîr Nigârîden nazar

In English

1. I am destitute and poor; O leaven of the root of all excellence, cast a glance upon me for a moment.

2. O people of piety, if I am drunk I am to be excused; what remedy, destiny has passed thus.

3. God's decree cannot be changed; O heedless one, have you no faith in that?

4. The organ tells countless secrets; it seems it is the Khidr of the sea of hidden knowledge.

5. Like Plato it explains section by section; what things it says from the reed flute of wisdom, what things.

6. The fearless drunkard, the flask of the boon companion, gives tidings of the secrets of reality.

7. It says: "O you drunk with passion, make haste; enter the road of love and travel without danger.

8. Spend the flowing cash of your soul; win from the dust beneath love's foot the kohl of sight."

9. The crown of detachment, the throne of passion and the realm of grief were my inherited right, mine alone from my father.

10. Going before is the grace of the Lord to me; this gait is not acquired by skill.

11. It is from one glance alone that such sugared verse, fresh poetry and sweet work arise.

12. O you of sublime character, O best of mankind, do not take your glance from Mîr Nigârî.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The first and last couplets of the ghazal address the same person. In the first the poet asks a glance from the one who is "the leaven of the root of all excellence"; in the twelfth that person is named openly, with two titles: "Yâ ‘Azîme'l-hulk", O you of sublime character, and "Yâ Hayre'l-beşer", O best of mankind. The first title comes from the address in verse 4 of the sura al-Qalam, "Truly you are of a sublime character." The poem thus reads from start to finish as a poem in praise of the Prophet, though the language of the tavern, of music and of destiny speaks in between. The eleventh couplet ties all his poetry to that glance: the sugared verse and the fresh poetry are the fruit of a single look.

Two instruments speak in the fourth and fifth couplets. The erganun was a pipe instrument whose invention was ascribed in the Islamic world to Plato; the poet's phrase having it explain things "bend bend", section by section, like Plato rests on this belief. The organ becomes the Khidr of the sea of hidden knowledge, a guide carrying the secret knowledge that comes from God. The reed flute is the "reed of wisdom". The metre of the ghazal, "Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilün", is the metre of Rumi's Masnavi, and the Masnavi opens with the famous couplet calling on the listener to hear what the reed tells. A line saying "what things it tells, what things" in this metre recalls the attachment that studies of Rumi's influence on Nigârî have emphasised.

The ninth couplet touches on the poet's own lineage. The crown of detachment, the throne of passion and the realm of grief are an inheritance from his father. Nigârî's father, Mîr Paşa, is remembered in the sources as a learned and pious man; the poet speaks of renouncing the world and of love's pain as a sovereignty handed down from father to son. "Pîşrevlik" in the tenth couplet means going before, leading; the same word also calls to mind the "peşrev", the instrumental piece that opens a suite in Ottoman music, and read beside the organ and the reed the echo grows stronger.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

  • Nezaket Memmedli, "Mir Hamza Seyyid Nigârî Şiirinde Attâr ve Mevlânâ Etkisi", Eski Türk Edebiyatı Araştırmaları Dergisi (ESTAD), 7/1, 2024, pp. 1-18. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/estad/article/1398283
  • Aytekin Şenzeybek, "Hamza Nigârî'nin Farklı İslam Yorumlarına Yaklaşımı", Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 47, 2019, pp. 429-444.

Online sources