Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Dil-i dîvânemiz sahrânı gezer
Leylâsını arar ister bir haber
Bâde-i adının mestâneleri
Şâm u seher şirîn nigârâ dir
Gidüp gelen yokdur imdi ey sabâ
Kûy-ı nigârımdan var mı bir haber
Lezzet-i ‘aşkdan bî-nasîbsin
Ey zâhid-i beter ey kemter ez har
Söyledigim dîvân ‘aşk-ı âyetdir
Mushaf-ı sevdâdır olmaz mı ezber
Çokdur eger ammâ yokdur bir cünûn
Dil-i dîvâneme olsun berâber
Gönlüme titretme cânıma lerze
Düşdi hâtırıma geldi bir dilber
Veh nice dilber kim teslîm eylemiş
Kaşına cân mihrâb kaddine minber
Seyyid Nigârîden kesme iltifât
Ey Deryâ-yı kerem ey Hayre'l-beşer

In English

1. Our mad heart roams the deserts; it seeks its Leyla, it wants some news.

2. Those drunk on the wine of your name say morning and evening, "O sweet beloved."

3. O morning breeze, now no one comes or goes; is there any news from my beloved's street?

4. O wicked ascetic, O lower than a donkey, you have no share in the delight of love.

5. The divan I recite is a verse of love, it is the scripture of passion; should it not be learned by heart?

6. Madness there is in plenty, but there is no madness to match my mad heart.

7. A trembling has fallen on my heart, a quaking on my soul; a heart-stealer has come into my mind.

8. Ah, many a heart-stealer, to whose brow the soul has surrendered the prayer niche and to whose stature the pulpit.

9. O sea of generosity, O best of mankind, do not withdraw your favour from Seyyid Nigârî.

Literary and Historical Commentary

His own divan is the subject of the fifth couplet: "the divan I recite" is a verse of love, the scripture of passion, so should it not be learned by heart? In divan poetry the beloved's face is often compared to a copy of the Qur'an; Nigârî here applies the same comparison to his own poems. It is a bold claim for the worth of a poet's work, but it does not stand alone. The rest of the ghazal also speaks in the language of holy places and books: in the eighth couplet the beloved's brow is a prayer niche and her stature a pulpit, and the soul has surrendered both to her. The arch of the niche resembles the brow, the height of the pulpit the cypress stature.

The ghazal opens in Majnun's desert. The mad heart wanders the wilderness, seeks its Leyla and waits for word. In the third couplet news is awaited again, but this time no one comes or goes, and the poet asks the morning breeze: is there any word from the beloved's street? In divan poetry the east wind is the messenger carrying news between lover and beloved. The words turned on the ascetic in the fourth couplet are the harshest of the poem: "kemter ez har", lower than a donkey. This language against the preacher and the ascetic recurs in many of the neighbouring ghazals.

This too is a syllabic poem, built of eleven-syllable lines with no metre recorded, and the "dir" of the second couplet only roughly matches the "-er" rhyme of the others. The ghazal ends with a couplet in praise of the Prophet. "Deryâ-yı kerem", sea of generosity, and "Hayre'l-beşer", best of mankind, are titles of the Prophet, and the poet asks him not to withdraw his favour. For Nigârî, who here again names himself by the title "Seyyid", the request is also the language of a bond of descent.

Bibliography

Online sources