Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün

Bülbülem gulgul-ı dil nâr-ı gülistânımdır
Dâğ-ı dil ü hûn-i ciger zînet-i bûstânımdır
Gamze-i mugbeçe vü cür‘a-i câm-ı sevdâ
Sebeb-i ma‘rifetim bâ‘is-i îmânımdır
Zâir-i hâk-peyem kâse-i serşâr çeker
Kimse görmez tehî hum nice ki devrânımdır
Terk-i şirk eyledi görgeç beni tevhîd okudı
Zâhid-i iskterin tâze müselmânımdır
Güft ü gûyum virür erbâb-ı dile âb-ı hayât
Tâ mesîhâ-yı heves hem-nefes-i cânımdır
Tâlib-i gamzede-i gamze-i Leylâyam lîk
Fenn-i sevdâ sebakım gãr debistânımdır
‘Aşkı ey Mîr Nigârî nice terk eyleyelim
Bâ‘is-i şöhret-i nâmım sebeb-i şe’nimdir

In English

1. I am a nightingale; the clamour of the heart is the fire of my rose garden; the heart's brand and the liver's blood are the adornment of my orchard.

2. The glance of the tavern boy and a draught from the cup of passion are the cause of my gnosis and the occasion of my faith.

3. Whoever visits the dust beneath my feet drains a brimming bowl; while my turn lasts, no one sees the wine jar empty.

4. Seeing me, he gave up associating partners with God and recited the creed of unity; (that) old ascetic is my new convert. ("İskter" is taken by guesswork to mean old.)

5. As long as the Messiah of desire is the companion of my soul's breath, my speech gives the water of life to the people of the heart.

6. I am a seeker among those wounded by Leyla's glance; but the science of passion is my lesson, and the cave is my school. (What the second line means remains obscure.)

7. O Mîr Nigârî, how could we give up love? It is the cause of my name's renown, the source of my standing.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Of all the divan's satires on preacher and ascetic, the most amusing is this ghazal's fourth couplet. On seeing the poet, the ascetic gave up "şirk", associating partners with God, recited the creed of unity and became the poet's "new convert". That ascetics accused the rinds of irreligion is a familiar scene; here the roles change places. The poet, the rind, is the one who brings the ascetic to faith. The couplet does not say what the ascetic's idolatry was, but in the language of Sufism to look at one's own deeds and piety, to count the self as anything beside God, is called hidden idolatry. The reading of "iskter" is disputed; "old" is a guess and does not spoil the joke.

The second couplet makes the same reversal for the poet himself. The cause of his gnosis and the occasion of his faith are the glance of the tavern boy and a draught from the cup of passion. What should be sought in the madrasa, in books or in sermons has been found in the tavern. The third couplet describes the plenty of the gathering: as long as the poet's "devran" lasts, his time and also the passing of the cups from hand to hand, the wine jar is never empty. "Devran" is also the name for the cup's round in a drinking party.

The ghazal opens with the nightingale and counts the heart's clamour, the heart's brand and the liver's blood as the fire and adornment of the rose garden. While the rhyme words run on "-ân", gülistân, bûstân, îmân, devrân, müselmân, cân, debistân, the last couplet ends with "şe'n". There love is the cause of the poet's renown and standing; to give it up would be to give up his name.

Bibliography

Online sources