Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Nâle-i Ferhâd u Mecnûn kûh-ı sahrâdan gelür
Savt-ı lebin şehr-i şîrîn kûy-ı Leylâdan gelür
Nâle-i nây âh-ı def âvâze-i âheng ü çeng
Şûr-i bülbül sûziş-i pervâne pervâdan gelür
Telh-i güftârın şirîndir yahşıdan gelmez yaman
Ey gözüm ra‘nâ olur her şey ki ra‘nâdan gelür
Mest oynar gözlerin kızmış meger ‘âşıkların
‘Arsa-i sevdâsına çıkmış temâşâdan gelür
Güft ü gûy-ı ehl-i dil hoşdur ne hâsıl va‘zdan
Nutkdan gelmez hakîkat ol ki ma‘nâdan gelür
Dest-efşân pâ-feşânam vakt kim âvâz-ı Hak
Erre-i neccârdan u zeng-i kilîsâdan gelür
Gûş-ı câna dem-be-dem âvâze-i lâ taknatû
Lâ tahaf nûş eyle nûş it câm-ı sahbâdan gelür
Hûblar ey Seyyid Nigârî şâhid eş‘ârına
Cân virürler n’ola kim ol ‘aşk-ı zîbâdan gelür
Nazm-ı zîbâ rûh-efzâ meclis-ârâ bezm-sâz
Dil-rübâ güftâr-ı şirîn âl-ı Zehrâdan gelür

In English

1. The lament of Farhad and Majnun comes from mountain and desert; the sound of your lip comes from the city of Shirin and from Leyla's street.

2. The moan of the reed, the sigh of the tambourine, the sound of melody and harp, the nightingale's frenzy and the moth's burning come from (love's) fearlessness. (This rendering is approximate.)

3. Your bitter words are sweet; nothing bad comes from the good. O my eye, everything that comes from the lovely is lovely.

4. Your eyes dance drunkenly; perhaps they are angry with the lovers; they have come out into the arena of passion, they come from watching the show.

5. The talk of the people of the heart is pleasant; what comes of preaching? Truth does not come from words, it comes from meaning.

6. When the voice of God comes from the carpenter's saw and the church bell, I dance with hands and feet flung wide.

7. To the ear of the soul there comes every moment the call "Lâ taknatû" (do not despair) and "Lâ tehaf" (fear not); drink, drink, it comes from the cup of wine.

8. O Seyyid Nigârî, the beauties give their lives as witnesses to your poems; no wonder, for that comes from a lovely love.

9. Graceful verse that quickens the spirit, adorns the gathering and sets the party going, and heart-stealing sweet speech, come from the family of Zahra.

Literary and Historical Commentary

When the voice of God comes from a carpenter's saw and a church bell, the poet dances with hands and feet flung wide: this scene in the sixth couplet is the boldest thing in the ghazal. The sound of a saw is an everyday noise; the church bell is the call to worship of another faith. In the thought of the unity of being everything is a manifestation of God, so anyone with an open ear can hear His voice everywhere. The Mevlevi tradition tells how Rumi, hearing the hammer of a goldsmith in the market, rose and began to whirl; Nigârî's couplet lies close to the world of that story. The fifth couplet prepares for it: truth comes not from words but from meaning, and what cannot be found in the preacher's words can be found in the sound of a saw.

The seventh couplet mixes two phrases of the Qur'an with the sound of the wine cup. "Lâ taknatû", do not despair of God's mercy, comes from verse 53 of the sura al-Zumar; "Lâ tehaf", fear not, is taken from words spoken to Moses. Both consolations reach the ear of the soul from the cup. "Yahşıdan gelmez yaman", nothing bad comes from the good, in the third couplet carries the turn of an Azerbaijani proverb and recalls once more the language the divan brought from Karabağ.

The ghazal opens with Farhad and Majnun. Farhad's lament comes from the mountain of Bisutun, Majnun's from the desert; the beloved's voice from the city of Shirin and from Leyla's street. "Şehr-i şîrîn" reads both as the city of Shirin, Farhad's beloved, and as the sweet city. The last couplet, which follows the pen name, traces the source of the poetry to the "âl-i Zehrâ", the line of Fatima. Nigârî, who knew himself to be a sayyid, counts his sweet speech too as an inheritance from that line.

Bibliography

Online sources