Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Zâhidin dilde bizim gibi temennâsı mı var
Mülk-i dâreynde bir dilber-i zîbâsı mı var
Mâh-ı büthânesi mi hûrşîd-i meyhânesi mi
Pâk-i peymânesi mi bâde-i sahbâsı mı var
Bâde-i hâsı mı yâ bâdiye-peymâsı mı yâ
Dil-i şeydâsı mı yâ dilber-i hercâsı mı var
Tabl-ı âsâyişi mi dilber-i dil-hâhişi mi
Hemdem-i tâyı mi yâ kulkul-i mînâsı mı var
Gül-i ruhsârı mı yâ kâkül-i dildârı mı yâ
Seyr-i dîdârı mı yâ zevk-ı temâşâsı mı var
Himmet-i pîri mi yâ ‘aşk-ı cihângîri mi yâ
Feth-i feryâdı mı yâ nusret-i Mevlâsı mı var
Dürr-i güftârı mı yâ nazm-ı güher-bârı mı yâ
Tûtî-i tab‘ı mı yâ la‘l-i şeker-hâsı mı var
Hîç dîvâne dimez ol hare Leylâ sözini
Gül anun başına Mecnûn gibi sevdâsı mı var
Dil-i mey-hâr tek ey Mîr Nigârî o harın
Başda sevdâsı temennâsı tevellâsı mı var

In English

1. Has the ascetic a longing in his heart like ours? Has he a lovely beloved in the realm of both worlds?

2. Has he the moon of an idol temple, the sun of a tavern, a pure cup, a red wine?

3. Has he a special wine, or a state of measuring the deserts (like Majnun), or a crazed heart, or a beloved seen everywhere?

4. Has he the drum of ease, a beloved the heart desires, companionship with the reed, the gurgle of the flask? (This couplet is rendered approximately.)

5. Has he a rose cheek, a beloved's forelock, the sight of a face, or the pleasure of gazing?

6. Has he the favour of an elder, a world-conquering love, a victory won by lament, or the help of the Lord?

7. Has he speech like pearls, verse that rains jewels, a parrot-like nature, a sugar-eating ruby lip?

8. No madman tells that donkey Leyla's words; laugh at his head; has he a passion like Majnun's?

9. O Mîr Nigârî, has that donkey in his head a passion, a longing, a tevellâ, like the wine-drinking heart?

Literary and Historical Commentary

The ghazal multiplies a single question from beginning to end: what has the ascetic got? Each couplet repeats the "mı var", has he, of the refrain two, three or four times, each time asking the ascetic about something the lover possesses: a longing, a beloved, a cup, a passion, an elder's favour, speech like pearls. No answer is ever given, because the question is its own answer: the ascetic has none of these. The listing reverses the divan's "Yar sînemi ‘aşkında", where the lover counted what he had with the refrain "var". There the lover laid out his wealth; here the ascetic's poverty comes out through questions.

The shape of the repetition has to do with the metre too. The edition gives the metre as "Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fâ‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün", and each line divides within itself into two or three equal parts: "Gül-i ruhsârı mı yâ / kâkül-i dildârı mı yâ / Seyr-i dîdârı mı yâ / zevk-ı temâşâsı mı var." These internal rhymes speed the ghazal up and string the questions one after another like a jingle.

In the last two couplets the ascetic is twice called "har", donkey. No madman tells that donkey Leyla's words, because he has nothing of Majnun's passion. The couplet with the pen name gathers all the questions into one: has that donkey a passion, a longing, a tevellâ in his head, as the wine-drinking heart has? Tevellâ means taking the Prophet's family as friends, and its place at the end of the list shows Nigârî setting love and devotion to the Prophet's house in the same place.

Bibliography

Online sources