Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gãlibâ müşg dimiş bâd-ı sabâ ey gül-i ter
Zülfüne kim gezer ol bî-ser ü pâ şâm u seher
Sâfdır âyinesi çeşm-i nazar-bâzımızın
Pâk-dâmen gözedir şâm u seher ey gül-i ter
Tolaşur şâm u seher bâd beyâbân etegin
Var başında hevâ zülfden almış bir eser
Gayra arz eyle cemâlin yüri dünyâ güzeli
Virmez ednâya dil agyâra göz erbâb-ı nazar
Seyr kıl ey dil-i dîvâne-i Leylâ-yı ezel
Bî-hatar sâye-i Mevlâda ki yoh râh-ı hatar
Cevr-i agyârdan ikrâh eylemez tâlib-i yâr
Kayd-ı mâr eylemez ol kimse ki gencîne sever
Yelme ey bâd ele gelmez kûh u sahrâ etegin
Kim bilür Mîr Nigârîyi ne vâdîde gezer
Bunca kim la‘l ü güher tab‘-ter efşân eyler
Kim bilür şâm u seher ol nice deryâdan üzer

In English

1. O fresh rose, the east wind that wanders morning and evening without head or foot must have called your tress "musk".

2. O fresh rose, the mirror of our gazing eye is pure; morning and evening it keeps watch over the pure of skirt.

3. Morning and evening the wind roams the skirts of the desert; it has a longing (an air) in its head, it has taken a trace from the tress.

4. O beauty of the world, go and show your loveliness to others; the people of vision give no heart to the base and no eye to the rival.

5. O heart, madman of the pre-eternal Leyla, wander fearlessly in the shade of the Lord, where there is no road of danger.

6. The seeker of the beloved does not loathe the cruelty of rivals; whoever loves the treasure takes no heed of the serpent.

7. O wind, do not run; the skirts of mountain and desert cannot be caught; who knows in which valley Mîr Nigârî is wandering.

8. Fresh nature scatters so many rubies and pearls morning and evening; who knows from what sea it swims up.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The words "dünyâ güzeli" in the fourth couplet can be taken in two ways. On a first reading they address a beloved, the most beautiful in the world. But when the poet says that the people of vision give no heart to the base and no eye to the rival, it becomes clear that the address is to the world itself: in the language of Sufism the world is pictured as a beauty who adorns herself and deceives people. The poet tells her to go and show her loveliness to others; the people of vision will not be taken in by her charms. The fifth couplet gives the counterpart. The heart that is mad for the pre-eternal Leyla, the true beloved whom souls knew before time, may roam without fear in the shade of the Lord. The heart's fear is of being caught by the world's beauty; in the Lord's shade there is no such danger.

The rhythm of the ghazal comes from "şâm u seher", evening and morning. The pair returns again and again in the first three couplets and in the last, describing the unceasing work of the wind, the eye and the poem. Evening and morning the wind wanders without head or foot, and because it has touched the beloved's tress there is a longing in its head. "Hevâ" means both air and desire, and used of the wind the two senses run together. The wind and the poet share a fate in the seventh couplet: the wind roams the skirts of mountain and desert, but no one knows in which valley Mîr Nigârî wanders.

The sixth couplet repeats a proverbial thought already met in the divan: whoever loves the treasure does not shy from the serpent. The poem is pictured at the end as a diver. Fresh nature scatters rubies and pearls morning and evening, and no one knows from which sea they were brought up. The Azerbaijani verb "üzmek", to swim, has settled into the poet's language in this couplet.

Bibliography

Online sources