Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Târ-mâr-ı firkat-ı dîdârınam ey dil-rübâ
Tâb-ı tâkat yok heme variyyetim olmış hebâ
Sînemi delmiş hadengin bağrım ezmiş cânıma
Kâr kılmış kûh-ken tek kûh tek virem sadâ
Hâk-i pâyın sâye-i kaddin melek Âdem dahı
Yirde gökde bulmadı bes kandesin ey meh-likã
İhtiyâr olsaydı vaslın ihtiyâr itmez midim
Hecrine ey nâzenîn bir lahza virmezdim rızâ
İltifâtın hemdemim olsun mezâkın yâverim
İştiyâkın dem-be-dem ey pâdişâhım reh-nümâ
Hâk-i pây-i tâlibânın rûşen itsün gönlümi
Gerd-i na‘l-i ‘âşıkãnın ‘aynıma virsün zıyâ
Bülbül-i gönlim gül-i ‘aşkınla pervâz eylesün
Şekker-i şevkınla tutsun tûtî-i gönlim hevâ
Senden özge olmasın bir harf güftârım benim
Senden özge olmasın inkâr-ı gönlim intihâ
Hayl-i dilberden ayırdın [el-]emân âh el-emân
Eyleme Seyyid Nigârîyi Hudâsından cüdâ

In English

1. O ravisher of hearts, I am scattered by separation from the sight of your face; I have no strength left to endure, and all my being has gone to waste.

2. Your arrow has pierced my breast, crushed my heart, reached my soul; like the mountain-digger (Ferhad), let me echo like a mountain.

3. Neither the angels nor Adam found the dust of your feet or the shadow of your stature on earth or in heaven; O moon-faced one, where then are you?

4. Had it been in my power, would I not have chosen union with you; O graceful one, I would not have consented to separation from you for a single moment.

5. May your favour be my companion, your sweetness my helper; O my king, may longing for you show me the way every moment.

6. May the dust of the feet of those who seek you light up my heart; may the dust of your lovers' horseshoes give light to my eyes.

7. May the nightingale of my heart take wing with the rose of your love; may the parrot of my heart rise into the air with the sugar of longing for you.

8. Let there be no letter but you in my speech; let the end to which my heart's (thoughts) come be none but you. (The word "inkâr" in the second line makes no sense; it has been understood on the assumption that it may stand for "efkâr", thoughts.)

9. You parted me from the company of beauties, mercy, ah, mercy; do not part Seyyid Nigârî from his God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The ghazal's opening half carries the ruin of separation, the second a series of prayers. In the first couplet the lover's whole being has been "târ-mâr", scattered and wasted. In the second the beloved's arrow pierces his breast and crushes his heart, and the lover resembles Ferhad: "kûh-ken" means mountain-digger and is the epithet of Ferhad, who dug through Mount Bîsütun for Shirin. The poet wishes to echo like a mountain; the voice of the one who digs the mountain comes back from it. The third couplet has the beloved sought on earth and in heaven: neither angels nor Adam have found the dust she treads or the shadow of her stature.

After the fifth couplet the tone changes and wishes follow one after another: "olsun", "versin", "uçsun", "tutsun" (may it be, may it give, may it fly, may it rise). These prayers are directed not at the beloved but at the traces of the path that leads to her: may the dust of the feet of those who seek her light up the heart, may the dust raised by her lovers' horseshoes be light to the eyes. In divan poetry the dust on the path of the beloved or of the saints is counted something holy, applied to the eyes like kohl. The seventh couplet sets two bird images side by side: the nightingale of the heart flies with the rose of love, the parrot (tûtî) of the heart with the sugar of longing. The nightingale paired with the rose and the parrot with sugar are well-known pairs of divan poetry.

The closing couplet gives the name as "Seyyid Nigârî". Nigârî declares himself a seyyid, a descendant of the Prophet, and in the divan sets this title side by side with his pen name; Bilgin records the fact in his introduction. The content of the couplet is also worth noting: the beloved has parted him from the company of beauties and the poet cries "el-amân", mercy, but his real wish is not to be parted from God. Separation from worldly beauties is accepted; separation from the divine is not. The "[el-]" of the ninth couplet stands in square brackets; the editor says this is how he sets off his own additions. The metre is "fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün", the rhyme once more a long "â".

Bibliography

Online sources