Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ey gönül ‘aşk-ı şîrîn-kârdur üstâd sana
Hâzır ol kim yetişüp san‘at-ı Ferhâd sana
Ele al koyma yire ‘aşk-ı dil-ârâ etegin
Kim odur şâm u seher hem-dem-i pâ bâd sana
Şâh-ı maksûdun eger mâtı içün kîş diseler
Ne elem çünki odur ferz-i meded-dâd sana
Şeş-der-i hayrete düşsen ne gamın var kim ol
Kurtarur çünki odur kâmil-i nerrâd sana
‘Aşkıla yârlıg it çek başa bed-nâm etegin
Çünki andan yetişür hûb u güzel ad sana
Nefes-i pîr mi yâ în eser-i ‘aşk mı yâ
Yitmedi her ne kadar yildiyise bâd sana
Kûhı her âh-ıla virdin yile berbâd itdün
Lutf-ı Mevlâdı hemîn kuvvet-i Ferhâd sana
Yakdın ‘âşıkları bir nâle–i dil–sûzun-ıla
Gãlibâ kim yetişüp rütbe-i irşâd sana
Ey Nigârî ne gamın var cihân içre senin
Ki virüp lutf-ı ezel ‘aşk-ı Hudâ dâd sana

In English

1. O heart, love that works sweetly is your master; be ready, the art of Ferhad will come to you too.

2. Take into your hand the skirt of heart-adorning love and do not let it fall; for it is your companion morning and evening. (The end of the line is obscure.)

3. If they call "check" to checkmate the king of your aim, what of it; for it is love that is the vizier (ferz) who helps you.

4. If you fall into the blockade (şeşder) of wonder, what have you to fear; for it is the master backgammon player who will rescue you.

5. Make friends with love, pull the skirt of ill repute over your head; for a fine and good name comes to you from it.

6. Is it the breath of the elder, or the work of love; however fast the wind ran, it could not catch you.

7. With every sigh you threw the mountain to the wind and laid it waste; it is the Lord's favour that gave you Ferhad's strength.

8. With a heart-burning moan you set the lovers on fire; it seems the rank of spiritual guidance (irşâd) has come to you.

9. O Nigârî, what have you to grieve for in the world; the favour of pre-eternity has given you the love of God.

Literary and Historical Commentary

In the middle of the ghazal two game boards are opened. The third couplet uses the language of chess: "şâh" (king), "mât" (mate), "kîş" (check) and "ferz". Kîş is the word called when one threatens the opponent's king; ferz is the old name of the vizier, today's queen, in chess. The poet tells the heart not to fear even if the king of its aim is threatened, for the vizier who comes to its aid is love. The word "ferz" also comes close to farz, what is religiously obligatory, and carries a hint that love is a duty. With the fourth couplet the game changes and backgammon begins. "Şeşder" is the blockade in backgammon in which the six points in front of a piece are closed so that it cannot move; "nerrâd" is a backgammon player. The poet says that love, like a master player, will rescue the heart trapped in wonder.

These game images are framed by another old story. In the opening couplet love is "şîrîn-kâr", a master who works sweetly; the word also sounds the name of Shirin, Ferhad's beloved. The art of Ferhad, mastery in digging through mountains, will come to the heart that is ready. In the seventh couplet the promise is fulfilled: with every sigh the lover lays a mountain waste, and the strength for it is a favour from the Lord.

The fifth couplet is a short formula of the melâmet stance: whoever makes friends with love pulls the skirt of ill repute over his head, yet the true good name comes from it. The sixth and eighth couplets carry the words into the language of the Sufi order. "Nefes-i pîr", the breath of the elder, is the spiritual influence of the guide; the "rütbe-i irşâd" of the eighth couplet is a sheikh's authority to guide disciples. Nigârî was a Naqshbandi sheikh who had received his licence from İsmâil Şirvânî; his telling his heart "the rank of guidance has come to you" can be read in this context, though the couplet does not say so openly. Ferhad's name enters the rhyme twice; the other rhymes join it on the same "-âd": üstâd, bâd, meded-dâd, nerrâd, ad, irşâd, dâd.

Bibliography

  • Nigârî, Nigârî Dîvânı, ed. A. Azmi Bilgin, Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2017 (e-book, Kültür Eserleri Dizisi 482), poem 24, p. 27. https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/TR-194361/nigari-divani.html
  • Parvana Bayram, "Azerbaycan ve Türkiye'de Yayımlanan Seyyid Nigârî Divanları Hakkında", Turkish Studies, 7/1, 2012, pp. 405-417.

Online sources