Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ey perî-ruhsâr senden özge mecnûndur sana
Sen nice âdemsin ‘âlem cümle meftûndur sana
N'eyleyem ben söyler il sensin beni meftûn iden
Nice kim dirler beni meftûn u mecnûndur sana
Gamzene meftûn ‘asâ Mûsâ giriftâr ejdehâ
Ey gözi âfet meger kim gamzen efsûndur sana
Ey gözüm ‘aynın karadur lîk her kim söylemiş
Mestlikden söylemişdir çeşm-i mey-gûndur sana
Her zamân bin cân alup her lahza bin kan eylemek
Hûb-‘âdetdir ‘azîzim yahşı kãnûndur sana
Gûşuma her dem gelür feryâdın ey dil şükr kıl
Bahş-ı Mevlâdır bu kârın lutf-ı bî-çûndur sana
Zülf-i sevdâsında nef‘ itdin Nigârî cân virüp
Söylese dîvânedir her kim ki magbûndur sana

In English

1. O fairy-cheeked one, everyone but you is mad for you; what kind of human are you, that the whole world is in love with you?

2. What can I do, people say "it is you who have enchanted him"; let them say what they will, I am enchanted by you and mad for you.

3. Moses' staff is in love with your glance, the dragon its captive; O you whose eye is a calamity, your glance, it seems, is a spell in you.

4. O my eye, whoever said "your eye is black" said it out of drunkenness; your eye is the colour of wine.

5. O my dear one, to take a thousand souls at every hour and shed a thousand bloods at every moment is a fine custom for you, a good law.

6. O heart, your cry reaches my ear every moment; give thanks, this work of yours is the Lord's gift, a favour to you whose manner cannot be known.

7. Nigârî, you gave your soul in the passion for the curl and made a profit; whoever calls you "cheated" is himself the madman.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The third couplet ties a miracle told in the Quran to the image of the glance. Moses' staff turned into a dragon before Pharaoh's sorcerers and swallowed their spells. Nigârî runs the story in reverse: both staff and dragon have become captives of the beloved's glance. Even the miracle that broke the spell is spellbound before the beloved's look; the glance must therefore be a spell (efsûn). In divan poetry the gamze is the beloved's sidelong glance and is spoken of as a lethal power, like an arrow, a dagger or a charm.

The ghazal moves back and forth between the words "mecnûn" (mad with love) and "meftûn" (enchanted). In the first two couplets the whole world is meftun, captivated, by the beloved; people say the lover too has taken his share of this state, and the lover accepts it. In the final couplet the language of trade is added to these two words. "Nef‘" is profit; "magbûn" means cheated, at a loss. The lover who gives his soul in the passion for the curl has made a profit; the one who calls him cheated is the real madman. Giving one's soul is presented as a profitable bargain.

The fourth and fifth couplets describe the beloved's eye and customs. Those who say her eye is black are drunk, for her eye is the colour of wine and makes drunk whoever drinks of it. To take a thousand souls and shed a thousand bloods is to her a "yahşı kânûn", a good law. "Yahşı" (good) is an Azerbaijani Turkish word and gives the couplet a spoken tone that states a harsh judgement half in jest. The ghazal's two key words, "mecnûn" and "meftûn", stand side by side as the rhymes of the opening couplet; the remaining rhymes before the refrain "-dur sana" (is to you), efsûn, mey-gûn, kânûn, bî-çûn and magbûn, keep the "-ûn" sound.

Bibliography

Online sources