Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Hâk-i râh-ı âhu-veşler müşk ü ‘anberdir bana
Hâr-ı kûy-ı lâle-veşler gonçe-i terdir bana
Mihnet-i seyr ü seferdendir safâ-yı hâtırım
Seng-i râh-ı dil-rübâlar la‘l ü gevherdir bana
İrmez el dâmânıma zîrâ hevâdır menzilim
Ol perî-veşler hevâsı tâ ki şeh-perdir bana
Mâh-veşler mecma‘ıdır hâle-i menzil-gehim
Tâli‘im fîrûzdur kim baht yâverdir bana
Dil-rübâlardır enîsim hûblardır hemdemim
Tâ’ir-i kudsem sabâ ‘aşkım peyem-berdir bana
Dâğ-ı mecnûniyyetimdendir sürûr-ı hâtırım
Server-i mülk-i cünûnem kim bu zîverdir bana
Tâcım âhımdır Nigârî taht-gâhımdır elem
Pâdişâham gûşe-i gam heşt kişverdir bana

In English

1. The dust of the road of gazelle-like beauties is musk and ambergris to me; the thorn of the street of tulip-like beauties is a fresh rosebud to me.

2. The joy of my heart comes from the hardship of wandering; the stone on the road of heart-ravishers is ruby and pearl to me.

3. No hand can reach my skirt, for my dwelling is the air; longing for those fairy-faced ones has become my strongest wing.

4. The halo around my dwelling is the gathering place of moon-faced beauties; my fortune is happy, for luck is my helper.

5. Heart-ravishers are my friends, beauties my companions; I am a bird of the holy realm, and the morning breeze is my love's messenger to me.

6. The joy of my heart comes from the wound of my madness; I am the sovereign of the realm of madness, and this is my adornment.

7. Nigârî, my crown is my sigh, my throne is grief; I am a king, and the corner of sorrow is eight lands to me.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The ghazal ends with a proclamation of sovereignty. The poet's crown is his sigh, his throne his grief, his land the corner of sorrow, and this corner is as wide to him as "heşt kişver", eight lands. In the old geography the world was called "heft kişver", the seven climes; Nigârî's saying eight may also call to mind the eight paradises known in divan poetry as "heşt behişt". In the previous couplet the poet has proclaimed himself sovereign of "mülk-i cünûn", the realm of madness. Describing the poverty of love as a kingship is a familiar attitude in divan poetry, but Nigârî builds every emblem of this kingship, crown, throne and land, one by one out of pain.

The first half of the ghazal makes the same reversal with images of the road. The dust of the beauties' road is musk and ambergris, the thorn of their street a fresh rosebud, the stone on their path ruby and pearl. The hardship of the journey gives joy to the heart. In the third couplet the word "hevâ" is used in both its senses: his dwelling is the air, that is, he is not bound to the earth, but the same word also means desire; longing for the fairy-faced has become his "şeh-per", the strongest flight feather of a bird. In couplet four "hâle" is the ring of light around the moon; the poet's dwelling is a halo where moon-faced beauties gather.

Next the poet calls himself "tâir-i kuds", a bird of the holy realm, and makes the morning breeze the messenger of his love. In divan poetry the soul is often likened to a bird; here the bird is the soul of a lover moving among beauties. Two of the rhyme words, "şeh-per" and "kişver", carry images discussed above; the rest (‘anber, ter, gevher, yâver, peyem-ber, zîver) share the same "-er", and the refrain is "-dir bana" (is to me).

Bibliography

Online sources