Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ey nigâr-ı nâzenînim cân nisâr itdim sana
Perde-i ‘aynımı ferş-i reh-güzâr itdim sana
Çeşm-i Âdem kıble-i ‘âlem Muhammed hakkı-çün
Âşikârâ secde-i şükr-güzâr itdim sana
Cân-ı Şîrînden geçüp Ferhâd-âsâ bî-garaz
Bî-‘ivaz sıdk-ıla kurbân ey nigâr itdim sana
Perde-i dîdârı ey gül gonçe-i bahtım gibi
Açmadın ger rû-be-rû sad âh u zâr itdim sana
Kılmadın bir dem terahhum şerha şerha sînemi
Pâre pâre eyleyüp dâğ âş-kâr itdim sana
Pây-mâl itmiş beni firkat meded hengâmıdır
Bir nazar kıl ‘arz-ı hâl ey şehr-yâr itdim sana
İmdi nâdimsin Nigârî zülf-i sevdâsında ben
Kılmadın yâver nasîhat bî-şümâr itdim sana

In English

1. O my graceful beloved, I have scattered my soul for you; I have spread the veil of my eye on the road you pass.

2. By the right of Muhammad, the pupil of Adam's eye and the qibla of the world, I openly performed a prostration of thanks to you.

3. O beloved, giving up my sweet soul (Shirin's soul) like Ferhad, without self-interest and without recompense, I became a sacrifice to you in sincerity.

4. O rose, you did not open the veil of your face, like the bud of my fortune; because you did not come face to face, I sighed and moaned to you a hundredfold.

5. Not for a moment did you take pity; I cut my breast slice by slice, piece by piece, and openly showed you my brand (my wound).

6. Separation has trampled me underfoot, it is the hour for help; O king, look once, I have laid my state before you.

7. Nigârî, now you are sorry; I gave you countless counsels about the passion for the curl, but you did not take them as your helper.

Literary and Historical Commentary

In the last couplet the speaking voice changes. For six couplets the lover lists his sacrifices to the beloved with "itdim sana" (I did for you); in the seventh, with the same refrain, another voice is heard addressing Nigârî: "Nigârî, now you are sorry; I gave you countless counsels about the passion for the curl." This voice may be the poet's reason or conscience, which warned him against passion but could not make him listen. The whole ghazal thus sits within a frame: the lover has given everything, yet in the end he is confronted with regret by a counsellor within himself. Since it is not said openly who is speaking, this is a reading.

The second couplet utters one of the boldest phrases of the divan. The lover says that by the right of Muhammad he has performed a "secde-i şükr", a prostration of thanks, to the beloved. The prostration of thanks is the prostration made to God on receiving good news or a blessing. The Prophet is called here "çeşm-i Âdem", the eye, the pupil, of Adam, and "kıble-i ‘âlem", the qibla of the world. In a Sufi reading, since the beloved is the mirror of divine beauty, this prostration is directed not at her but at the manifestation seen in her; yet the verbal daring of the couplet recalls Hüsameddin's mention of Nigârî's ecstatic utterances, the so-called "şatahât".

The third couplet is tied to the story of Ferhad through a play on words: "cân-ı Şîrîn" is both sweet soul and Shirin's soul. Ferhad gave up his life for Shirin; the lover too becomes a sacrifice "bî-garaz, bî-‘ivaz", without self-interest and without recompense. In couplet five the breast is split slice by slice and the brand is openly shown; the brand is the burn mark love leaves in the breast. Between the "nisâr" (offering scattered) of the opening and the closing "bî-şümâr" (countless), the rhyme stays on "-âr": reh-güzâr, şükr-güzâr, nigâr, zâr, âş-kâr, şehr-yâr.

Bibliography

Online sources