Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün

Benem pervâne-i pervâ benem sûzâne-i bî-âb
Benem leb-teşne-i sevdâ benem ‘atşân-ı bî-eşrâb
Benem bî-reh-nümûn ey nâka seyr it ey ceres feryâd
Cünûn-ı râh-ı Leylâyam meded yâ Zeyd yâ ahbâb
Enâniyyet hicâbım mâni‘-i cem‘iyyetim agyâr
Dem-i imdâd[d]ır yâ ehl-i himmet yâ ülü'l-elbâb
Müheyyâdır bu dem cem‘iyyet esbâbı gel ey sâkî
Kadeh mey-hâr u mey mahbûb mutrib cem‘dir ashâb
Zarîfân ârzû-dârım kadeh-hârân hem-kârım
Harîfân içre makbûlam nedür güftârın ey bevvâb
Dem-â-dem tûtî-âsâ tab‘-ı hoş-ter güft ü gû eyler
Nigârî nâzenînimden şirîn şirîn saçar şehd-âb
Pey-â-pey safha-i sînende nakş it bir güzel şeklin
‘Aceb ser-hatdır ey Mîr Nigârî ey güzel elkãb

In English

1. I am the moth of passion, I am the one who burns without water; I am the one whose lips thirst for passion, the thirsty one who finds no drink.

2. I have no guide; O she-camel, move on; O bell, cry out; I am the madman of the road to Leylâ; help, O Zeyd, O friends.

3. Self-regard is my veil, the strangers keep my heart from being gathered; O people of spiritual aid, O people of understanding, it is the hour for help.

4. O cupbearer, come, the means of gathering are ready now; cup, drinkers, wine, beloved and musician are ready, the friends have gathered.

5. I long for the refined, the drinkers of the cup are my fellows; I am accepted among the rinds; O doorkeeper, what have you to say?

6. My nature speaks sweetly like a parrot every moment; Nigârî, it scatters honey-sherbet sweetly from my graceful one.

7. O Mîr Nigârî of the fine titles, engrave a beautiful form, again and again, on the page of your breast; what a fine heading this is. (The meaning of the line is not certain.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

The ghazal opens with a self-introduction: the word "Benem", I am, is repeated five times in the first two couplets. The poet lists himself as a moth, one who burns without water, one who thirsts for passion, a traveller without a guide. In the next couplet this traveller joins Leylâ's caravan. "Nâka" is the she-camel, a familiar image of Arabic love poetry as the camel that carries Leylâ; "ceres" is the bell hung from the neck of a camel in the caravan. Majnun has been left without a guide; he tells the camel to move, the bell to ring, and calls for help with "yâ Zeyd". Zeyd is a name used in Arabic poetry and grammar books for any person at all; the couplet carries the air of Arabian desert poetry into a Turkish ghazal.

The third couplet names the real obstacle on the road: "enâniyyet", self-regard. Selfhood is a veil, and the strangers (ağyâr) keep the heart from being gathered. The poet asks for help from the "ehl-i himmet" and the "ülü'l-elbâb", the people of spiritual aid and the people of understanding. Ülü'l-elbâb is a Quranic phrase for those with understanding who reflect and take heed. Calling the self a veil in such plain language fits the core teaching of Sufism into two lines.

In the fourth and fifth couplets the scene turns into a gathering. All its elements are ready: cup, wine, drinkers, beloved, musician and friends. The lover is accepted among the refined, and the "bevvâb", the doorkeeper, can no longer bar his way. The last couplet closes with the word "nakş": the poet is called to engrave a beautiful form on the page of his breast. This engraving recalls the image of "painting without a pen" that points in the ghazal "Dâğ-ı sevdâ" to Bahâeddin Nakşibend; but no name is given in the couplet. Four of the rhymes are Arabic plurals (ahbâb, elbâb, ashâb, elkãb); with bî-âb, bî-eşrâb, bevvâb and şehd-âb they all end in "-âb".

Bibliography

Online sources