Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Müfte‘ilün Müfte‘ilün Fâ‘ilün

‘Âşık-ı muhriklere yokdur ‘azâb
Kãbil-i nîrân degül ehl-i sevâb
Vesvese-i zâhid-i huşk-dehen
Hâtır-ı mey–hârıma nakş-ı ber-âb
N’eyleyem ey sâkî ki nef‘ eylemez
Âteş-i dil-sûzuma gayr-ı şarâb
Gel dolanam başına ayağına
Destüne al kâse-i bâde-i nâb
Kılma gel erbâb-ı dili bî-sürûr
Koyma gel ashâb-ı gamı bî-şarâb
Çâresidir dâğ-ı ciger-sûzumun
Cür‘a-i peymâne-i la‘l-i mezâk
Eylegil ey Mîr Nigârî sürûr
Duhter-i engûr gezer bî-nikãb

In English

1. There is no torment for lovers who burn (with love); the people of merit will not come to the fire.

2. The whisperings of the dry-mouthed zealot are, in my wine-drinking heart, writing on water.

3. O cupbearer, what can I do; nothing but wine does any good to my heart-burning fire.

4. Come, let me circle round your head and your feet (your cup); take into your hand the bowl of pure wine.

5. Come, do not leave the people of the heart without joy; do not leave the people of sorrow without wine.

6. The cure for my liver-burning brand is a sip from the cup that gives the taste of ruby lips.

7. O Mîr Nigârî, rejoice; the daughter of the grape is walking about unveiled.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The last couplet uses one of the oldest wine images of divan poetry: "duhter-i engûr", the daughter of the grape. In Arabic and Persian poetry wine is called the daughter of the grape; this daughter is usually hidden in the jar, behind a veil. In Nigârî's couplet, however, the daughter of the grape is walking about "bî-nikâb", unveiled; the wine has come out, the gathering has begun, and the poet has reason to rejoice. Being unveiled is what is asked of the beloved and not granted; here the wine has bared its face in place of the beloved.

Couplet two: the zealot's objections are diminished by a comparison. The "huşk-dehen", dry-mouthed, zealot is one who has never tasted wine and whose words have no taste either; his whisperings are in the poet's heart "nakş-ı ber-âb", writing on water: no sooner written than gone. The first couplet proclaims the rind's creed: there is no torment for those who burn with love, since they have already burned; the people of merit do not come to the fire.

The phrase "Gel dolanam başına ayağına" in the fourth couplet recalls the Anatolian and Azerbaijani Turkish expression "başına döneyim", let me circle round your head, which expresses love and devotion. But the word "ayağ" also means cup; the lover wants to circle round both the cupbearer's head and her cup. The rhyme of the sixth couplet, "mezâk", does not fit the "-âb" sound of the other couplets (‘azâb, sevâb, ber-âb, şarâb, nâb, nikâb); the word is given in this form in the edition. The ghazal shares its pattern, "müfte‘ilün müfte‘ilün fâ‘ilün", with the poem before it.

Bibliography

Online sources