Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün

Bundan artuk ne olur şükr ile ey dil ‘izzet
Eyledin sıdkıla kim pîr-i mugãna hizmet
Uymayup zâhide erbâb-ı riyâdan geçdin
Dâmen-i sâkiye el urdun ey ‘âlî himmet
Rütbe-i ‘abdiyete rütbe-i şâhî yetmez
Sana mahsûs bu rütbe sanadır bu devlet
Çekme ferdâ gamın Allâh'a havâle eyle
Gir harâbâta bugün eyle müdâmî işret
Dişleyüp hayret elin olmadın ey dil nâdim
Der-i meyhâneye dûş eyleme fevt-i fırsat
Nîk yâ bed ne ise kendine bir ad it kim
Gün gibi âdeme ‘âlemde gerekdir şöhret
Kılma mey-hâreleri kapundan mahrûm
Ey vücûdı heme rahmet heme kârı ni‘met
Sâkî dâire-yi mihrine devrân itdi
Kesmede devre[y]i ol irdi bana kim nevbet
Heme dem cilve-i sâkî heme dem devre-i câm
Kıldı ey Mîr Nigârî beni her dem hoş vakt

In English

1. O heart, you have served the tavern elder with sincerity; let me say it with thanks, what honour could be greater than this?

2. O heart of lofty aspiration, you did not follow the zealot and you left the people of hypocrisy behind; you laid hold of the cupbearer's skirt.

3. The rank of kingship cannot reach the rank of servanthood; this rank is reserved for you, this fortune is yours.

4. Do not grieve over tomorrow, leave it to God; enter the tavern today and keep up the revel.

5. O heart, you did not bite your finger in wonder and regret; do not miss your chance at the tavern door. (The second line has been understood approximately.)

6. Good or bad, whatever it may be, make a name for yourself; for in the world a person needs a fame as plain as day.

7. O you whose being is all mercy and whose work is all blessing, do not deprive the wine-drinkers of your door.

8. The cupbearer passed the cup round in the circle of his love; as the round was ending, the turn came to me. (The line has been understood approximately.)

9. O Mîr Nigârî, the cupbearer's grace at every moment and the cup's round at every moment have made my time sweet at every moment.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The third couplet states a familiar Sufi idea in a short verdict: "Rütbe-i ‘abdiyete rütbe-i şâhî yetmez", the rank of kingship cannot reach the rank of servanthood. In the Sufi tradition servanthood (ubûdiyyet) is counted the highest station a person can attain; that the Prophet's greatest attribute is to be "abd", servant, is also taken as support for this idea. The poet says this rank has been given to the heart that serves the tavern elder with sincerity. The words service, rank and fortune come from the language of the palace, but here they describe the hierarchy not of the palace but of the tavern, that is, the dervish lodge.

The ghazal is a praise of the poet's own heart. The heart has not followed the zealot, has moved away from the hypocrites and has held fast to the cupbearer's skirt. The fourth couplet expresses trust in God (tevekkül) in the language of the tavern: leave tomorrow's grief to God and enter the tavern today. The sixth couplet gives advice that looks strange at first sight: good or bad, make a name for yourself, for a person needs a fame as plain as day. That ill repute and disgrace are the lover's honour is nothing new in this divan; here even the difference between good and bad fame becomes unimportant.

The last two couplets close with a scene of the gathering. The cupbearer has passed the cup round the circle of his love, and the turn has come to the poet. The circle can be read both as the drinking ring around which the cup goes and as the ring of zikr. The "hoş vakt" of the last couplet ties to the Sufi idea of "vakit", the moment: the dervish is "the child of the moment" who lives within the state God grants at that instant, and his moment being sweet is the beauty of that state. The rhyme words are ‘izzet, hizmet, himmet, devlet, işret, fırsat, şöhret, ni‘met, nevbet and vakt, with "-et" and "-at" used side by side.

Bibliography

Online sources