Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlün Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlün

Ey hüsn-i ta‘aşşuk-sâz her lahza sana bî–pâ
Peydâ olur ‘âlemde müştâk-ı güzel-pervâ
Ey hüsn rü’yâ-yı dil her lahza kılur cevlân
Sahbâ-yı ânın her dem ü her vakt olur peydâ
Ey hüsn mey-i ânın âyâ nice meydür kim
Uşşâka virür âteş ammâ ki safâ-efzâ
Ey hüsn sana hem-tâ yokdur iki ‘âlemde
‘Âlem sanadır hayrân zîrâ sana yokdur tâ
Ey hüsn-i ferah-efzâ senden ne doğar âteş
Ammâ ki mezâk-efzâ-yı ‘aşk lakabı sevdâ
Ey hüsn-i şîrîn-ter ân her kim sana virmiş cân
Ser-tâ-be-kadem cândır bî-lafzdır ol ma‘nâ
Ey hüsn-i tarab-endâz ‘aşkınla terennüm-sâz
Bu Mîr Nigârîdir zîrâ sanadır şeydâ

In English

1. O beauty that awakens love, every moment there appear in the world, for your sake, helpless yearners who have given their hearts to beauty.

2. O beauty, the dream of the heart wanders about every moment; the wine of that indefinable charm (ân) appears at every breath, at every hour.

3. O beauty, what kind of wine is the wine of that charm, that it gives fire to the lovers and yet adds joy to the heart.

4. O beauty, in the two worlds there is none equal to you; the world is in wonder at you, for you have no peer.

5. O beauty that gives delight, what a fire is born of you; yet the name of love that heightens delight is passion (sevdâ). (The connection within the couplet is not clear; the reading should not be taken as certain.)

6. O sweetest beauty, whoever has given his soul to you has become soul from head to foot; that meaning cannot be put into words.

7. O beauty who spreads joy and makes one sing with your love; this is Mîr Nigârî, for he is mad with love for you.

Literary and Historical Commentary

In the previous ghazal titles were heaped upon passion; here it is the turn of beauty, "hüsn". All seven couplets open with the address "Ey hüsn", "O beauty", and the ghazal that follows directly in the divan is written in the same metre with the same address. The two poems can be read as a pair: this first one tells what beauty awakens in the lover, the other why looking at beauty never comes to an end.

The key word of the ghazal is "ân", which occurs in couplets two and three. This word, meaning "that" in Persian, also names in Persian and Turkish poetry the nameless attraction in beauty, a charm beyond description. Nigârî likens this charm to a wine and at once sets up a contradiction: this wine gives the lover fire and at the same moment increases his joy. That what burns and what refreshes come from the same source is a brief expression of the way Sufi poetry counts the pain of love as a blessing.

The sixth couplet is the densest point of the ghazal. The one who gives his soul to beauty does not lose it; on the contrary, he becomes soul from head to foot. The phrase "bî-lafzdır ol ma‘nâ", "that meaning is without words", says that this transformation cannot be expressed in speech. Word and meaning, lafz and ma‘nâ, are the basic pair of the old books of rhetoric; Nigârî turns the pair round and speaks of a meaning that poetry cannot reach.

The signature couplet names the poet "Mîr Nigârî". The name could also be read with the linking -i as "Mîr-i Nigârî"; the editor, A. Azmi Bilgin, allows the possibility but says he has kept the plain "Mîr Nigârî" throughout the divan. With no refrain, the whole burden falls on the rhymes: pervâ, peydâ, efzâ, tâ, sevdâ, ma‘nâ and şeydâ, each with its long "â". The word "bî-pâ" in the first couplet means "footless"; here it has been taken to describe helpless lovers who lack the strength to reach the beloved.

Bibliography

Online sources