Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ben ‘âşık-ı şeydâyam şeydâlığıma rahm it
Bî-mûnis-i tenhâyam tenhâlığıma rahm it
Lutf eylegil ey cânân al gel elimi bir an
Üftâde vü bî-pâyam bî-pâlığıma rahm it
Gönlüm ser-i kûyunda bir zerre makâm ister
İkrâm eyle bî-câyem bî-câlığıma rahm it
Mihnet-zede-em ey cân yokdur bana bir dermân
Şâd eyle beni bir ân gam-hâlığıma rahm it
Ser-geşte-i sevdâyam âvâre-i sahrâyam
Hercâ-yı sabâ-sâyam hercâlığıma rahm it
Dîvâne-i bî-âram Ferhâd-ı Şirîn-kâram
Ser-mest-i kadeh-hâram rüsvâlığıma rahm it
Üftâde vü bî-hâlem bî-şeh-per-i bî-bâlem
Lâlâ-yı kuhen-sâ[l]am lâlâlığıma rahm it
Ey hûrşîd-i rahşânım ey şem‘-i şebistânım
Pervâne-i pervâyam pervâlığıma rahm it
Ey Mîr Nigârî di ol serv-i gül-endâma
Men ‘âşık-ı şeydâyam şeydâlığıma rahm it

In English

1. I am a love-mad lover, have mercy on my madness; I am without comfort and alone, have mercy on my loneliness.

2. O beloved, be kind, come and take my hand for a moment; I am fallen and powerless, have mercy on my powerlessness.

3. My heart asks for a place no bigger than a mote at the head of your street; be generous, I am placeless, have mercy on my placelessness.

4. O soul, I am stricken with affliction, there is no cure for me; gladden me for a moment, have mercy on my grieving.

5. I am giddy with passion, a vagabond of the deserts; I wander everywhere like the morning breeze, have mercy on my vagrancy.

6. I am a restless madman, the sweetly-working Ferhad (of Shirin); I am a drunkard who drinks the cup, have mercy on my disgrace.

7. I am fallen and feeble, without wing or feather; I am an aged lala, have mercy on my lala-hood.

8. O my radiant sun, O candle of my night chamber; I am the moth of passion, have mercy on my moth-hood.

9. O Mîr Nigârî, say to that rose-bodied cypress: I am a love-mad lover, have mercy on my madness.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Both lines of the opening couplet and the second line of every other couplet are built on the same pattern: first an attribute is stated, then the same attribute is repeated as "-lığıma rahm it", have mercy on this state of mine. "Şeydâyam, şeydâlığıma rahm it" (I am mad, have mercy on my madness), "tenhâyam, tenhâlığıma rahm it" (I am alone, have mercy on my loneliness). Over nine couplets the lover presents himself as mad, alone, powerless, placeless, grieving, vagrant, disgraced, aged and a moth, and each time repeats the same plea for mercy. The repetition carries the rhythm of a supplication and builds a structure suited to being recited together.

The last couplet turns the ghazal back to its beginning. The poet addresses himself: say this to that rose-bodied cypress. The words to be said are the first line of the ghazal: "Men ‘âşık-ı şeydâyam, şeydâlığıma rahm it." The return of the first line in the last couplet closes the poem like a ring. "Men" (I) in the last line is the Azerbaijani Turkish form of "ben" (I) in the first; the same words are spoken in two forms by two mouths.

"Lâlâ-yı kuhen-sâl", aged lala, in the seventh couplet is an unexpected self-description. The lala was the name of the old and trusted servant charged with the upbringing of princes at the Ottoman court. The lover sees himself as a lala grown old in the beloved's service; he is as powerless as a bird whose wing and feathers have fallen. In the edition the letter "l" of "kuhen-sâ[l]am" is given in square brackets; Bilgin states in his introduction that he marks his own additions in this way. The edition gives the ghazal's metre as "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlün mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlün".

Bibliography

Online sources