Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ûlü Mefâ‘îlü Mefâ‘îlü Fe‘ûlün

Yâ Rab ne ‘aceb kûy-ı nigârımda selâmet
Seg-nâm ola peyveste kuram taht-ı ikãmet
Vahşâne gezer silsile-i zülf ile bend it
Şeydâ dili tâ çekmeyelim kayd-ı melâmet
At perde-i ruhsârını ref‘ eyle hicâbı
Ref‘ eyle şeb-i firkat[ı] ey mâh-ı melâhet
Peymâne-i ser-şâr nisâr eyle pey-â-pey
Bî-misldir ‘âlemdeki bâde-i sehâvet
Oldum düşüp erbâb-ı garaz kırdı ayağın
Erbâb-ı harâbât ile kim kıldı ‘adâvet
Meyhâneler içre heme dem pîr-i mugãnın
Öpdüm ayağın sundu bana dest-i icâbet
Bî-bâde geçinmekden ibâ eyledi gönlüm
Tâ âmir-i meyhâneye kim kıldım inâbet
Ol gördü ki peymâne-keş-i bâde-i ânem
Çâkerliğe sundu bana ser-hatt-ı icâzet
Ne câm u ne Cem bil yok idi günbed-i mînâ
Ol vakt ki peymâneye kılmışdım irâdet
Ey nâhî ne mümkin bana bî-bâde geçinmek
El çekmezem ol kârdan er kopsa kıyâmet
Ey Mîr Nigârî meye teslim eyledim cân
Besdir bana dâreynde mahzâ bu kerâmet

In English

1. O Lord, how wondrous is safety in the street of my beloved; let me be bound there, called by the name of a dog, and set up my throne of residence.

2. Bind with the chain of the curl the love-mad heart that roams about like a wild creature, so that we may not drag the fetter of blame.

3. O moon of beauty, cast off the veil of your cheek, lift the veil of modesty; lift the night of separation.

4. Scatter the brimming cup again and again; the wine of generosity in the world has no equal.

5. Whoever showed enmity to the people of the ruined tavern, those spiteful ones fell and broke their legs. (The beginning of the first line is not clearly understood.)

6. In the taverns I kissed the tavern elder's foot at every moment; he held out to me the hand of acceptance.

7. Since I turned in repentance (inâbet) to the master of the tavern, my heart has refused to live without wine.

8. He saw that I was one who drinks cup after cup the wine of that indefinable charm; he offered me the heading of a licence (icâzet) for service.

9. Know that when I pledged my heart to the cup there was neither cup, nor Jamshid, nor the azure dome (of the sky).

10. O you who forbid (wine), how could I live without wine; I will not give up that work even if doomsday breaks.

11. O Mîr Nigârî, I have surrendered my soul to wine; in both worlds this miracle alone is enough for me.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The sixth, seventh and eighth couplets lay out the stages of entering a Sufi order and rising in it in the language of the tavern. First the lover kisses the tavern elder's foot, and the elder holds out to him the "dest-i icâbet", the hand of acceptance; one thinks of the pledge (biat) made on entering an order by taking the guide's hand. Then comes "inâbet": turning to a sheikh, binding oneself to him in repentance. In the eighth couplet the elder sees that he is one who drinks the "bâde-i ân", the wine of indefinable charm, and offers him the "ser-hatt-ı icâzet", the heading of a licence. The icâzet is the document stating that a disciple is authorised to guide others. Nigârî is known to have received his licence from his sheikh İsmâil Şirvânî; the ghazal turns this process into a story between a tavern elder and a drunkard. This reading follows from the words of the couplets, but the poet names no one.

The ninth couplet carries the beginning of love back before time: when the lover pledged his heart to the cup there was neither cup, nor the legendary king Jamshid, nor the "günbed-i mînâ", the azure dome of the sky. This is a reference to the Covenant of Alast, when in Sufi thought the souls said "yes" to God, the moment of pre-eternity before creation. Love is older than the world and the heavens.

In the first couplet of the ghazal the lover is willing to be called "seg-nâm", by a dog's name, in the beloved's street; elsewhere in the divan, too, the dog at the beloved's door stands for loyalty. In the tenth couplet the "nâhî", the one who forbids, is answered: even if doomsday breaks, the lover will not give up this work. In the last couplet surrendering one's soul to wine is counted a miracle sufficient in both worlds. Three of the twelve rhyme words, icâbet, inâbet and icâzet, are the names of the stages described above; selâmet, ikãmet, melâmet, melâhat, sehâvet, ‘adâvet, irâdet, kıyâmet and kerâmet join them with their "-et" and "-at".

Bibliography

  • Nigârî, Nigârî Dîvânı, ed. A. Azmi Bilgin, Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2017 (e-book, Kültür Eserleri Dizisi 482), poem 87, pp. 62-63. https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/TR-194361/nigari-divani.html
  • Parvana Bayram, "Azerbaycan ve Türkiye'de Yayımlanan Seyyid Nigârî Divanları Hakkında", Turkish Studies, 7/1, 2012, pp. 405-417.

Online sources