Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

‘Uşşâk ile [ey] vâ‘iz-i bed-gû ne ‘adâvet
Oydun yine şeytâna şerâret ne şerâret
Bî-câ yere erbâb-ı dilin gönlünü yıkdın
Ka‘beye taş atdın bu şekâvet ne şekâvet
Ehl-i hakka nâ-hak yere bed-gûluk idersin
Geçmiş meger ol gerdânına tavk-ı dalâlet
Azdın ne ‘aceb fikr-i enâniyyete düşdün
Vesvâslık itdin bu sefâhet ne sefâhet
Güftâr ile bir yer yine dûzahta kazandın
Ey muğrik-ı deryâ-yı dalâlet ne kabâhet
Ey tâli‘i bed ü cîfe-hâr ey cehl-i mürekkeb
‘Uşşâk ile uğraşmadır elbette gavâyet
N’oldu ‘acabâ böyle ki hezyâna girişdin
Yetmez mi ki ey bîhude-gû bunca betâlet
Tut dâmen-i ehl-i dili tevbe-i nasûh it
İhlâs ile tâ çekmeyesin dâg-ı nedâmet
Ey Mîr Nigârî yine şeytâna taş atdın
Dökdün gözünü gör bu sa‘âdet ne sa‘âdet

In English

1. O foul-mouthed preacher, what is this enmity towards lovers; again you have followed the devil, what wickedness is this, what wickedness.

2. You have wrecked the hearts of the people of the heart for nothing; you have thrown stones at the Kaaba, what wretchedness is this, what wretchedness.

3. You speak ill of the people of truth without right; it seems the collar of error has been fastened round your neck.

4. You have gone astray, what a wonder, you have fallen into thoughts of self; you have spread whisperings, what folly is this, what folly.

5. With your words you have again earned a place in hell; O you drowned in the sea of error, what ugliness.

6. O ill-starred carrion-eater, O compound ignorance; meddling with lovers is surely waywardness.

7. What happened, I wonder, that you have launched into such raving; O idle talker, is not so much idleness enough?

8. Hold the skirt of the people of the heart, repent with a sincere repentance; (repent) with sincerity, so that you may not suffer the brand of regret.

9. O Mîr Nigârî, you have stoned the devil again, put out his eye; see what happiness is this, what happiness.

Literary and Historical Commentary

This ghazal is the harshest of the arguments with the preacher in the divan and is written in the language of satire. Almost every couplet ends in an accusation, and the accusation is repeated in the pattern "what ... is this, what ...": "şerâret ne şerâret", "şekâvet ne şekâvet", "sefâhet ne sefâhet". The preacher has followed the devil, has the collar of error round his neck, and has fallen into "cehl-i mürekkeb", compound ignorance. Compound ignorance is defined in books of logic and theology as a person's thinking he knows when he does not, that is, not knowing that he does not know. Hüsameddin speaks of the sharp satires Nigârî directed at the ulema of Amasya and of the great dispute between them. When and to whom this ghazal was written is unknown, but it bears witness to the language of that dispute.

The accusation of the second couplet rests on a comparison: the preacher has wrecked the hearts of the people of the heart, and this is "throwing stones at the Kaaba". The idea that the heart is as holy as the house of God, the Kaaba, is often worked in Sufi poetry. The last couplet turns this comparison round. During the pilgrimage the pilgrims throw stones at the pillars at Mina that stand for the devil; the poet says that with this ghazal against the preacher he has "stoned the devil again". The preacher threw stones at the Kaaba, the poet at the devil; the ghazal closes with a scene of pilgrimage, and the poet presents it as "sa‘âdet", happiness.

The eighth couplet still leaves a door open: if the preacher holds the skirt of the people of the heart and makes a "tevbe-i nasûh", the sincere and irreversible repentance named in the sura al-Tahrîm, he may be saved from regret. The satire softens into counsel. The words of the "-et" rhyme read almost like a list of failings: ‘adâvet, şerâret, şekâvet, dalâlet, sefâhet, kabâhet, gavâyet, betâlet, nedâmet. Only the last, sa‘âdet, stands apart from the series. The ghazal is in "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün".

Bibliography

Online sources