Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün Mefâ‘îlün

Cilâ-yı kalb-i rindâne meh-i peymânedir bâ‘is
Zıyâ-yı bezm-i mestâne mey-i tâbânedir bâ‘is
Seg-âsâ bî-nevâlık subh u şâm meyhâne küncinde
Güşâd-ı bâb-ı feyz [e] sâkî-i devrânedir bâ‘is
Niyâz eyle dem-â-dem ey gönül kim nâz-ı mey-hârân
Der-i meyhâneden bi'l-külliye hicrânedir bâ‘is
Harâbât ehlin inkâr itmek olmaz çünki bu kirdâr
Harîm-i Ahmed-i Muhtârdan hırmânedir bâ‘is
Ser-â-perde-i ihfâdın tulû‘-ı mihr-i maksûde
Giceler subha dek pervâne tek sûzânedir bâ‘is
Kılup sîr-âb hûnâb-ı cigerle eylemiş teskîn
Nazar-bâzânı peykânın güzel ihsânedir bâ‘is
Yazup esrâr-ı sevdânı rumûz-ı çeşm-i leylânı
Nigârî Mecnûn-âsâ tâze bir dîvânedir bâ‘is

In English

1. The cause of the shining of the rind's heart is the moon of the cup; the cause of the brightness of the drunkards' gathering is the gleaming wine.

2. Waiting morning and evening like a dog without a share in the tavern's corner is the cause of the cupbearer of the age opening the door of bounty.

3. O heart, plead every moment; for the coquetry of the wine-drinkers is the cause of being utterly parted from the tavern door.

4. One cannot deny the people of the ruined tavern; for this conduct is the cause of being barred from the sanctuary of Ahmed the Chosen.

5. (Awaiting) the rising of the sun of one's aim is the cause of burning like a moth until dawn each night before the veil of concealment. (The couplet has been understood approximately.)

6. That your arrow quenches and soothes the captives of the glance with liver-blood is the cause of a fine kindness. (The couplet has been understood approximately.)

7. Writing the secrets of passion and the signs of Leylâ's eye is the cause of Nigârî's becoming, like Majnun, a new madman (a new divan).

Literary and Historical Commentary

The word "dîvâne" in the last couplet can be read in two senses. In its familiar sense it is a madman, one who has lost his mind like Majnun; but read as "tâze bir dîvân-e" it also yields "to a new divan". As the poet writes the secrets of passion and the signs of Leylâ's eye, he becomes a madman like Majnun and a new divan gathers in his hands. Couplets calling poetry the work of love and desire have appeared earlier in the divan; in this one madness and poethood meet in a single word.

The fourth couplet gives the ghazal's harshest verdict: denying the people of the ruined tavern, the rinds fallen into the tavern, is the cause of being barred from the "Harîm-i Ahmed-i Muhtâr", the Prophet's sanctuary. The people of the tavern here are travellers on the path of love, and reproaching them takes one away from nearness to the Prophet. Reproaches aimed at the preacher and the zealot are frequent in Nigârî's divan; this couplet gives those reproaches a religious weight.

With the refrain "-dir bâ‘is", is the cause, the ghazal names the cause of something in every couplet and builds a chain of cause and effect. In the second couplet waiting like a dog in the tavern's corner is the cause of the cupbearer opening the door of bounty; in the third the coquetry of the drinkers is the cause of being parted from the door. Humility opens the door, coquetry closes it. The "-âne" rhyme before the refrain begins with peymâne and ends with the dîvâne discussed above; between them come tâbâne, devrâne, hicrâne, hırmâne, sûzâne and ihsâne.

Bibliography

Online sources