Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilâtün Fe‘ilün

Ey kamer-tal‘at ey rütbe-i pesi mi‘râc
Nüh felek beste meger hâs kulundur muhtâc
Hûrşîd ü mâh-ı cihân-tâb şâhân-ı feleki
Bendegân-ı ser-i kûyundı seher ü şâm bî-tâc
Pey-revin şâm u seher fırka-i ervâh belî
Çâkerin zümre-i nûrânî tarîkın minhâc
Mâye-i pertev sâye-i cihan-tâbındır
Çünki sen ‘âlem-i kevneyne sirâc-ı vehhâc
Hansı rûhânîdir ol kim sana gerden eğmez
Hansı nûrânîdir ol kim sana virmez ol bâc
Deşt-i sevdânı gezer ‘âşık-ı şeydâ doğru
Eylesen bir nazar ey kân-ı kerâmet kıykac
Hamd-i Mevlâ ki nazar-bâzlığım kâr itdi
Bağrına basdı gözüm hâk-i tarîkın bulkaç
Hâk-pây-ı seg-i ser-geşte-i kûyun ey mâh
Âh heyhâ çekerim âh olaydım ben kâc
Lutfuna nisbet ey kân-ı atâyâ deryâ
Görünür katre-i nâ-çîz ü nokta emvâc
Mahz bir ben degülüm tâlib-i ikrâm-ı derin
Sâil-i bârgehindir heme merdân u ezvâc
Merhamet tâcı diler Mîr Nigârî ey şâh
Merhamet eyle ki miskîn-i yetîmdir bî-tâc

In English

1. O moon-faced one, O you the back of whose rank is the Ascension; the nine spheres are bound to you, it seems they are your needy, chosen servants.

2. The world-illuminating sun and moon, the kings of the sky, are crownless servants at the head of your street morning and evening.

3. Morning and evening the company of spirits follows you, yes; the luminous host are your servants, your path is the straight way.

4. Your world-illuminating shade is the leaven of light; for you are the shining lamp of the two worlds. (The line has been understood approximately.)

5. What spiritual being is there that does not bow its neck to you; what luminous being is there that does not pay you tribute?

6. O mine of miracles, if you cast one sidelong glance, the love-mad lover would cross the desert of passion straight.

7. Praise be to the Lord that my devotion to the gaze bore fruit; when my eye found the dust of your path it pressed it to its breast.

8. O moon, (I long to be) the dust of the feet of the giddy dog of your street; ah, alas, I sigh, would that I were that. (The couplet has been understood approximately.)

9. O mine of bounties, beside your favour the sea appears a worthless drop, its waves a dot.

10. I am not the only one who seeks the favour of your door; all men and women are beggars at your pavilion.

11. O king, Mîr Nigârî asks for the crown of mercy; have mercy, for he is a destitute orphan, without a crown.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The cim section opens with a naat, and the naat closes in its last couplet with an orphan's prayer: "Merhamet eyle ki miskîn-i yetîmdir bî-tâc", have mercy, for he is a destitute orphan, without a crown. These words also recall the Prophet's own life; in the sura al-Duhâ it is said to him, "Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter?" The poet presents himself as an orphan taking refuge with one who knew orphanhood. According to A. Azmi Bilgin's introduction to the edition, Nigârî's father was killed when he was only six months old; this life story may have had a part in the poet's choice of the word "yetîm", but the couplet does not say so.

The first five couplets of the ghazal paint a picture of sovereignty. The nine spheres are bound to the Prophet; the sun and the moon, the kings of the sky, are crownless servants at the head of his street. Spirits and beings of light follow him, bow to him and pay him tribute. As in the divan's naat of the letter te, here too the whole universe turns around the Prophet. "Hansı" (which) in the fifth couplet is a word peculiar to Azerbaijani Turkish and is repeated twice in the same couplet.

The sixth and seventh couplets are built on the gaze. One sidelong glance from the Prophet sets the love-mad lover wandering the desert of passion on the straight path; the contrast between "kıykac", sideways, and "doğru", straight, carries the couplet. In the seventh the poet's "nazar-bâzlık", his devotion to gazing, has borne fruit: his eye has found the dust of the path and pressed it to its breast. "Bulkaç" means on finding and carries the Azerbaijani suffix "-gaç". In the ninth couplet, beside the greatness of favour the sea becomes a drop and the waves a dot. Nine of the eleven rhyme words end in a long "-âc" (mi‘râc, muhtâc, bî-tâc, minhâc, vehhâc, bâc, kâc, emvâc, ezvâc), while kıykac and bulkaç carry a short "-ac".

Bibliography

Online sources