Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Sebebsiz ‘âşık ey yârân
Çeker mi cevr-i hicrânı
Kafesde olmasa bülbül
Terk ider mi gülistânı
Beni söyletme ey cânân
Bâğ cefâsın çeken bâğbân
Çekerse âzâr-ı hicrân
Unutmaz bâğı bûstânı
Avcı gezer avını izler
Bülbül gülistânı gözler
Tepretme yaramı sızlar
Döndürme ben bî-nevânı

In English

1. O friends, does a lover suffer the torment of separation without cause? Would the nightingale leave the rose garden if it were not in a cage?

2. O beloved, do not make me speak; the gardener who bears the toil of the garden, even if he endures the hurt of separation, does not forget the garden and the orchard.

3. The hunter roams and tracks his prey; the nightingale watches for the rose garden. Do not stir my wound, it aches; do not turn me away, poor wretch that I am.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a poem of three quatrains written in syllabic metre (hece); the lines have eight syllables. In the first quatrain the second and fourth lines rhyme on "hicrânı / gülistânı"; in the second quatrain the first three lines rhyme among themselves on "cânân, bâğbân, hicrân", in the third on "izler, gözler, sızlar", and the last line of every quatrain is tied to the sound "-ânı". This arrangement fits the structure known in folk poetry as the semai, the name given to eight-syllable koşmas; the name of the form is our identification.

The text is taken from the "Eserlerinden Örnekler" (samples of his works) section of the Nigârî entry in the Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (Dictionary of Names in Turkish Literature); the entry quotes the samples from A. Azmi Bilgin's 2003 edition of the divan. The entry gives this poem under the heading "Heceyle Yazdığı Şiirlerinden" (from his poems in syllabic metre); in Bilgin's edition it is on page 301.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The poem speaks in the plain language of folk poetry and with everyday images: the nightingale and the cage, the garden and the gardener, the hunter and his prey. In the first quatrain two questions are set side by side: does a lover endure separation without cause, would the nightingale leave the rose garden if it were not in a cage? The answer to the second question answers the first too: the nightingale does not leave the rose garden of its own will, it is the cage that separates it; and what casts the lover into separation is likewise a cause beyond his control. This arrangement, which places two judgements side by side and explains one by the other, is the folk-poetry counterpart of irsâl-i mesel (illustration by proverbial example).

In the second quatrain the gardener is an example of faithfulness: he bears the toil of the garden and does not forget it even when separated from it. In the third the hunter and the nightingale are set side by side: one pursues his prey, the other the rose. The last two lines are a direct plea: not to stir the wound and not to turn the helpless one away. It may be thought that the poem's images of exile, the cage and separation have something to do with the poet's living far from his homeland; but there is no explicit place name in the poem, and this is an interpretation. "Tepretmek" (to stir, to make bleed) is a common verb in Azerbaijani Turkish.

Historical Context

According to TEİS, Nigârî's importance in folk literature is seen mainly in the language and style of his syllabic poems, türküs and koşmas; the poet also arranged his syllabic poems alphabetically by their rhymes. Hüsameddin writes that poems of this kind were recited to special melodies among his followers; the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi also records that his koşmas are still sung collectively at gatherings today. For the poet's literary personality see Nigârî: Poet and Works.

Bibliography

Academic studies

Books

  • Parvana Bayram, "Nigârî, Seyyid Mîr Hamza", Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 2014 (updated 2020), section "Eserlerinden Örnekler". https://teis.yesevi.edu.tr/madde-detay/nigari-seyyid-mir-hamza
  • Mir Hamza Seyyid Nigârî, Divan-ı Seyyid Nigârî, ed. A. Azmi Bilgin, Istanbul: Kule İletişim Hizmetleri, 2003, p. 301 (as quoted in TEİS).

Online sources