Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilâtün fâ‘ilün (remel)

‘Işkveş ey dil hemîşe zâr u giryân ol yüri
Bezm-i gamda her nefes ney gibi nâlân ol yüri
Gam degül bülbül gibi ‘uşşâkuñ aglarsa hezâr
Tek cihân bâgında sen gül gibi handân ol yüri
Zerreveş şevküñle çerh ursun turup ‘âşıklaruñ
Sen sipihr-i hüsnde hurşîd-i tâbân ol yüri
Çünki hâtem sendedür devrân hevâdâruñ olup
Sen hemân her kişvere hanum Süleymân ol yüri
Egme baş agyâra it ‘uşşâka istignâ‿‘arzuñı
Tek cihân bâgında sen serv-i hırâmân ol yüri
Çün ‘azîz-i Mısr-ı hüsn olduñ hemân şimden girü
Var Yûsuf gibi ol illerde sultân ol yüri
Olma her hâruñ Refîki gül yüzine ‘âlemüñ
Gonçeler gibi açıl tek pâk-dâmân ol yüri

In English

1. O heart, be ever wailing and weeping like love itself; in the gathering of grief lament like the reed flute with every breath, and so go on.

2. It is no sorrow if your lovers weep like nightingales by the thousand (“hezâr”: a thousand, and nightingale); only you be smiling like a rose in the garden of the world.

3. Let your lovers rise and whirl like motes with longing for you; you be the shining sun in the sky of beauty.

4. Since the seal is yours and fortune has become your eager servant, my khan, go and be a Solomon to every land.

5. Do not bow your head to the rivals; show your disdain to the lovers (in the Pervâne: give up your disdain); only be a swaying cypress in the garden of the world.

6. Since you have become the Aziz of the Egypt of beauty, from now on go like Joseph and be sultan in those lands.

7. Refîkî says: O rose-faced one of the world, do not belong to every thorn; open like the buds, only keep your skirt pure.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Prince Korkut’s Line

The first couplet of the ghazal repeats a line of a model almost word for word. Pervâne Bey’s collection gives this poem among the nazires to the ghazal of Prince Korkut, named in the heading “Sulṭān Ḳorḳud bin Sulṭān Bāyezīd Ḫān”, the poet who used the pen name Harîmî, opening “‘Işḳa uyduñ ey göñül ney gibi nālān ol yüri / Zülf-i dil-ber gibi var ḥāl-i perīşān ol yüri”. The phrase “ney gibi nâlân ol yüri” in Refîkî’s opening couplet is the same as the end of Korkut’s first line. The Mecma‘u’n-Nezâ’ir, however, places the ghazal among the replies to the ghazal of Kemalpaşazâde, “Gel göñül bâgına gir serv-i hırâmân ol yüri”. The shared phrase strengthens the Pervâne’s record; but some of the poems with the redif “ol yüri” may have been written in the same circle as answers to one another. Korkut’s poems are gathered on the site under their own heading: Harîmî (Prince Korkut).

“Ol Yüri”

The redif “ol yüri” is a command and an encouragement meaning “be so and go on”. The first couplet of the ghazal turns this command on the lover’s heart, the other couplets on the beloved: while the lovers weep, let him laugh like a rose; while the motes whirl, let him be the sun; let him rule every land with Solomon’s seal; let him march like Joseph to a sultan’s throne in Egypt. The word “hezâr” in the second couplet means both a thousand and nightingale; thousands of lovers weep like nightingales. In couplet four the beloved is addressed as “hanum”, my khan, my sovereign. The last couplet sets the pen name inside an address; the counsel “do not belong to every thorn” asks the beloved not to open himself to the rivals but to keep his skirt pure. In the fifth couplet the Mecma‘ text reads “istignâ ‘arzuñı” (show your disdain), the Pervâne “istiġnāyı ḳo” (give up disdain); the two readings are the reverse of each other.

Pervâne Bey’s copy gives the whole ghazal except the couplets of the sun and of Joseph. In the fourth couplet the Pervâne reads “Çünki cānum sendedür”; the Mecma‘’s “hâtem” (seal) is more consistent, since it prepares the image of Solomon.

Bibliography

Online sources