Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Günlesem günden n'ola ey şemʿ-i bezm-ârâ seni
Gökde isterken virüpdür yirde Ḥaḳ baña seni

In English

1. O candle that adorns the gathering, what wonder if I grudge you to the sun and guard you from it; while I sought you in the sky, God gave you to me on earth.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Only this opening couplet (matla) of the ghazal (gazel) survives. Latîfî records it with the words "bu matla' anuñdur", this matla is his, after saying that in the place of the pen name the pasha sometimes used his own name and sometimes Remzî. Both lines have the redif (refrain word) "seni"; the sound "â" in the last syllables of "bezm-ârâ" and "baña" forms the rhyme. Hüsameddin quotes the same matla from Latîfî and adds a note on the word "günlesem": "it means if I were to guard".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

At the core of the couplet is the word "gün". Gün is the sun, and it is also the root of the verb "günlemek"; in old Turkish günlemek was used in the sense of being jealous, of keeping someone from others. The poet says that it is no wonder if he is jealous of the sun on his beloved's account, and gives his reason in the second line: while he was seeking her in the sky, where the moon and the sun are, God gave her to him on earth. The beloved is a light that belongs to the heavens, and her having come down to earth breeds the fear that the lights of the sky will want her back. Even the sun looking at the beloved disturbs the poet.

Calling the beloved "şem'-i bezm-ârâ", the candle that lights the gathering, carries this image of light into the company of a social gathering. A congruence of images (tenasüp) is built among candle, sun, sky and earth, and the contrast between sky and earth carries the second line. Hüsameddin's gloss "guard" brings forward the protective side of the meaning, the sense of jealousy its emotional side; the two meanings work together in the couplet.

Historical Context

There is no record of to whom or on what occasion the matla was composed. Information on Remzî's life and birthplace is gathered in the article Remzî (Pîrî Mehmed Pasha).

Bibliography

Online sources