Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe’ilâtün Fe’ilâtün Fe’ilâtün Fe’ilün

Himmet eyle varayın yine cemâlün göreyin
Fürkat öldürmeden ayaguna yüzüm süreyin
El gögüsde vü etek belde idüp subh u mesâ
Hizmetünde ko beni bendelerünle turayın
İrişüp vuslatuna nâme-i hecr ü elemi
Himmet it vaktidür ey şâh-ı cihânum düreyin
Ölmeden vuslat-ı cân-bahşuna ger irer isem
Derdüme ‘Îsâ lebünden niye emsem sorayın
Hâl-i Şâhîye terahhum idüp ey kân-ı cefâ
Dimedün anı murâdına yazık irgüreyin

In English

1. Be gracious, so that I may go once again and see the beauty of your face; before separation kills me, let me rub my face at your feet.

2. Let me stand in your service morning and evening with your other servants, hand on breast and skirt tucked into my belt.

3. Let me attain union with you and roll up and close the letter of separation and sorrow; be gracious, now is the time, O shah of my world.

4. If I attain your life-giving union before I die, let me ask why I should not draw a cure for my pain from your lip, healing as the breath of Jesus.

5. O mine of cruelty, you took no pity on Şâhî's state and did not say, "What a pity, let me bring him to his wish."

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet ghazal is written in the "fe'ilâtün fe'ilâtün fe'ilâtün fe'ilün" pattern. The redif (refrain word) is the first person singular ending of the optative, "-eyin/-ayın" (let me ...), and the rhyme is the "r" sound at the end of the verbs "gör, sür, tur, dür, sor, irgür". This rhyme, built on verb roots and stems, turns every couplet of the ghazal into a wish: let me see, let me rub, let me stand, let me roll up, let me ask. In the edition the ghazal is on pages 98-99 and has no folio mark of its own.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is like a petition from beginning to end. In the opening couplet the poet wishes to go before he dies, to see the beloved's face and to rub his face at his feet. The second couplet draws a court scene: "el gögüsde vü etek belde" (hand on breast, skirt tucked into the belt) is the posture of a servant standing ready for service. The lover wishes to stand in the beloved's presence together with his other servants. In the third couplet separation is a letter, which is to be rolled up and closed with union; the verb "dürmek" (to roll up, to fold) is an expression that suits a letter that has been read and finished with.

The fourth couplet is obscure. The beloved's lip is likened to the breath of the Prophet Jesus, who raised the dead, and is called "'Îsâ leb" (Jesus-lipped). The words "niye emsem sorayın" can be read in two ways, "let me ask why I should not suck" or "let me ask what I should suck"; in both readings the lover seeks a cure for his pain in the beloved's lip. In the closing couplet the beloved is addressed as "kân-ı cefâ" (mine of cruelty), and he is expected to bring Şâhî to his wish.

Historical Context

Kılıç does not mention this ghazal. Yet almost all the wishes in the ghazal also appear in the poems that Kılıç believes Bayezid addressed to his father. According to Kılıç, the wish to see the father and the desire to serve him stand out in these poems. The line "Koyup el sînede karşunda hizmet bana 'izzetdür" (to stand before you with hand on breast in service is an honour to me) from murabba 2, which he quotes, is almost the same as the scene of service with hand on breast in the second couplet of this ghazal. The refrain of murabba 3 ("Murâdum hâk-i pâyünde hemân hizmetde olmakdur", my wish is only to be in service at the dust of your feet) and the line in its last stanza, "Bu Şâhî nâ-murâdı pâdişâhum ber-murâd eyle" (my padishah, bring this Şâhî who has not attained his wish to his wish), also correspond to the wish to rub his face at the feet in the opening couplet and to be brought to his wish in the closing couplet of this ghazal. In a letter quoted by Kılıç, Bayezid thanks his father on being granted the sanjak of Kütahya with the words "Ben kulunuzu murâdıma irgürdünüz" (you have brought this servant of yours to his wish); the words "murâdına irgüreyin" in the closing couplet of the ghazal are in the same language as that letter. The address "şâh-ı cihân" (shah of the world) in the third couplet also suits a ruler. These similarities suggest that the ghazal may have been directed to the father; this is our reading, and the poem contains no name or date.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 98-99, ghazal no. 107 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); also p. 8 (Bayezid's Kütahya letter), p. 32 (fourth stanza of murabba 2) and pp. 33-34 (the wish to see his father, murabba 3), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources