Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef’ûlü Mefâ’îlü Mefâ’îlü Fe’ûlün

Bir âh ideyin sîne-i sûzân oda yansun
Bagrum göyinüp dil tutuşup cân oda yansun
Vaslun durur ey dost hemîn dünyede maksûd
Sensüz n’ideyin gerdiş-i gerdân oda yansun
Bülbül gibi ey ruhları gül hâr-ı belâda
Hecrün ile niçe bir dil-i nâlân oda yansun
Ya’kûb-veş ey Yûsuf-ı gül-çihre cigerden
Bir âh ideyin külbe-i ahzân oda yansun
Âhum alevi bana yeter künc-i belâda
Şâhî n’ideyin şem’-i şebistân oda yansun

In English

1. Let me heave a sigh, so that my burning breast may burn in fire; let my heart be scorched, my spirit catch fire, my soul burn in fire.

2. O friend, the only aim in this world is union with you; without you what am I to do, let the ever-turning sky burn in fire.

3. O you whose cheeks are roses, how long must the heart moan like the nightingale among the thorns of calamity in separation from you; let it burn in fire.

4. O rose-faced Joseph, let me heave a sigh from the depths of my liver like Jacob, so that the hut of sorrows may burn in fire.

5. In the corner of calamity the flame of my sighs is enough for me; Şâhî, what am I to do, let the candle of the night chamber burn in fire.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet ghazal is written in the "mef'ûlü mefâ'îlü mefâ'îlü fe'ûlün" pattern. The redif (refrain word) is "oda yansun" (let it burn in fire), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in "sûzân, cân, gerdân, nâlân, ahzân, şebistân". Kılıç lists "oda yansun" among the refrains of the divan. In the edition the folio mark 42a stands at the end of the fourth couplet. The addressee is not stated.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

"Od" is Old Turkish for fire. The redif "oda yansun" reads both as a wish and as a curse, and in each couplet it sets something else on fire: breast and soul, the turning sky, the moaning heart, the hut of sorrows, and finally the candle of the night gathering. In this way the ghazal tells step by step of a blaze spreading from the lover's sigh. In the opening couplet the words "sîne-i sûzân" (burning breast), "bagrum göyinüp" (my heart scorched) and "dil tutuşup" (the spirit catching fire) build a congruence of images (tenasüp) that lists the degrees of burning. In the second couplet "gerdiş-i gerdân" (the turning of the turning one) expresses the endless revolution of the sky with two words from the same root; left without the beloved, the lover wishes the sky too to burn.

The third couplet uses the rose and nightingale motif together with the thorn: the heart parted from the rose-cheeked beloved is the nightingale moaning among the thorns of calamity. The fourth couplet alludes to the story of the Prophets Jacob and Joseph. The beloved is rose-faced Joseph, and the lover is Jacob weeping at separation from his son; "külbe-i ahzân" (the hut of sorrows) is the name of the house in which Jacob mourned Joseph. Şâhî uses the same image as "hâne-i ahzân" in the opening couplet of ghazal 96. The closing couplet ends with poetic aetiology (hüsn-i ta'lîl): the flame of the lover's sigh is enough to light his corner of calamity, and there is no longer any need for the candle of the night chamber; so that candle may burn as well. Since a candle is something that burns in any case, the words "şem'-i şebistân oda yansun" create a subtle play between the redif and the candle. The ghazal is an intense example of the theme of separation and fire common in the divan; when Kılıç lists the main themes of Şâhî's poetry, he names the word "âteş" (fire) among them.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 100-101, ghazal no. 111 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 42a); also p. 29 (refrains) and p. 31 (main theme of the divan), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources