Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilün

Dergehinde vazgel her dem dilâ feryâddan
Bu meseldür kim vefâ gelmez şeh-i bî-dâddan
Dâne-i zülfin görüp dil murgı dâm-ı zülfine
Düşdi cân kurtarmadı ol gamze-i sayyâddan
Dem mi vardur kim yolunda günde bin kez ölmeyem
Ey lebi şîrîn nem eksükdür benüm Ferhâddan
Gerçi râh-ı ‘ışkda Mecnûn durur pîrüm benüm
Kâbil-i şâkird olan üstâd olur üstâddan
Şâhiyâ endîşe-i hatt-ı lebiyle dil-berün
Rûz u şeb eksük degül gussa dil-i nâ-şâddan

In English

1. O heart, give up crying out at every moment at his court; it is a proverb that no faithfulness comes from a tyrant shah.

2. The bird of the heart saw the grain (the mole) by his lock and fell into the snare of his lock; it could not save its life from that hunter, his glance.

3. Is there a moment when I do not die a thousand times a day on your path; O you of sweet (Şîrîn) lips, in what do I fall short of Ferhâd?

4. It is true that on the path of love my master is Mecnûn; but an apprentice apt to learn becomes a master by learning from his master.

5. O Şâhî, through the thought of the down around the beloved's lip, grief is never lacking from this unhappy heart, day and night.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet ghazal is written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif (refrain word) is the ablative suffix "-dan/-den" (from), and the rhyme is the "-âd" sound in "feryâd, bî-dâd, sayyâd, Ferhâd, üstâd, nâ-şâd". In the edition the ghazal is on pages 101-102 and has no folio mark of its own. The addressee is not stated.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet ends with a proverb: "vefâ gelmez şeh-i bî-dâddan" (no faithfulness comes from a tyrant shah). Citing a saying as a proverb in a poem to bring proof is the figure called irsâl-i mesel. The advice given to the heart is that crying out at the door of a tyrant shah is in vain. The verb "vazgel" in the line means "give up"; "dilâ", with the vocative ending added, means "O heart", and the poet directs the advice at his own heart. The second couplet sets up the motif of the snare: the lock is a net (dâm), and the mole beside the lock is the grain of bait (dâne); the bird of the heart sees the grain and falls into the net, and the hunter (sayyâd) is the beloved's glance. The words dâne, dâm, murg and sayyâd form a congruence of images (tenasüp) from the field of hunting.

In the third and fourth couplets the poet measures himself against the great examples of love. The words "lebi şîrîn" (sweet-lipped) recall the name of Şîrîn, Ferhâd's beloved; thus the beloved becomes Şîrîn, and the lover someone in no way behind Ferhâd. In the fourth couplet Mecnûn is the master of the path of love; but an apt apprentice learns from his master and becomes a master himself. The couplet says that the lover may follow Mecnûn's path and reach his rank. This couplet too is built like a proverb.

Two places in the ghazal recall ghazal 84 of the divan. The redif of that ghazal, which Kılıç says was written in a state of mind awaiting forgiveness, is "eksük degül" (is not lacking), and its last couplet ends with the line "Bu meseldür her zemân kuldan hatâ eksük degül" (it is a proverb that error is never lacking from the servant). In this ghazal too the opening couplet brings a proverb with "Bu meseldür" (it is a proverb), and the closing couplet ends with the words "eksük degül". We noticed this similarity; the poem gives no sign as to who the "tyrant shah" in this ghazal is.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 101-102, ghazal no. 113 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); also p. 35 (ghazal 84, with the redif "eksük degül"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources