Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ehl-i ‘ışka eydünüz gelsün tazallüm eylesün
Ol şehün dîvânı var hâlin tekellüm eylesün
Çünki dil-dâra gönül virdün mutî’ ol emrine
Şâh-ı hûbândur murâdınca tahakküm eylesün
Bu durur mezheb namâz-ı ‘ışka niyyet eyleyen
Çeşm-i cândan geh vuzû’ u geh teyemmüm eylesün
Gel gel ey serv-i revân nâz ile geşt it gülşeni
Açılup etfâl-i gül bülbül terennüm eylesün
Nâz u şîve fenninün üstâdısın sen hûblar
‘Âşıka cevr itmegi senden ta’allüm eylesün
Kanlar yut hâr-ı gamda sen gönül bülbül gibi
Yâdlarla yâr gülşende tena’’um eylesün
Zahm-ı tîg-i hecr ile Şâhî helâk olup gider
Merhem-i vasl ile dil-ber din terahhum eylesün

In English

1. Tell the people of love to come and complain of the injustice done to them; that shah holds a court, let them describe their state there.

2. Since you have given your heart to the beloved, submit to his command; he is the shah of the beauties, let him rule as he pleases.

3. This is the rite of one who makes the intention for the prayer of love: let him now perform his ablutions with the tears of the soul's eye, now perform the dry ablution (teyemmüm).

4. Come, come, O swaying cypress, stroll through the rose garden with disdain; let the children of the rose open and the nightingale sing.

5. You are the master of the art of disdain and coquetry; let the beauties learn from you how to torment the lover.

6. O heart, swallow blood like the nightingale among the thorns of grief; let the beloved enjoy delights with strangers in the rose garden.

7. Şâhî is perishing from the wound of the sword of separation; tell the beloved to take pity on him with the salve of union.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The seven-couplet ghazal is written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif (refrain word) is "eylesün" (let him do), and the rhyme words are "tazallüm, tekellüm, tahakküm, teyemmüm, terennüm, ta'allüm, tena''um, terahhum". All the rhyme words are Arabic verbal nouns derived from the same pattern (tefa''ul), and all end in "-üm/-um". Choosing eight rhymes from a single pattern gives the ghazal a regular, full sound. Kılıç lists "eylesün" among the refrains of the divan. In the edition the folio mark 43b stands at the end of the fourth couplet. The addressee is not stated.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet begins with a scene at court. "Tazallüm" means voicing the complaint of one who has suffered injustice; "dîvân" is the council in which the shah hears complaints. Lovers are called to come to the court of the shah of the beauties and describe their state. The second couplet completes this scene: whoever has given his heart must now accept the judgement. "Eydünüz" (say ye) at the beginning of the opening couplet and "din" (say ye) in the closing couplet are imperative forms of the same verb; the ghazal is framed between these two words addressed to a group. This observation is ours.

The third couplet is built with a religious vocabulary: rite (mezheb), prayer, intention, ablution (vuzû') and dry ablution (teyemmüm). Love is imagined as an act of worship; the lover now performs his ablutions with the tears of the soul's eye, now performs teyemmüm. Teyemmüm is the ablution made with earth when no water is available; one may think that in the couplet it is presented as a remedy resorted to when the tears run out; this reading is ours. In the fourth couplet rosebuds are called "etfâl-i gül" (children of the rose); when the beloved strolls in the garden these children open and the nightingale sings. This is personification.

In the fifth couplet the beloved is the master of the art of disdain and coquetry; the other beauties are to learn from him how to torment the lover. The words "yâd" (stranger) and "yâr" (beloved) in the sixth couplet differ only in their last letter and, placed side by side in the same line, form a paronomasia (cinas): while the lover swallows blood among the thorns, the beloved enjoys himself with strangers in the rose garden. The closing couplet offers the salve of union as the cure for the wound opened by the sword of separation; there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between sword, wound and salve.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 102, ghazal no. 115 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 43b); also p. 29 (refrains), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources