Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Zer gibi mülâyim-dil ü sîmîn-bedensin
Ey kân-ı vefâ böyle cefâkâr nedensin
Hûbân-ı dil-âşûb-ı cihân içre kamudan
Bu ‘ârız-ı gülgûn ile mahbûb u hasensin
Ey nev-bün-i gül sahn-ı gülistân-ı çemende
Bir serv-kad ü lâle-had ü gonce-dehensin
Ayva gibi ey vây ile benzümi sarardan
Ey piste-dehen işte şu sen sîb-i zekansın
Zencîre çeken gerden-i Şâhîyi keş-â-keş
Bu turre-i tarrâr-ı dil-âvîz ile sensin

In English

1. You are soft-hearted like gold and silver-bodied; O mine of faithfulness, why are you so cruel?

2. Among all the heart-disturbing beauties of the world, it is you who, with this rose-coloured cheek, are the beloved and the fair one.

3. O fresh rose sapling of the rose garden in the meadow, you are cypress-statured, tulip-cheeked and rosebud-mouthed.

4. O pistachio-mouthed one, the one who makes my face turn yellow like a quince with sighs and moans, here, it is you, the apple-chinned one.

5. The one who drags Şâhî's neck into the chain, pulling and pulling, with this heart-catching, thieving lock of hair, is you.

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 the second person singular suffix "-sin/-sın" (you are), and the rhyme is the final "n" sound of the words "beden, neden, hasen, dehen, zekan, sen" and the vowel before it. "Zekan" (chin) in the fourth couplet is written with "a" in transliteration; the rhyme holds in sound with the others. In the edition the folio mark 44a stands at the end of the last line. The addressee is not stated.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is a portrait of beauty, and each couplet describes the beloved through a different material. The opening couplet is built from metals: there is a congruence of images (tenasüp) between "zer" (gold), "sîm" (silver) and "kân" (mine). Gold being a soft metal is the basis for calling the beloved "mülâyim" (soft) of heart; silver describes the white skin. In the second line "kân-ı vefâ" (mine of faithfulness) and "cefâkâr" (tormenting) face each other; "vefâ" and "cefâ" differ only in their first letter and form a paronomasia (cinas). The poet asks why the beloved, though a mine of faithfulness, is cruel.

The third couplet draws on the garden, the fourth on fruits. The lover's face has turned yellow like a quince from sighing and moaning; the beloved's mouth is small like a pistachio (piste), and his chin round like an apple (sîb). Naming quince, pistachio and apple together creates a congruence of images built on the names of fruits. The contrast of colour and shape between the lover's yellow face and the beloved's apple chin is also striking.

In the closing couplet the beloved's lock of hair becomes a chain and binds Şâhî's neck "keş-â-keş" (pulling and pulling). The phrase "turre-i tarrâr" (thieving, pickpocket lock) is a metaphor likening the hair that steals hearts to a thief. The same phrase also occurs in ghazal 11, which Kılıç quotes in his introduction as an example of the poems on love and beauty: "Baş açup meydâna girdi turre-i tarrâr mest" (the thieving lock, drunk, has entered the field bareheaded). The words chain, neck and lock rest on the conception in divan poetry of the beloved's hair as a bond that ties the lover. The language of the ghazal, addressing the beloved as "you" from beginning to end, gives the poem the air of direct speech.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 102-103, ghazal no. 116 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 44a); also p. 40 (ghazal 11), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources