Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Niçe yıldur geşt ider dil derd-i hicrân illerin
Görmek olmaz mı ‘aceb gün yüzli cânân illerin
Hâk-i pâyı pes durur bu çeşm-i hûn-âlûduma
Ey sabâ getürmegil kuhl-ı Sıfâhân illerin
Haste-i ‘ışkam bulınmaz derdüme hergiz devâ
Niçeye dek geziser bu haste Yunan illerin
La’l-i nâbun hasretinden âh kim bu cân u dil
Ser-te-ser geşt eyledi cümle Bedahşân illerin
Eyle şâhâ mülk-i ‘Osmânîyi şimdengirü terk
Gel kudûmunla müşerref kıl Karaman illerin
Hasretiyle şol kadar kan agladı Şâhî yine
Eşk-i çeşmi garka virdi cümle Yunan illerin

In English

1. For many years the heart has roamed the lands of the pain of separation; is it not possible, I wonder, to see the lands of the sun-faced beloved?

2. The dust of her feet is enough for this blood-stained eye of mine; O morning breeze, do not bring me the kohl of the lands of Isfahan.

3. I am sick with love, no cure is ever found for my pain; how long will this sick one go on wandering the lands of the Greeks?

4. Ah, from longing for your pure ruby lips, this soul and heart have wandered from end to end through all the lands of Badakhshan.

5. O shah, from now on leave the Ottoman realm; come, honour the lands of Karaman with your arrival.

6. In longing for her Şâhî has again wept so much blood that the tears of his eyes have drowned all the lands of the Greeks.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The six-couplet ghazal is written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif is "illerin" (the lands of), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in "hicrân, cânân, Sıfâhân, Yunan, Bedahşân, Karaman, Yunan". The rhyme word "Yunan" is repeated in the third and the sixth couplets. Kılıç counts the redif "illerin" among the refrains of the divan. In the edition there is no folio mark within the text of this ghazal.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built like a map of lands. In every couplet the heart or the eye travels through a different country, and each country is tied to a feature of the beloved. The kohl of Isfahan is tied to the eye, the ruby of Badakhshan to the lip, and the land of the Greeks to the cure sought for pain. In the second couplet the lover does not want the famous kohl of Isfahan; the dust of the beloved's feet is the best kohl for him. In the fourth couplet longing for the la'l (red ruby) lip carries the heart as far as Badakhshan, the land of ruby mines. In the third couplet a link between "Yunan illeri" (the lands of the Greeks) and "devâ" (cure) may be intended: ancient Greece, cited in divan poetry as a source of medical knowledge, appears here as the place where the sick man wanders in search of healing; this reading is ours. In the sixth couplet the same land is flooded by the lover's tears.

Historical Context

Kılıç quotes the fifth couplet among the couplets showing that Bayezid regarded the places he went to as exile, and says that the ghazal must refer to the prince's coming to the Karaman region to fight his elder brother Selim. According to Kılıç's biographical chapter, in the spring of 1559 Bayezid came from Amasya to Ankara, reached the outskirts of Konya on 29 May and was defeated in a battle that lasted two days. In this reading the couplet "Eyle şâhâ mülk-i 'Osmânîyi şimdengirü terk / Gel kudûmunla müşerref kıl Karaman illerin" can be understood as an invitation or as a challenge. Bayezid's first tie to the sancak of Karaman, however, is older: Kılıç records that he was sent to Konya in 1546. The couplet can also be read as an invitation addressed to a shah during the prince's years as governor of Karaman; this second possibility is ours.

Kılıç cites this ghazal in the introduction under the reference "G119"; its number in the text is 120. The first of the lines quoted as "G119/3" ("Yâr agyâr ile yâr oldı diyü gam yime dil") is not in this ghazal but in the third couplet of Ghazal 118. The quotation seems to combine lines from two ghazals; the text has not been altered.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 104-105, ghazal no. 120 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); also pp. 7-8 (the sancak of Karaman), p. 12 (the battle of Konya), p. 29 (refrains), p. 41 (quotation of the third, fifth and sixth couplets under the reference "G119/3, 5-6"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources