Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün

Ölürsem ben n’ola hecrünle ‘ömrün pâydâr olsun
Hemân kabrümde mihrün tek benümle gam-güsâr olsun
Hemân dil gamze-i kattâle döymez yohsa gayrıdan
Dil-âverdür çevirmez yüz gerekse Zü’l-fekâr olsun
Ser-i zülfün gibi la’l-i lebünden bûse almaga
Burup boynın dil-i miskîn niçe bir intizâr olsun
Ser-i kûyunda seng-i ta’ne tutdı dün beni haylî
Göreyin ol rakîb-i rû-siyâhı seng-sâr olsun
Kadem-rencîde kıl öldükde ey rûh-ı revânum gel
Mezârı Şâhînün aks-i ruhunla lâlezâr olsun

In English

1. What if I die of your absence, as long as your life endures; only let your love, like the sun, keep me company in my grave.

2. The heart only cannot have enough of your killing glance, otherwise it fears nothing else; it is brave, and would not turn its face even if Zülfikâr were raised against it.

3. To take a kiss from your ruby lip, how long must the wretched heart wait, bending its neck like the tip of your locks?

4. Yesterday in your street they pelted me hard with the stones of reproach; may I see that black-faced rival stoned.

5. O my flowing soul, take the trouble to come when I die; let Şâhî's grave turn into a tulip garden with the reflection of your cheek.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet ghazal is written in the "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün" pattern. The redif is "olsun" (let it be), and the rhyme is the "-âr" sound in "pâydâr, gam-güsâr, Zü'l-fekâr, intizâr, seng-sâr, lâlezâr". Kılıç counts "olsun" among the refrains used in two ghazals of the divan. In the edition there is no folio mark within the text of this ghazal.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with death and closes with the grave. In the opening couplet the lover wishes that the beloved's life be long even if he himself dies of separation; this is a known prayer said in divan poetry for the beloved and for the great. In the same couplet the word "mihr" means both love and the sun. That the beloved's love should keep the lover company like the sun in the darkness of the grave is a double entendre (tevriye) that works with both senses of the word at once. In the last couplet the beloved is called to the grave, and the grave is asked to turn into a tulip garden with the reflection of her cheek. The link of colour between the red cheek and the tulip turns death into an image of spring.

The second couplet tells of the heart's courage. Zülfikâr is known as the sword of Ali and is the symbol of the invincible sword in divan poetry. The heart is brave enough not to turn its face even if Zülfikâr is raised against it; the only weapon that defeats it is the beloved's "kattâl" (killing) glance. In the third couplet a comparison is drawn between the curling tip of the locks and the lover's bent neck; to wait with a bent neck is an idiom for helpless waiting.

The fourth couplet is a couplet of retaliation. "Seng-i ta'ne" (stones of reproach) and "seng-sâr" (stoned) are built on the same word "seng" (stone). The rival who pelts the lover with stones of words in the beloved's street is himself wished to be stoned; the attribute "rû-siyâh" (black-faced) expresses shame and guilt together. The anger in this couplet departs from the air of submission in the rest of the ghazal and gives the poem movement.

There is no sign in the ghazal of the addressee's identity. A voice awaiting death that wishes the beloved a long life matches the themes of separation and longing that Kılıç brings to the fore in Şâhî's poems; but the edition offers no ground for tying the ghazal to a particular event.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 105-106, ghazal no. 123 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); also p. 29 (refrains), p. 31 (themes of separation and longing), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources