Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Olmaya key reh-zen saçunı yüzden ırasın
Yâ gâyet ile yüz vire başdan çıkarasın
Rahm eyleyüben hâlüne yüz virmeye dil-ber
Vây ana ki yüzün aluna ala viresin
Sa’y eyle dil-i dil-bere gir vasl dilersen
Erlük o turur rızkunı taşdan çıkarasın
Eşkümle bu çeşmüm döneli bahr-i muhîte
Kimse ne kenârın görebildi ne karasın
Yâ Rab göreli gamzesin el çekdi lebinden
Şâhî görebilmez mi saçın yüzi karasın
Her şâh-ı cihân bendesinün çoklugın ister
Sen kulunı gamzenle niçün böyle kırasın

In English

1. May you not part your highwayman hair from your face; or else may you give it too much face and lead it astray.

2. The charmer has no pity on his state and shows him no favour; woe to the one who would offer something red in return for the redness of your face.

3. If you want union, strive, enter the charmer's heart; manliness is to draw your daily bread out of stone.

4. Ever since this eye of mine turned into an ocean with my tears, no one has been able to see either its shore or its land.

5. O Lord, since he saw her glance he has withdrawn his hand from her lip; can Şâhî not see the black of her hair upon her face?

6. Every shah of the world wishes his servants to be many; why then would you break your servant like this with your glance?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The six-couplet ghazal is written in the "mef'ûlü mefâ'îlü mefâ'îlü fe'ûlün" pattern. At the end of every couplet there is the suffix "-asın/-esin"; the rhyme is sought in the syllables before this suffix: "ırasın, çıkarasın, viresin, çıkarasın, karasın, karasın, kırasın". "Çıkarasın" is repeated in the first and third couplets, "karasın" in the fourth and fifth. "Viresin" in the second couplet does not fit this "-ra-" pattern and breaks the rhyme. In the edition there is no folio mark within the text of this ghazal.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The most noteworthy point of the ghazal is the word "kara" in the fourth and fifth couplets. In the fourth couplet neither the shore nor the "kara" (land, dry ground) of the eye that has turned into an ocean of tears can be seen. In the fifth couplet "saçın yüzi karası" is the black hair falling on the beloved's face. That the same word stands in the rhyme position meaning "dry land" in one couplet and "black" in the other is a perfect pun (tam cinas). The word "kenâr" in the fourth couplet also joins this play with its senses of both shore and embrace.

The opening couplet plays with the words "yüz" (face) and "baş" (head). The hair is imagined as a "reh-zen" (highwayman); the poet says either that it should not leave the face, or that it should be "given face" (indulged) and "led astray" (literally, taken out of the head). The idioms "yüz vermek" and "baştan çıkarmak" carry a double sense that also suggests the hair's reaching from the face to the head. The second line of the second couplet is obscure. In the phrase "yüzün aluna ala viresin" a play between "al" (red) and the verb "almak" (to take) can be sensed; the line can be understood as pity for the one who would try to give something in return for the beloved's red cheek. This reading is ours and is not certain.

The third couplet has the air of a proverb: "to draw one's daily bread out of stone" means to earn one's living by toil and courage. The poet applies this idiom to the effort to be spent for union. The last couplet draws a comparison from the relation between ruler and servant: while every shah wants his servants to be many, the beloved is breaking her own servant with her glance. "Kırmak" here carries both the sense of killing and of breaking the heart. Considering that the relation of shah and servant is often used for the beloved in divan poetry, there is no sign that the couplet is directed at a particular ruler.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 107, ghazal no. 126 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources