Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ferah-şâdem ki ol gül-çihreden bûy-ı vefâ geldi
Kedûret gitdi gönlümden bi-hamdi’llâh safâ geldi
Meger peygam-ı dil-ber irecekmiş câna zâhirde
Düşümde dün gice sem’-i dile bir hoş sadâ geldi
Dimiş ol şâh-ı kâm-bahşum ben anı ber-murâd idem
Sevindüm bu sözi anun be-gâyet dil-küşâ geldi
Bu gün yarın kaçan irem diyü gam yime maksûda
Tahammül eyle göz yumup açınca işte hâ geldi
Dil-i Şâhîye rahm idüp n’ola mihr ü vefâ kılsa
Oran oldı ol âfetden yeter cevr ü cefâ geldi

In English

1. I am glad and joyful that the scent of faithfulness has come from that rose-faced one; sorrow has left my heart, praise be to God, delight has come.

2. It seems that news of the beloved was to reach the soul openly; last night in my dream a pleasant voice came to the ear of the heart.

3. That shah of mine who grants desires has said, "Let me bring him to his wish"; I rejoiced, and this word of his came to me as utterly heart-gladdening.

4. (O heart,) do not grieve, saying, "Today or tomorrow, when shall I reach my goal?"; be patient, in the twinkling of an eye, look, it has come.

5. What if she took pity on Şâhî's heart and showed love and faithfulness? The measure is full; enough cruelty and torment have come from that calamity.

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 (refrain) is "geldi" (has come), and the rhyme is the "-â" sound in the words "vefâ, safâ, sadâ, dil-küşâ, hâ, cefâ". Kılıç counts "geldi" among the refrains of the divan. In the fourth couplet "hâ", standing in the rhyme position, is an interjection meaning "look, there"; this word taken from spoken language gives the couplet a lively turn of speech. In the edition the folio mark [57b] stands after the second couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with a joy rarely seen in Şâhî's divan. The scent of faithfulness has come from the beloved, sorrow has gone, and delight has come in its place. The contrast between "gitdi" (has gone) and "geldi" (has come) binds the two lines of the opening couplet together. In the second couplet the glad tidings arrive by way of a dream: the lover heard a pleasant voice in his dream last night and takes it as a sign of the news to come from the beloved. In the third couplet the content of the news is learned. The beloved is called here "şâh-ı kâm-bahş", that is, the shah who grants desires, and is reported to have said "Ben anı ber-murâd idem" (let me bring him to his wish).

In the fourth couplet the poet gives counsel to his own heart: it should not grieve over when it will reach its goal, but be patient; the wish will come in the twinkling of an eye. The closing couplet, however, turns from joy back to complaint. The phrase "oran oldı" can be read as "the measure is full, it is enough"; the lover says that he has suffered enough cruelty from that calamity and now expects love and faithfulness. Thus the ghazal remains between glad tidings that have come and a union not yet fulfilled.

Historical Context

Kılıç does not mention this ghazal among the poems addressed to the father. Yet the words of a desire-granting shah, "let me bring him to his wish", recall two documents quoted by Kılıç. When the sanjak of Kütahya was given to him, Bayezid thanked his father in a letter with the words "Ben kulunuzu murâdıma irgürdünüz" (you have brought your servant to his wish). In the third murabba, too, he awaits a "beşâret-nâme" (letter of glad tidings) from his father, saying "Bu Şâhî nâ-murâdı pâdişâhum ber-murâd eyle" (my padishah, grant this disappointed Şâhî his wish). That the glad tidings in the ghazal could be such news expected from a ruler is our own reading; the edition does not state when the ghazal was written.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 120, ghazal no. 155 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 57b); also p. 8 (the letter written when Kütahya was granted), p. 29 (refrains) and p. 34 (Mu.3 and the "beşâret-nâme"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources