Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Cân u dilden olmışam bir dil-berün dîvânesi
Kim münevverdür ruhı şevkiyle gönlüm hânesi
La’l-i nâbun yâdına her dem ki sohbet eylesem
Düşmez elden sen perîsüz destümün peymânesi
Gördiler âsâr-ı ‘ışkun rûy-ı zerdümde benüm
Didiler bu mübtelânun kim ola cânânesi
Âfitâbum tâ ki kıldun gün gibi ‘arz-ı cemâl
Rûşen oldı gönlümün başdan başa kâşânesi
Tutuşup nâr-ı ruhunda bâl ü per yaksam n’ola
Ben o şem’-i nûr-bahşun olmışam pervânesi
Bir ‘aceb zencîr imiş zülfün nigârâ kim ana
‘Âlemün gerden sunar dîvâne vü ferzânesi

In English

1. With heart and soul I have become the madman of a heart-ravisher; through longing for her cheek the house of my heart is bright.

2. Whenever I converse in memory of your lip of pure ruby, O fairy, without you the cup never falls from my hand.

3. They saw the traces of your love on my yellowed face; they said, "Who might the beloved of this captive be?"

4. O my sun, ever since you displayed your beauty like the sun, the mansion of my heart has been lit from end to end.

5. Is it any wonder if I catch fire in the flame of your cheek and burn my wings? I have become the moth of that light-bestowing candle.

6. O beauty, what a strange chain your locks have turned out to be, for both the madman and the wise man of the world stretch out their necks to it.

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 rhyme is the "-âne" sound in the words "dîvâne, hâne, peymâne, cânâne, kâşâne, pervâne, ferzâne"; the possessive suffix "-si" stands in the place of the redif (refrain). In the text of the divan there is no pen name (mahlas). In the edition the folio mark [59a] stands after the fifth couplet.

According to Kılıç's footnote, the ghazal is a nazire (response poem) to Zihnî's ghazal whose opening couplet is "'Işk bir gencînedür gönlüm anun vîrânesi / Derd bir câm-ı İlâhîdür benem mestânesi" (Love is a treasure, my heart is its ruin; pain is a divine cup, I am the one drunk on it). A nazire is a reply written to another poet's poem in the same metre and rhyme. Kılıç also gives the somewhat different form of the ghazal in the Mecmû'atü'n-nezâ'ir and cites as its reference the edition of the Pervâne Bey Mecmuası. In the text of the anthology the second couplet has "eylerem" instead of "eylesem", and the third couplet "ayân" instead of "benüm". The fifth and sixth couplets of the divan are absent from the anthology; in their place stands the couplet "'Işkunı men' eyleme Şâhîden ol yâre didüm / Kim cihânun girmez oldı gûşuna efsânesi" (I told that beloved, do not forbid Şâhî your love, for the tale of the world no longer enters his ear). Thus the closing couplet with the pen name has been preserved only in the anthology.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal brings together the images of love connected with madness and with light. In the opening couplet the lover has become the madman of a heart-ravisher, and the house of his heart is lit by her cheek. In the fourth couplet the same thought is repeated with the comparison of the sun; in the fifth the cheek is a candle and the lover its moth. The phrase "sen perîsüz" in the second couplet is read as "O fairy, without you": when the beloved is absent, the cup does not fall from the lover's hand. In the third couplet the yellowed face is the sign of love that cannot be hidden. The last couplet sets up a contrast between "dîvâne" (mad) and "ferzâne" (wise) and returns to the mad heart of the opening couplet: the locks are a chain that binds the wise and the mad alike by the neck.

Historical Context

The Pervâne Bey Mecmuası is the most voluminous anthology of nazires, compiled in 968 (1560-61) by Pervâne b. Abdullah, one of the palace servants. At that date Bayezid was in Iran. When and by what route the ghazal entered the anthology is unknown. The identity of Zihnî and the date of the nazire are likewise not stated in the edition.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 122, ghazal no. 159 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 59a); footnote 114 (the nazire to Zihnî and its form in the Mecmû'atü'n-nezâ'ir); also p. 13 (refuge in Iran), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.
  • Ömer Zülfe, "Pervâne Bey Mecmuası", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 34, Istanbul 2007, pp. 244-245. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/pervane-bey-mecmuasi

Online sources