Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe’ilâtün Fe’ilâtün Fe’ilâtün Fe’ilün

Var iken gülşen-i haddünde bu hattun çemeni
Gülsitân mihnet evi bana çemen göz dikeni
Hûblukdan dehen-i yâr su’âle gelicek
Cânı yokdur ki cevâba gele gonce-deheni
Dâsitân olalı dillerde bu ben hüsrev-i ‘ışk
Kim anar ad ile ‘âlemde şehâ kûhkeni
Servetün ser-keş olup depme yazukdur güzelüm
Hâk-i pâyuna düşüp cân u gönülden seveni
Sensin ol şâh-ı felek-mertebe kim bende-sıfat
Âsumân karşu tutar hizmetüne zer legeni
Bâde-i vaslı sun ey sâkî eger diler isen
Hâtırumdan gide fürkat gamı devrân elemi
Giderür gussa-i devrânı dili tâze kılur
Dil-rübânun nevi ey Şâhî şarâbun küheni

In English

1. While there is the meadow of this down on the rose garden of your cheek, the rose garden is to me a house of affliction, and the meadow a thorn in the eye.

2. When the beloved's mouth comes to a question of beauty, the bud-mouthed one has no courage to come forward with an answer.

3. O shah, since I, the Khusraw of love, became a legend on every tongue, who in the world speaks the name of the mountain-piercer (Ferhad)?

4. My beauty, it is a sin to rear up with your cypress (or with your wealth) and kick the one who has fallen to the dust of your feet and loves you with heart and soul.

5. You are that shah of heavenly rank, before whose service the sky holds a golden basin like a servant.

6. O cupbearer, if you wish the grief of separation and the sorrow of the age to leave my mind, offer the wine of union.

7. O Şâhî, it drives away the grief of the age and refreshes the heart: the new beloved and the old wine.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The seven-couplet ghazal is written in the "fe'ilâtün fe'ilâtün fe'ilâtün fe'ilün" pattern. The rhyme is the "-en" sound in the words "çemen, diken, dehen, kûhken, seven, legen, kühen" together with the suffix "-i" added to it. The word "elemi" in the sixth couplet does not fit this rhyme; the edition gives it so, and the text has not been altered. In the edition the folio mark [59b] stands after the opening couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is a comparison of gardens. The beloved's cheek is a rose garden, and the fine down newly appearing on the cheek (hat) is the meadow of this garden. While this garden exists, the real rose garden seems to the lover a house of affliction, and the real meadow turns into a thorn in the eye. The second couplet sets the mouth in competition with the bud. If a question of beauty were asked, the bud would not dare to answer before the beloved's mouth; the words "gonca-dehen" (bud-mouthed) and "cânı yokdur" (has no courage) bring the bud to life like a person.

The third couplet rests on the story of Khusraw and Şirin. In the story the Persian king Khusraw (Hüsrev) and the mountain-piercing Ferhad are Şirin's two lovers. The poet calls himself "hüsrev-i 'ışk" (the Khusraw of love) and says that since his own love became a legend no one speaks of the "kûhken" (mountain-piercer, that is, Ferhad). That a prince likens himself to Khusraw, the king in love, is striking; this resemblance is our own observation. The word "servetün" in the fourth couplet can be read in two ways: "servet" (wealth, power) or "serv" (cypress), which describes the beloved's stature. We have shown both readings in the rendering.

In the fifth couplet the sun is a golden basin that the sky holds out in service. Holding the basin while hands are washed is a familiar task of palace service; the sky performs this service like a servant. The closing couplet is built like a proverb and sets the new against the old: what drives away the grief of the age is the new beloved and the old wine. This contrast between "nev" (new) and "kühen" (old) gives the couplet the air of a pithy saying.

Historical Context

Kılıç does not mention this ghazal. The addresses "şehâ" (O shah) in the third couplet and "şâh-ı felek-mertebe" (shah of heavenly rank) in the fifth speak of the beloved as a ruler. Whether this praise is directed at a ruler cannot be understood from the text; the edition does not state the addressee of the ghazal or the time it 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. 123, ghazal no. 161 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 59b); also p. 29 (metres), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources