Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef’ûlü Mefâ’îlün Mef’ûlü Mefâ’îlün

Andukca dem-i hecrün akar gözümün yaşı
Devlet evbâşun k’ola başı işigün taşı
Ey derd-i dile dermân sensüz dil-i mahzûnun
Gözi yaşıdur âbı hecrün gamıdur aşı
Gönlümi kim eglerdi bu râh-ı mahabbetde
Olmasa gam u mihnet anun iki yoldaşı
El virmiş iken vuslat Şâhî kadem-i yâre
Sürsem bârî toyunca bu çeşm-i güher-pâşı

In English

1. Whenever I recall the time of separation the tears of my eyes flow; happy is he whose head rests on the stone of your threshold. The beginning of the second line is obscure; the rendering is an interpretation.

2. O cure of the heart's pain, without you the water of the sorrowful heart is the tears of the eye, and its food the grief of separation.

3. Who would have kept my heart occupied on this road of love, had grief and affliction not been its two travelling companions?

4. Şâhî, since union has given me a chance at the beloved's foot, let me at least rub this pearl-scattering eye of mine (on that foot) to my heart's content.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The four-couplet ghazal is written in the "mef'ûlü mefâ'îlün mef'ûlü mefâ'îlün" pattern. According to Kılıç's list of metres, it is one of the two Turkish ghazals in the divan written in this pattern. The pattern divides in the middle into two equal halves and gives the lines a measured, balanced gait. The rhyme is the "-aşı" sound in the words "yaşı, taşı, aşı, yoldaşı, güher-pâşı". According to Kılıç's footnote, in the manuscript a space large enough for one couplet has been left blank after the third couplet of this ghazal. That the ghazal consists of four couplets may be connected with this blank; whether a couplet is missing is unknown. In the edition there is no folio mark within the text of this ghazal.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first line of the opening couplet is clear: whenever separation is recalled, tears flow. The second line, however, is obscure. The word "devlet" means fortune and happiness; the following word "evbâşun" means "of the rabble" and hardly fits the sense of the couplet. We have understood the line as the good fortune of one whose head rests on the stone at the beloved's threshold, that is, who lies at her door. In divan poetry the lover's laying his head on the beloved's threshold is a familiar picture of becoming a servant at her door. There is no other manuscript to confirm the reading of the word in the edition.

The second couplet brings together water and food, that is, drink and nourishment: the water of the heart separated from the beloved is tears, and its food is grief. This couplet describes in plain language a state in which even the most basic needs of life are met with the pain of separation. In the third couplet grief and affliction are brought to life as two travelling companions who keep the heart occupied on the road of love; pain ceases here to be a burden and turns into companionship.

In the closing couplet the idiom "el virmek" (literally, to give a hand) means for an opportunity to arise. Union has given a hand at the beloved's foot; the lover wishes to make use of this chance and rub his pearl-scattering eye, that is, his tear-shedding eye, on that foot to his heart's content. The word "toyunca" means "until satisfied". The congruence of images (tenasüp) between hand and foot also lets the literal meaning of the idiom be felt. To whom and when the ghazal was written is unknown.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 124, ghazal no. 163 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); footnote 115 (the blank after the third couplet); also p. 29 (list of metres), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources