Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilün

Kâkülün fikriyle muhteldür mizâc
Zülf-i zencîrünle la’lündür ilâc
‘Ârızunda zâhir olaldan hatun
Rûm ilinde miske kalmadı revâc
Tîr-i âhum gönlüne kâr itmedi
Katı sengîn-dilsin ey nâzük-mizâc
Zülf-i ‘anber-bâr-ı dil-ber var iken
Nâfe-i misk-i Hıtâya n’ihtiyâc
İşigünde hâk-i pâyun var iken
Hey ma’âza’llâh gerekmez taht u tâc
Şâhiyâ misk-i Hıtâdan dil-berün
Hatt-ı miskîni ‘aceb mi alsa bac

In English

1. Through thinking of your forelock my temperament has been disordered; my cure is your chain-like locks and your ruby lips.

2. Since the down appeared on your cheek, musk has lost its market in the lands of Rûm.

3. The arrow of my sigh has made no mark on your heart; O delicate-tempered one, how hard and stony-hearted you are.

4. While there are the charmer's ambergris-scattering locks, what need is there for the musk pod of Cathay?

5. While there is the dust of your feet at your threshold, God forbid, there is no need for throne and crown.

6. O Şâhî, is it a wonder if the charmer's musky down should levy tribute on the musk of Cathay?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal of six couplets is written in "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün", the short pattern of the remel family, and stands on folio 6a of the manuscript. There is no redif; the rhyme is formed by the "-âc / -ac" sound in the words "mizâc, ilâc, revâc, ihtiyâc, tâc, bac". The word "mizâc" (temperament) serves twice as rhyme, in the first and third couplets. The pen name appears in the last couplet. According to Kılıç's table, there are four Turkish ghazals in the divan rhyming in the letter "cim"; this ghazal is one of them.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built around images of scent and illness. The opening couplet speaks in the language of the old medicine: thinking of the forelock has disordered the poet's temperament, and his cure is the beloved's locks and lips. The phrase "zülf-i zencîr" likens the hair to a chain; in divan poetry putting the mad lover in chains to calm him is a familiar theme, and here the chain is named as an instrument of cure. The second, fourth and sixth couplets treat the theme of musk. The down that appears on the beloved's cheek is likened to musk for its blackness and fragrance; that is why musk has lost its market in the lands of Rûm. In the fourth couplet the locks scatter ambergris and leave no need for the "nâfe" of the musk of Hıtâ (Cathay), that is, the navel pod of the musk deer.

In the last couplet there is a pun (cinas) based on the similarity of sound between the words "Hıtâ" (Cathay) and "hatt" (down): the musky down levies tribute (bac) on Cathay, the homeland of musk. The levying of taxes by rulers and the superiority of beauty are combined to create a hyperbolic scene. In the third couplet there is a contrast between "nâzük-mizâc" (delicate-tempered) and "sengîn-dil" (stony-hearted); the beloved of delicate nature is as hard as stone against the arrow of the lover's sigh.

The fifth couplet says that the earth at the beloved's threshold is above throne and crown. The same expression also occurs in the second couplet of G.22 in this group ("Hey ma'âza'llâh gerekmez taht-ı 'âc u tâc-ı zer"); the repetition is our own observation. The saying is a familiar theme of divan poetry and gives no information about when the ghazal was written; still, the fact that it came from the pen of a prince who entered a struggle for the throne may strike the reader as notable in its own right.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 55-56, ghazal no. 18 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 6a); also p. 28 (number of ghazals by rhyme letter), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources