Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef’ûlü Fâ’ilâtü Mefâ’îlü Fâ’ilün

Kıldum diyâr-ı gurbete ben mübtelâ sefer
Müşkil imiş gedâlara itmek şehâ sefer
Ben dir idüm kapunda ölem gitmeyem ebed
Bilmez idüm bu vech ile nâ-geh ola sefer
‘Âşık olana sabr u sefer çün olur devâ
Olmaz benüm firâkuma hergiz devâ sefer
Derdünle ölmek isterin olsun bana nasîb
Kim yâr-ı sâdık ile hoş itmek gedâ sefer
Düşse diyâr-ı gurbete Şâhî kulun ne gam
İtmek gerek çü ‘âşıka yâ sabr yâ sefer

In English

1. Stricken (by love), I made a journey to the land of exile; O shah, journeying is hard for the poor, it seems.

2. I used to say, "Let me die at your door, let me never leave"; I did not know that a journey would come so suddenly in this way.

3. Although patience and journeying are a remedy for one in love, journeying is never a remedy for my separation.

4. I wish to die of the pain of you; may that be my lot, for to the poor man a journey is pleasant with a faithful friend.

5. What sorrow is it if your servant Şâhî falls into the land of exile? For the lover must either be patient or take to the road.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal has five couplets and is written in the "mef'ûlü fâ'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif is "sefer" (journey), and the rhyme is the "-â" sound in the words "mübtelâ, şehâ, nâ-geh ola, devâ, gedâ, yâ". "Nâ-geh ola" in the second couplet is a weak link in the rhyme, while "devâ" occurs in both the first and second lines of the third couplet. In the edition the folio mark 20b stands at the end of the second couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The whole poem is built on the two faces of the word "sefer": on the one hand an enforced journey undertaken against one's will, on the other a change of place offered in divan poetry as a cure for the pain of love. The third couplet states this second meaning openly: patience and journeying are both remedies for the lover, but journeying is no remedy for the poet's separation. In the last couplet the same pair is set up again as a choice: the lover must either be patient or take to the road. The closeness in sound between "sabr" and "sefer" unites this pair to the ear as well.

In the opening couplet the address "şehâ" (O shah) and the word "gedâ" (beggar, poor man) recall throughout the couplets the distance between shah and servant. The second couplet speaks in the language of the loyal servant ready to die at the door; "kapunda ölem" (let me die at your door) is a familiar expression in divan poetry for never leaving the beloved's threshold. In the fourth couplet, when the pleasure of travelling "with a faithful friend" is joined to the wish "to die of the pain of you" at the start of the couplet, it becomes clear that the only companion the lover takes with him is the pain of the beloved. This reading is our own.

Historical Context

After saying that Şâhî regarded the places he went to as exile and did not want them at all, Kılıç quotes this ghazal in full and notes that in the ghazal with the redif "sefer" the poet may have expressed his being far from Istanbul or his being forced to go to Iran. In the introduction the ghazal is cited as "G52"; its number in the text is 51. The line "Ben dir idüm kapunda ölem gitmeyem ebed" describes a servant forced to leave the shah's door and fits Kılıç's interpretation. However, the poem contains no place name, and which separation is meant remains uncertain; Kılıç too gives the two possibilities together.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 71, ghazal no. 51 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 20b); also pp. 41-42 (full quotation of the ghazal in the introduction as "G52" and its interpretation as a poem of exile), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources