Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Merve hakkı kapunı Ka’be-i ulyâ bilürüz
Nûr-ı Mevlâyı cemâlünde hüveydâ bilürüz
‘İlm-i ‘ışkı bize öğretme gel ey şeyh-i şehr
Biz o fenni okıyup yazmışuz a’lâ bilürüz
Meges ü mûra ticâretle nazar eylemezüz
Her birin başına bir şâh-ı tüvânâ bilürüz
Sen saçı leylîye âşüfte vü Mecnûn olanı
‘Işk fenninde katı ‘âkıl u dânâ bilürüz
Şâhiyâ saltanat u tâc-ı şehenşâhîyi biz
Câna endîşe vü başa kurı gavgâ bilürüz

In English

1. By the right of Marwa, we know your door to be the most exalted Kaaba; we know the light of the Lord to be manifest in your face.

2. O sheikh of the city, come, do not try to teach us the science of love; we have read and written that art, we know it very well.

3. We do not look on the fly and the ant with contempt; we know that each of them has a mighty shah at its head.

4. You who have become infatuated with the night-black hair (of the beloved) and turned Majnûn, we know you to be very wise and learned in the art of love.

5. O Şâhî, we know sovereignty and the crown of the king of kings to be a care for the soul and an empty quarrel for the head.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet ghazal is written in the "fe'ilâtün fe'ilâtün fe'ilâtün fe'ilün" pattern. The redif is "bilürüz" (we know), and the rhyme is the "-â" sound in the words "ulyâ, hüveydâ, a'lâ, tüvânâ, dânâ, gavgâ". Kılıç counts the redif "bilürüz" among the refrains of the divan. In the edition the ghazal falls on folio 22b.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Like the previous poem, the ghazal speaks in the language of "we", but this time the speaker is one of the people of the path of love. The opening couplet is built with the terms of the pilgrimage: an oath is sworn by the hill of Marwa, where the sa'y between Safa and Marwa is performed, and the beloved's door is counted as the Kaaba; in her face the light of God appears. In divan poetry the naming of the beloved's door as the qibla or the Kaaba is a familiar image. In the second couplet the "şeyh-i şehr" (sheikh of the city) is the type of the ascetic who sets out to teach the science of love; the lover has read and written this science and knows it better than he does.

The fly and the ant in the third couplet recall the story told in the sura of al-Naml (The Ant) in the Qur'an, in which Solomon hears the words of the ant; it is said that each small creature too has a shah at its head. In the edition the line reads "ticâretle nazar eylemezüz"; in terms of meaning the reading "hakâretle" (with contempt) is more suitable and does not alter the metre. This proposed reading is our own, and the text has not been altered. The word "leylî" in the fourth couplet evokes both "like the night" and the name Laylâ; thus the allusion to Laylâ and Majnûn enters the couplet of its own accord. Majnûn is turned around by being counted the wisest person in the science of love.

The last couplet is the most striking of the ghazal: sovereignty and the crown of the king of kings are a care for the soul and an empty quarrel for the head. The connection between the crown being worn on the head and the quarrel coming "to the head" creates a subtle link within the couplet. Kılıç's remark that the divan contains couplets giving advice on the transience of the world and on not trusting crown, throne and sovereignty also accords with this couplet. That the poet who spoke of the aspiration of Alexander and Solomon in the previous ghazal here counts sovereignty an empty quarrel shows that the divan carries different voices on the same subject.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 76, ghazal no. 58 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 22b); also p. 29 (refrains) and p. 41 (couplets of advice on the transience of the world and on sovereignty), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources