Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilâtün Fâ’ilün

‘Aks-i ruhsârunla bagrum lâle-veş hûn eyledün
Eşk-i çeşmüm hasret-i la’lünle gül-gûn eyledün
Ey şeh-i mülk-i melâhat hûblar içinde sen
‘Âşıkun cânına cevr itmegi kânûn eyledün
Leylî-i zülfün hevâsıyle perîşân-hâl idüp
Âh kim gönlüm belâ deştinde Mecnûn eyledün
Vasl-ı cân-bahşunla ihyâ eylemişken mürdeni
Saldun âhir fürkate hâlüm diger-gûn eyledün
Gûşuna almag ile nazmını Şâhî bendenün
Müstedâm ol pâdişâhum dürr-i meknûn eyledün

In English

1. With the reflection of your cheek you have made my breast bleed like the tulip; with longing for your ruby lip you have made my tears rose-coloured.

2. O shah of the realm of comeliness, among the beauties you have made tormenting the lover's soul a law.

3. Distracting my state with desire for the Leylâ of your hair, alas, you have made my heart a Mecnûn in the desert of calamity.

4. Having revived this dead man with your life-giving union, in the end you cast me into separation and changed my state.

5. May you live long, my padishah; by taking the poetry of your servant Şâhî into your ear, you have made it a hidden pearl.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal of five couplets is written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern, and in the edition the folio mark 30a stands at the end of the second couplet. The redif (refrain) is "eyledün" (you have made), and the rhyme is the "-ûn" sound in the words "hûn, gül-gûn, kânûn, Mecnûn, diger-gûn, meknûn". "Eyledün" appears in Kılıç's list of refrains, and a ghazal written with this refrain follows immediately in the divan. The pen name appears in the last couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Colours come to the fore in the opening couplet: the reflection of the cheek dyes the lover's breast red like the tulip, and longing for the lip dyes his tears the colour of the rose. The words hûn (blood), tulip, gül-gûn (rose-coloured) and la'l (ruby) set up a congruence of images (tenasüp) around the colour red. In the second couplet the beloved is called "şeh-i mülk-i melâhat" (the shah of the realm of comeliness) and is accused of having made torment of the lover a law; the words ruler and law complement each other. The third couplet alludes to the story of Leylâ and Mecnûn. In the construction "Leylî-i zülf" (the Leylâ of the hair) a link is felt between the word "leyl", meaning night in Arabic, and black hair; the lover, with desire for this hair, has become a Mecnûn in the desert of calamity.

The fourth couplet tells of union and separation in the language of death and resurrection: the beloved revived the lover with union, then changed his state by casting him into separation. This line is almost the same as the line "Vasl-ı cân-bahşunla ihyâ eylemişken rûzgâr" in the third couplet of the second ghazal of the divan. Kılıç states that the second ghazal is dedicated to Süleyman the Magnificent. The repetition of the line is our own observation.

Historical Context

In the closing couplet the poet addresses "pâdişâhum" (my padishah) directly, prays for him with "müstedâm ol" (may you live long), and says that he has taken the poet's own poetry into his ear. "Gûşa almak" means both to listen and to put in the ear like an earring; the poem thus becomes a pearl kept hidden in the ear, a "dürr-i meknûn". Kılıç notes that in some couplets Şâhî appears as a poet praising his sultan, and he gives as an example the couplet "Dürr-i nazmun sakla Şâhî pâyına bezl itmege / Şark u garbun serveri Sultân Süleymân Hân içün"; there too the pearl of poetry is offered to Sultan Süleyman. This similarity and the repetition of the line in the fourth couplet suggest that the padishah of the closing couplet may be Süleyman the Magnificent. However, the first four couplets of the ghazal are in the language of a love ghazal written to a beloved, and there is no definite record of dedication; this reading is ours.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 85, ghazal no. 80 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 30a); also p. 29 (list of refrains) and pp. 35-36 (couplets praising the sultan, "G124/5"), p. 36 (dedication of the second ghazal to Süleyman), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources