Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün

Dehânun gonce-i gülden boyun serv-i revândan yig
Saçun reyhân u sünbülden yüzün berg-i semenden yig
Müjen elmâsdan bürrân sözün dermân-ı derd-i cân
Lebün yâkûtdan nâzük dişün dürr-i ‘Adenden yig
Egerçi sebze vü âb-ı revân açmaz degül gönli
Velî bu bâbda ben bulmadum vech-i hasenden yig
Kara bagrın lebün şevkiyle odlara yakan lâle
Dimiş olmaz libâsı âşıkun kanlu kefenden yig
Yanında Şâhînün vaslun harac-ı Rûma aylukdur
Benüm altun çerâgum var mıdur sen sîm-tenden yig

In English

1. Your mouth is finer than the rosebud, your stature than the swaying cypress; your hair finer than basil and hyacinth, your face than the petal of jasmine.

2. Your lashes are sharper than diamond, your word a cure for the soul's pain; your lip more delicate than ruby, your teeth finer than the pearl of Aden.

3. Though greenery and running water do not fail to open the heart, yet in this matter I have found nothing finer than a fair face.

4. The tulip that burns its black heart in flames with longing for your lip has said: for the lover there is no garment finer than a bloody shroud.

5. Beside Şâhî, union with you is worth so much that the tribute of Rum would be but a monthly wage; O silver-bodied one, have I a golden lamp finer than you?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal of five couplets is written in the "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün" pattern and carries the folio mark 31a in the edition. The redif (refrain) is "-den yig" (finer than, better than), and the rhyme is the "-en" sound in the words "revân, semen, 'Aden, hasen, kefen, sîm-ten"; "revândan" in the opening couplet does not fully fit this sound. "Yig" appears in Kılıç's list of refrains. The pen name appears in the last couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is a reckoning of superiority, and in each couplet the refrain holds a feature of the beloved above the most precious things of nature. The opening and second couplets are like a catalogue of beauty: the mouth is finer than the bud, the stature than the cypress, the hair than basil and hyacinth, the face than the jasmine petal, the lashes than diamond, the lip than ruby, the teeth than the pearl of Aden. Bud, cypress, basil, hyacinth and jasmine come from the garden, while diamond, ruby and pearl come from precious stones; they set up two separate congruences of images (tenasüp). Aden appears as a port city named for its pearls.

The third couplet grants that greenery and running water refresh the heart, but in this matter the poet has found nothing better than a fair face. That greenery, running water and a fair face are counted together in the same couplet shows that all three are thought of as things that open the heart. The fourth couplet makes the tulip speak: the tulip, with its black spot in the middle, has burned its black heart with longing for the beloved's lip and says that there is no better garment for the lover than a bloody shroud. The red petals of the tulip are seen as a bloody shroud.

The closing couplet is obscure. "Harac-ı Rûm" is the tax or tribute of the land of Rum, that is, of the Ottoman lands; "ayluk" means a monthly wage. The couplet can be understood to mean that for Şâhî the worth of union is so great that it makes the tribute of Rum look as small as a monthly wage; it can also be read as meaning that union is as valuable as being given the tribute of Rum as a monthly wage. In both readings it is striking that a prince sets up a measure with the revenues of a country. In the second line there is a contrast (tezat) between gold and silver: the beloved is "sîm-ten" (silver-bodied), and the lover's "altun çerâg" (golden lamp) is worthless beside him. "Çerâg" can mean both a lamp and an apprentice, that is, a protégé. These two readings are ours.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 86-87, ghazal no. 83 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 31a); also p. 29 (list of refrains), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources