Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gül yüzünden ayru cânâ sîne biryân oldı gel
Bülbül-i cân gice gündüz zâr u giryân oldı gel
Mû-miyânun hayret ile kılca kaldı cân meded
Ârzû-yı zülfün ile dil perîşân oldı gel
Görmeyelden sünbülünle gabgabun ey serv-kad
Gülşen-i ‘âlem bana bend ile zindân oldı gel
Hastedür gönlüm hevâ-yı zülfüne eyler heves
Derd-i bî-dermânuma vaslun çü dermân oldı gel
İntizâr-ı vaslun ile geçdi ‘ömri Şâhînün
Pâdişâhum lutf irüp nâz ise oran oldı gel

In English

1. Beloved, apart from your rosy face the breast has been roasted, come; the nightingale of the soul has taken to moaning and weeping night and day, come.

2. Help, in wonder at your hair-thin waist the soul has come within a hair's breadth; with desire for your hair the heart has fallen into disarray, come.

3. O cypress-statured one, since I have not seen your hyacinth hair and your throat, the rose garden of the world has become for me a prison in chains, come.

4. My heart is sick and longs for the air of your hair; since union with you is the cure for my incurable pain, come.

5. Şâhî's life has passed in waiting for union with you; my padishah, be gracious, coquetry has reached its measure, come.

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 32a stands at the end of the fourth couplet. The redif (refrain) is "oldı gel" (has become, come), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in the words "biryân, giryân, perîşân, zindân, dermân, oran"; "oran" in the last couplet, with its short vowel, does not fully fit this sound. "Oldı gel" appears in Kılıç's list of refrains. The pen name appears in the last couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

That each couplet ends with "gel" (come) turns the ghazal from beginning to end into an invitation and a supplication. In each couplet the lover counts something that has befallen him in the beloved's absence and then calls him. The opening couplet uses the image of rose and nightingale: the breast separated from the rosy face has been roasted, and the nightingale of the soul has taken to moaning night and day. In the second couplet there is again a play on words between "mû-miyân" (hair-thin waist) and "kılca kalmak" (to be within a hair's breadth); the soul, in wonder at the hair-thin waist, has come within a hair's breadth.

The third couplet sets up a striking picture. When the hyacinth-like hair and the "gabgab" (throat, the curve under the chin) are not seen, the rose garden of the world becomes for the lover a prison in chains. In divan poetry the hair is likened to a chain and the dimple of the chin to a well. It may be thought that the words "bend" (chain) and "zindân" (prison) in this couplet correspond to the hair and the chin; this reading is ours. The fourth couplet uses the language of sickness and medicine: the heart is sick, and the cure for the pain is union. The word "hevâ" means both desire and air, and it forms a double entendre (tevriye) between the air of the hair and the desire of the heart.

In the closing couplet the poet addresses "pâdişâhum" (my padishah) and says that his life has passed in waiting for union. The phrase "nâz ise oran oldı" is obscure. In old Turkish "oran" means measure; the phrase can be understood as "coquetry has reached its measure, now it is enough". The same word occurs in murabbas 1, 10 and 14 in the form "oranı yok" (it has no measure); in ghazal 155 the same phrase is used together with "yeter" (enough) in the line "Oran oldı ol âfetden yeter cevr ü cefâ geldi". This explanation is ours. The address to the padishah, the waiting and the request for grace may suggest that the ghazal can be read as directed at the father; however, the first four couplets are wholly in the language of a love poem written to a beloved, and in divan poetry the address padishah is also used for the beloved. There is no sign of a date or event in the ghazal.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 87-88, ghazal no. 85 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 32a); also p. 29 (list of refrains), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources