Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Çarh-ı hüsnün mihr-i ‘âlem-tâbıdur yârum benüm
Bir Hümâdur evc-i istignâda dil-dârum benüm
Deldi bagrum gamzesi tîriyle yâ kıldı kadüm
Ol harâmi gözli ol kattâl-i hûn-hârum benüm
Men’ kılmazsan eger ey dost bâd-ı lutf ile
Seyle virür ‘âlemi bu çeşm-i hûn-bârum benüm
Döndi benzüm bâd-ı hecr ile hazân yapragına
Yüzüme bak rahm kıl ey lâle-ruhsârum benüm
Her kaçan giryân görse Şâhîyi şâdân olur
Ol vefâsuz cevri çok yâr-ı cefâ-kârum benüm

In English

1. My beloved is the world-illuminating sun of the sky of beauty; my heart-stealing beloved is a Hümâ bird at the summit of disdainful self-sufficiency.

2. That brigand-eyed one, my murderous, blood-drinking beloved, pierced my heart with the arrow of her glance, or else made my stature a bow.

3. O friend, if you do not restrain it with the wind of your favour, this blood-raining eye of mine will give the world over to the flood.

4. With the wind of separation my colour has turned to an autumn leaf; look at my face, have pity, O my tulip-cheeked one.

5. Whenever she sees Şâhî weeping she rejoices, that faithless, much-tormenting, cruel beloved of mine.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet ghazal is written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif is "-um benüm" (my … of mine), and the rhyme is the "-âr" sound in the words "yâr, dil-dâr, hûn-hâr, hûn-bâr, ruhsâr, cefâ-kâr". Kılıç counts "benüm" among the refrains of the divan. In the edition the ghazal falls on folio 33a. According to Kılıç's footnote, ten ghazals in the divan are written with the redif "benüm", and they are not arranged one after another; ghazals with other rhymes come in between. The numbers given in the footnote (88, 89, 90, 92 …) are in this region one less than the numbers in the text; this ghazal is cited there as number 88. The ninetieth and ninety-first ghazals that follow immediately also carry the same redif.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet introduces the beloved with two lofty images: the sun of the sky of beauty, and the Hümâ bird flying at the "evc-i istignâ", the summit of coquetry and of needing no one. The Hümâ is the bird in divan poetry that brings fortune to the one on whom its shadow falls; its flying high expresses the beloved's unattainability. In the second couplet the word "yâ" can be read in two ways: the conjunction "or" and "bow". The line means both "pierced my heart or bent my stature" and "pierced my heart and made my stature a bow"; the congruence of images (tenasüp) between arrow and bow strengthens the second reading. This reading as a double entendre (tevriye) is our own. The epithet "harâmî gözli" (brigand-eyed) likens the eye to a highwayman; the words "kattâl" (murderous) and "hûn-hâr" (blood-drinking) continue this series.

In the third couplet the tears become a flood and threaten to inundate the world; only the beloved's "wind of favour" can prevent it. The hyperbole of the blood-raining eye and the flood is one of the familiar exaggerations of divan poetry. In the fourth couplet the wind of separation yellows the lover's face like an autumn leaf, and against this is set the beloved's being "lâle-ruhsâr", red-cheeked like the tulip. This contrast of colour between yellow and red spreads through the whole couplet. The last couplet ends with the cruelty of the beloved who rejoices at the lover's tears; the words "giryân" (weeping) and "şâdân" (rejoicing) form a contrast (tezat).

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 89-90, ghazal no. 89 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 33a); also p. 29 (refrains and footnote 73: ghazals with the redif "benüm"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources