Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Kâmet-i bâlân ile serv-i revânumsın benüm
Bâg-ı ‘ömrüm hâsılı rûh-ı revânumsın benüm
N’ola cânum gibi mihrün dilde saklarsam senün
Dil-pezîrüm dil-pesendüm dil-sitânumsın benüm
Bir nefes sensüz dil-i âvâre ârâm eylemez
Gönlümün eglencesi ârâm-ı cânumsın benüm
‘Andelîb-i gülsitân-ı hüsnüyem ey serv kad
Bir yüzi gül lâle-had gonce-dehânumsın benüm
Dergeh-i hüsnünde Şâhî pâs-bânundur senün
Sen serîr-i dilde şâh-ı kâmrânumsın benüm

In English

1. With your lofty stature you are my swaying cypress; the yield of the garden of my life, in short, you are my flowing soul.

2. Is it any wonder if I hide your love in my heart like my soul? You are the one my heart accepts, the one my heart approves, the one who steals my heart.

3. Without you the wandering heart finds no rest for a single breath; you are the delight of my heart and the repose of my soul.

4. O cypress-statured one, I am the nightingale of the rose garden of your beauty; you are my rose-faced, tulip-cheeked, rosebud-mouthed one.

5. Şâhî is the watchman of the court of your beauty; you are the shah of the throne of my heart who has attained every wish.

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 "-umsın benüm" (you are my … of mine), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in the words "revân, revân, dil-sitân, cân, dehân, kâmrân". In the edition the folio mark 33b stands at the end of the opening couplet.

The ghazal shares the same redif and rhyme with the ninety-first ghazal that immediately follows it in the edition, and there are exact overlaps between the two poems: the second line of this ghazal's second couplet ("Dil-pezîrüm dil-pesendüm dil-sitânumsın benüm") is the first line of the ninety-first ghazal. The phrase "yüzi gül lâle-had" in the second line of the fourth couplet is also repeated in the ninety-first ghazal in the line "Ey yüzi gül lâle-had serv-i revânumsın benüm". This closeness suggests that the two ghazals may be attempts written one after the other on the same ground; there is no note on this in the edition, and this observation is our own.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the word "revân" rhymes in the two lines with two different meanings: in the phrase "serv-i revân" it means swaying as it walks, in the phrase "rûh-ı revân" flowing, living soul. This is a cinas that carries the opening of the ghazal. In the second couplet three compound epithets built with the word "dil" (heart) follow one another: "dil-pezîr" (accepted by the heart), "dil-pesend" (approved by the heart), "dil-sitân" (heart-stealing). This series, built by repeating the same word, gives the line a harmony and expresses how the beloved surrounds the heart completely.

Throughout the ghazal the beloved is the equivalent of everything the lover possesses: his soul, the repose of his life, the delight of his heart. In the fourth couplet rose, tulip and rosebud are named together and the beloved's face is turned into a garden; the lover is the nightingale of this garden. In the last couplet the language of sovereignty comes into play: Şâhî is the watchman of the court of beauty, while the beloved is the "şâh-ı kâmrân" of the throne of the heart. The presence of the pen name "Şâhî" and the word "şâh" in the same couplet reverses the places of servant and shah: the poet, who by his pen name is "of the shah", is here the servant keeping watch at the beloved's door.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 90, ghazal no. 90 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 33b); also pp. 90-91 (ghazal 91), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources