Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dil-pezîrüm dil-pesendüm dil-sitânumsın benüm
Rûh-perver cân-fezâ rûh-ı revânumsın benüm
Tende cân içinde cânsın ol sebebdendür dirüm
Sana rûhum mahrem-i râz-ı nihânumsın benüm
Gülşen-i kûyunda ben bir bülbül-i nâlânunam
Ey yüzi gül lâle-had serv-i revânumsın benüm
Bende-i nâ-çîzünem rahm eyle düşdüm pâyuna
Pâdişâh-ı kâm-bahş u kâmrânumsın benüm
Böyle inler miydi Şâhî derdmendün olmasa
Tanrı hakkı bâ’is-i âh u figânumsın benüm

In English

1. You are the beloved my heart accepts, my heart approves of, who steals my heart; you are my soul-nourishing, life-increasing, flowing living spirit.

2. You are the soul in the body and the soul within the soul; that is why I say to you, "my spirit, you are the confidant of my hidden secret."

3. In the rose garden of your street I am a lamenting nightingale; O you with a rose face and tulip cheek, my swaying cypress.

4. I am your worthless servant, have pity, I have fallen at your feet; you are my padishah who grants wishes and whose own wishes are fulfilled.

5. Would Şâhî moan like this if he were not sick with love for you; by God, you are the cause of my sighs and cries.

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 (refrain word) is "-umsın benüm" (you are my ...), and the rhyme is the "-ân" sound in "dil-sitân, revân, nihân, revân, kâmrân, figân". The rhyme word "revân" of the opening couplet is used again in the third couplet, but its meaning changes: in the first, "rûh-ı revân" is the flowing, living spirit; in the second, "serv-i revân" is the cypress that sways as it walks. Kılıç counts this poem among the ten ghazals of the divan with the redif "benüm"; in footnote 73 it appears under the number "90", because in this part of the edition the numbers in the introduction are one less than those of the text. In the edition the folio mark 34a stands at the end of the fourth couplet. The edition does not say to whom the poem was addressed.

The ghazal shares the metre, redif and rhyme of ghazal 90, which precedes it in the edition. The first line of this ghazal is identical, letter for letter, with the second line of the second couplet of ghazal 90, and the phrase "yüzi gül lâle-had serv-i revân" in the third couplet also occurs in the fourth couplet of ghazal 90. The two poems were probably composed one after the other on the same ground; the edition has no note on this, and the observation is ours.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening line begins with three Persian compound adjectives built on "dil" (heart): dil-pezîr, dil-pesend, dil-sitân. In the second line the series continues with "rûh-perver" and "cân-fezâ". Lining up adjectives in this way names the beloved by every equivalent of heart and soul and gives the line a marked musicality. The phrase "tende cân, cân içinde cân" (soul in the body, soul within the soul) in the second couplet rests on the idea that the beloved is the very essence of life; "mahrem-i râz-ı nihân" is the only intimate who knows the hidden secret.

The third couplet sets up the motif of the rose and the nightingale: the beloved's street is a rose garden and the lover is the nightingale lamenting there. Rose, tulip and cypress are named together, producing a congruence of images (tenasüp). In the fourth couplet the language turns to that of the court: the lover is "bende-i nâ-çîz" (worthless servant), the beloved "pâdişâh-ı kâm-bahş u kâmrân". The appearance of the word "kâm" twice, in "kâm-bahş" (wish-granting) and "kâmrân" (one whose wishes are fulfilled), creates a sound play. Since the address "padishah" is also used for the beloved in divan poetry, no particular addressee can be inferred from this couplet. In the last couplet the pen name (mahlas) is mentioned in the third person, and with the oath "Tanrı hakkı" (by God) the ghazal closes in a plain diction close to everyday speech.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 90-91, ghazal no. 91 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 34a); also p. 29 (refrains and footnote 73: ghazals with the redif "benüm") and p. 90 (ghazal 90), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources