Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Şeref burcında tâbân ol benüm hûrşîd-i tâbânum
Sa’âdet mülkine hân ol benüm devletlü sultânum
Gam-ı hecrünle fürkatde ko ser-gerdân olayın ben
Salın Rûm illerinde sen benüm serv-i hırâmânum
Visâlün ‘ıydına cân u dili kurbâna nezr idem
Müyesser olsa görsem kaşlarun ey mâh-ı Ken’ânum
Müyesser olmadı derd-i dile dermân ehibbâdan
Meger vasl-ı şifâ-sâzun ola derdüme dermânum
Giceler subha dek şâha benüm fürkat diyârında
Hayâl-i çihre-i hûbun durur şem’-i şebistânum
Yeter cevr ise maksûdun beni hecr ile yakmakdan
Terahhum eyle yazıkdur meded ey şâh-ı hûbânum
Dür-i nazmun der-i dil-dâra Şâhî armagan gönder
Bilürsin tâlib-i gevherdür ol şâh-ı sühan-dânum

In English

1. O my radiant sun, shine in the tower of honour; O my fortunate sultan, be khan over the realm of happiness.

2. Let me wander bewildered and dizzy in separation with the sorrow of being parted from you; you, O my swaying cypress, sway in the lands of Rûm.

3. O my moon of Canaan (beautiful as Joseph), if it were granted to me to see your brows, I would vow my soul and heart as a sacrifice for the festival of union.

4. No cure for the heart's pain came to me from friends; perhaps your healing union will be the cure for my pain.

5. O shah, in the land of separation, through the nights until dawn, the image of your lovely face is the candle of my night chamber.

6. If your aim is cruelty, enough of burning me with separation; have pity, it is a shame, help, O shah of the beauties.

7. Şâhî, send the pearl of your poetry as a gift to the beloved's door; you know that my shah, who understands speech, is a seeker of pearls.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The seven-couplet ghazal is written in the "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün" pattern. The rhyme is the "-ân" sound in "tâbân, sultân, hırâmân, Ken'ân, dermân, şebistân, hûbân, sühan-dân", and the redif (refrain word) is the possessive suffix "-um" (my) added to them. The two lines of the opening couplet are built on the same mould: "şeref burcında tâbân ol" (shine in the tower of honour) and "sa'âdet mülkine hân ol" (be khan over the realm of happiness) stand opposite each other, and both read like a prayer. In the edition the folio mark 35a stands at the end of the second couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the beloved is the sun, and it is wished that he shine in the "tower of honour"; in the same couplet he is called "devletlü sultân" (fortunate sultan). Images of the sky and of sovereignty are used together, making the beloved ruler of both heaven and realm. The third couplet rests on the congruence (tenasüp) of festival and sacrifice: the lover vows to sacrifice soul and heart at the festival of union. In divan poetry the brow is likened to the crescent moon; since the festival begins with the sighting of the new crescent, the wish "if I could see your brows" is tied to the coming of the festival. "Mâh-ı Ken'ân" (moon of Canaan) recalls the Prophet Joseph, the model of beauty. In the fifth couplet the image of the beloved's face is the candle that lights the lover's room through the nights of separation.

The second couplet gives the ghazal a sense of place: while the lover wanders bewildered in "fürkat" (separation), the beloved sways "in the lands of Rûm". Rûm is the name for the Ottoman lands, especially Anatolia. In the last couplet the poet addresses himself and tells himself to offer the pearl of his poetry as a gift to the "şâh-ı sühan-dân" (the shah who understands speech), who seeks pearls.

Historical Context

Kılıç does not mention this ghazal. The last couplet, however, is very close to the closing couplet of ghazal 125, which Kılıç quotes in his introduction as a couplet praising the padishah: "Dürr-i nazmun sakla Şâhî pâyına bezl itmege / Şark u garbun serveri Sultân Süleymân Hân içün" (cited there as "G124/5"). There the pearl of poetry is kept expressly to be scattered at the feet of Süleyman the Magnificent. Since Süleyman himself wrote poetry under the pen name Muhibbî, the epithet "the shah who understands speech" would also fit him. This closeness suggests that the ghazal may have been addressed to the father; the contrast in the second couplet between the lands of Rûm and the land of separation may also call to mind a period when the poet was outside Rûm. Both are our readings; the poem contains no date or name.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 92, ghazal no. 94 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 35a); also pp. 36 and 42 (closing couplet of ghazal 125, cited in the introduction as "G124/5"), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.
  • "Muhibbî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (cross-reference entry: the pen name used by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent in his poems; see Süleyman I), https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/muhibbi.

Online sources