Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Hasretünden kan akıdur çeşm-i giryânum benüm
Gûş kılmazsın dirîgâ âh u efgânum benüm
Hâlüme lutf eyle rahm it şâh-ı hûbânum benüm
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Cân u ser terk eyler isem tan degüldür yoluna
Her ne denlü cevr idersen eylegil ben kuluna
Nice yıldur dil perîşândur perîşân hâlüne
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Halka halka idüben zencîr-i zülfini kemend
Bu dil-i dîvâneyi itmek diler o pây-bend
‘Akl gitdi sabr gitdi ıssı itmez bana pend
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Gice gündüz yanaram ben âteş-i hicrânuna
Ey vefâsuz niçe bir sabr ideyin peymânuna
Muntazırdur gel yetiş bu haste-dil dermânuna
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Hasret ile haste oldum bana dermân eylegil
Bülbül-i şûrîde kim vasluna handân eylegil
Pâdişehsin kuluna lutf eyle ihsân eylegil
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Âteş-i hicrânla sen eylemedün beni tebâh
Kime yanup yakılup idem bu gün feryâd u âh
Âb-ı vaslunla beni şâd itmedün sen âh âh
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Derd-i hecrün âteşiyle bagrumı kıldun kebâb
Mâ-cerâ-yı mihnetün şerh idemez yüz fasl u bâb
Rûz-ı mahşerde sakın Hakka viremezsin cevâb
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm
Çünki içdi derd ile Şâhî mahabbet câmını
Ol sebebden bulmadı artık gönül ârâmını
Derd-i hecründen ölürsem hasretiyle dâmını
A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm

In English

1. From longing for you my weeping eye sheds blood; alas, you do not hear my sighs and cries. O shah of the beauties, be gracious to my state, have mercy. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

2. If I give up soul and head on your road it is no wonder; inflict on me, your servant, as much cruelty as you will. For many years the heart has been distraught over your distraught state. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

3. Making the chain of the lock into a lasso ring by ring, it wishes to fetter the feet of this mad heart. Reason has gone, patience has gone; counsel no longer works on their owner. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

4. Night and day I burn in the fire of your separation; O faithless one, how long shall I be patient over your promise? This sick heart awaits its cure; come, make haste. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

5. I have grown sick with longing, be my cure; make the frenzied nightingale who longs for union with you laugh. You are a padishah; be gracious and generous to your servant. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

6. Was it not you who ruined me with the fire of separation; to whom then shall I cry out today, burning and consumed? Alas, alas, you did not gladden me with the water of union. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

7. With the fire of the pain of separation you roasted my breast; a hundred chapters and sections could not tell the story of my suffering. Beware, on the Day of Gathering you will have no answer to give God. O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

8. Since Şâhî drank the cup of love with pain, the heart has not found its peace again. If I die of the pain of your separation, I will die longing for your snare (your hem). O my bey, O my padishah, O my fair lord.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba of eight stanzas with a refrain, written in the "fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilâtün fâ'ilün" pattern of the remel family of aruz (quantitative metre). In the first stanza the four lines end with the redif (refrain word) "benüm" and rhyme on "-ânum": giryânum, efgânum, hûbânum, hânum. The other stanzas use the rhymes "-uluna" (yoluna, kuluna, hâlüne), "-end" (kemend, pây-bend, pend), "-ânuna", "-ân" with the redif "eylegil", "-âh", "-âb" and "-âmını". In the second stanza the word "hâlüne" does not fully rhyme with "yoluna" and "kuluna". The refrain is the line "A begüm a pâdişâhum a güzel hânum benüm". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza (fols. 73a-73b). It is not known to whom the poem was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Kılıç says that when Şâhî writes murabbas he handles his pen more skilfully and expresses his feelings more sincerely, and he places the first stanza of this murabba at the head of the examples that show this. With the Old Turkish vocative "a", the refrain lines up three forms of address one after another: my bey, my padishah, my fair lord. This apostrophe (nidâ) repeats the same entreaty at the end of every stanza. The forms of address are titles used for the beloved in divan poetry; there is no other sign in the poem that identifies the addressee.

In the third stanza the lock becomes a chain ring by ring, and then a lasso; the feet of the mad heart are fettered with this chain. The chaining of madmen is the basis of the familiar relation between the lock and the mad heart. The word "ıssı" in the same stanza means "owner"; counsel no longer works on one whose reason and patience have gone. In the sixth stanza a contrast of fire and water is drawn between "âteş-i hicrân" (the fire of separation) and "âb-ı vasl" (the water of union). In the seventh stanza "fasl u bâb" denotes the chapters of a book and says that the story of the suffering would not fit into a book; in the same stanza the beloved is reminded of the account to be given on the Day of Gathering. This warning recalls the words "questioning at the Resurrection" in the third murabba. If the word "dâmını" in the last stanza is read as "dâm" (snare) it suggests the snare of the lock, and if it is taken as a shortening of "dâmen" (hem) it suggests the idiom of clinging to someone's hem; the line can be understood in two ways.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 137-138, murabba no. 11 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fols. 73a, 73b); also pp. 30-31 (on the murabbas), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources