Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Fürkat ile lâle-veş bagrumı pür-hûn eyleme
Hasret-i dâg-ı gamunla beni mahzûn eyleme
Cânum al tek râzî oldum beni magbûn eyleme
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme
Ey yüzi gül saçı sünbül mâh-ı tâbânum benüm
Çeşmi nergis hâli fülfül zülfi reyhânum benüm
Mey yirine kanum içme zulm idüp hânum benüm
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme
‘Akl-ı küllî Leylî-i zülfünde Mecnûn eyledün
Cânı meftûn-ı dil-âvîzünle meftûn eyledün
Hûblar içre cefâ resmini kânûn eyledün
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme
Tîg-i cevrünle delindi âh sîneyle yürek
Ol sebebdendür k’olupdur göklere âhum direk
Tutmaz isen tutma bu pendi hele benden dimek
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme
Âh kim irdi göge feryâd ile âhum benüm
Korkarum kim yakısardur ‘âlemi vâhum benüm
Alma âhum rahm kıl yazukdur ey şâhum benüm
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme
Vuslatun kadrini bilmez yüregi kan olmayan
Kimse bilmez hâlümi derdünle giryân olmayan
Rahm kılmaz dostum kalbinde îmân olmayan
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme
Şâhî-i dil-hasteni ey dil-rübâ şâd eylegil
Derd ü mihnet gussasından anı âzâd eylegil
Dil-rübalar içre sen de bir eyü ad eylegil
Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme

In English

1. Do not fill my breast with blood like a tulip through separation; do not make me sorrowful with longing on the mountain of grief. Only take my life, I consent; do not deceive me and bring me to ruin. My friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

2. O you whose face is a rose and hair a hyacinth, my shining moon; whose eye is a narcissus, mole a peppercorn, lock my basil; O my lord, do not tyrannise and drink my blood in place of wine. My friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

3. You made universal reason Mecnun in the Leylâ of your lock; you bewitched the soul by making it the captive of your heart-catching beauty; among the beauties you made the custom of cruelty a law. My friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

4. Alas, with the sword of your tyranny both breast and heart were pierced; that is why my sighs have become a pillar to the heavens. If you will not keep this counsel, do not keep it, but it is mine to say: my friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

5. Alas, my sighs and cries have reached the sky; I fear my lament will burn the world. Do not draw down my sigh upon you, have mercy; it is a sin, O my shah. My friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

6. One whose heart has not bled does not know the worth of union; one who has not wept with your pain does not know my state; my friend, one who has no faith in his heart has no mercy. My friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

7. O heart-ravisher, gladden your heartsick Şâhî; free him from the sorrow of pain and hardship. Among the heart-ravishers, you too leave a good name. My friend, you are young; do not make bloodshed your law.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba of seven 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) "eyleme" and rhyme on "-ûn": pür-hûn, mahzûn, magbûn, kânûn. The other stanzas use the rhymes "-ânum benüm", "-ûn eyledün", "-ek" (yürek, direk, dimek), "-âhum benüm", "-ân" with the redif "olmayan" and "-âd eylegil". The refrain is the line "Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kânûn eyleme". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza (fols. 77b-78a).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The refrain rests on the similarity of sound between the words "kan" (blood) and "kânûn" (law): the young beloved is counselled not to make bloodshed a rule and a custom. The words "cefâ resmini kânûn eyledün" (you made the custom of cruelty a law) in the third stanza are the reason for the warning in the refrain: the beloved has already made cruelty the rule among the beauties. The second stanza describes the beloved's beauty through rose, hyacinth, narcissus, peppercorn and basil; these names of plants and spices build a congruence of images (tenasüp). In the fourth stanza the sighs becoming a pillar to the heavens is a hyperbolic description, and the word "pend" (counsel) states the advisory tone of the poem openly. The three lines of the sixth stanza are built, with the redif "olmayan", like general maxims. The idiom "âh almak" (to draw down someone's sigh) in the fifth stanza rests on the belief that the sigh, that is, the curse, of one who is wronged will reach the oppressor. In the last stanza the beloved is asked to leave "a good name" among the heart-ravishers; thus the counsel continues to the end of the poem.

Historical Context

Kılıç says that Şâhî sometimes appears as a poet giving counsel to his padishah and cites the fifth and seventh stanzas of this murabba as examples. In the fifth stanza the addressee is called "ey şâhum benüm" (O my shah), and he is asked not to draw down the lover's sigh. In Kılıç's quotation the refrain reads "Nev-cevânsın dostum kan ile kanım eyleme"; in the text the word is "kânûn". The epithet "nev-cevân" (young) in the refrain hardly suits the poet's father in the years when Bayezid was a grown prince. For this reason it is also possible that the poem was written to a young beloved; this reservation is our own reading.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 142-143, murabba no. 17 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fols. 77b, 78a); also p. 36 (poems giving counsel to the padishah), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources