Şâhî, Murabba 18: Come, Come, O My Soul

Prince Bayezid's murabba with the refrain "come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me": Mecnun and Ferhad, the roasted heart, rose and laughter, and an oath.

Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Mihnet-i hecrün nigârâ derd-nâk eyler beni
Hançer-i bürrân-ı fürkat sîne-çâk eyler beni
Âteş-i gurbet yakup bagrumı hâk eyler beni
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

Senden ayrı olalı ben derde mu’tâd olmışam
Fenn-i ‘ışk içre şehâ Mecnûndan üstâd olmışam
Sen lebi şîrîn içün ‘âlemde Ferhâd olmışam
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

Ayrılalı sen güneş yüzlü kamer-ruhsârdan
Nüh felek göge boyandı derd-i âh u zârdan
Hak seni dûr itmesün dirsen eger dîdârdan
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

Görmeyelden ey yüzi gül mâh-ı tâbânum seni
Vâlih ü hayrân olup terk eyledüm cân u teni
Rûz-ı vasla irmeyüp hasret kalursa vâ beni
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

Âteş-i hecrünle dil döne döne oldı kebâb
Mâ-cerâ-yı fürkatün şerh idemez yüz bin kitâb
Ya İlâhî sen ‘inâyet eyle sen kıl feth-i bâb
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

Sen gülersin serv-kaddüm gülşen içre gül gibi
İnlerüm ben hâr-ı gamda âh idüp bülbül gibi
Câm-ı çeşmüm eşk-i hûn-âb ile toldı mül gibi
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

Şâhî senden olalı ey mâh-ı tâbânum cüdâ
Bâba varmaz gözleri feryâd ider subh u mesâ
Hazret-i Hakkun hakı vü hem resûl-i Mustafâ
Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni

In English

1. O beauty, the hardship of your separation makes me suffer; the sharp dagger of separation splits my breast; the fire of exile burns my heart and turns it to dust. Come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

2. Since I fell apart from you I have grown used to pain; O shah, in the art of love I have become more of a master than Mecnun; for you, whose lips are sweet (Şirin), I have become Ferhad in the world. Come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

3. Since I parted from you, the sun-faced, moon-cheeked one, the nine heavens have been dyed blue from the pain of my sighs and moans. If you say, may God not keep you far from the sight of the face, come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

4. O rose-faced one, my shining moon, since I last saw you I have left soul and body in bewilderment and wonder. Woe to me if I remain in longing without reaching the day of union. Come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

5. With the fire of your separation the heart, turning and turning, has been roasted; a hundred thousand books could not tell the story of your separation. O God, help me, open the door. Come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

6. O my cypress-statured one, you laugh like a rose in the rose garden; I sigh and moan like a nightingale on the thorn of grief. The cup of my eye is filled with bloody tears like wine. Come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

7. O my shining moon, since Şâhî parted from you his eyes cannot reach your door; morning and evening he cries out. By the truth of God and by the truth of the Prophet Mustafa, come, come, O my soul, or else your absence will destroy me.

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) "eyler beni" and rhyme on "-âk": derd-nâk, sîne-çâk, hâk, helâk. The other stanzas use the rhymes "-âd olmışam", "-ârdan", "-eni" (seni, teni, beni), "-âb" (kebâb, kitâb, bâb), "-ül" with the redif "gibi" (gül, bülbül, mül) and "-â" (cüdâ, mesâ, Mustafâ). The refrain is the line "Gel gel ey cân yohsa hicrânun helâk eyler beni". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza (fols. 78b-79a). It is not known to whom the poem was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The refrain is a call that opens with the repetition "gel gel" (come, come) and turns into a warning with the conjunction "yohsa" (or else). In the first stanza the hardship of separation, its sharp dagger and the fire of exile in turn make the lover suffer, split his breast and turn his heart to dust; the "destruction" of the refrain is the last step of this sequence. In the second stanza the poet says that in the art of love he is more of a master than Mecnun and that he has become Ferhad for the sweet-lipped beloved; the words "lebi şîrîn" (sweet-lipped) also recall Şirin, Ferhad's beloved. In the third stanza the nine heavens dyed blue by the smoke of sighs resembles the line "Duhân-ı âh-ı Şâhîyle felekler göge boyandı" of the second murabba.

In the fifth stanza the heart roasted "turning and turning" in the fire is a description that brings to life the kebab turned on the spit; the story of separation that a hundred thousand books could not hold recalls the phrase "a hundred chapters and sections" in the eleventh murabba. In the sixth stanza the noun "gül" (rose) and the verb "gülmek" (to laugh) are set side by side: the beloved laughs like a rose in the garden, the lover moans like a nightingale on the thorn; the eye is likened to a cup and the bloody tears to wine. The words "Bâba varmaz gözleri" in the second line of the last stanza are not clear; we have understood them as "his eyes cannot reach your door, he cannot see you". The poem is tied to the refrain by an oath sworn by God and the Prophet, and the call reaches its strongest form through this oath.

Bibliography

Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 143-144, murabba no. 18 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fols. 78b, 79a); also pp. 30-31 (on the murabbas), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources