Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ey şeh-i mülk-i melâhat server-i sâhib-cemâl
Derd ü hasretle terahhum it diger-gûn oldı bâl
Turmışam Ferhâd-veş yolunda ey şîrîn-makâl
Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl
Dostum cevr ü cefâ vü zulmi efzûn eyledün
Bezm-i gamda gözlerüm yaşını mey-gûn eyledün
Mihnet ü hecr ile bagrum lâle-veş hûn eyledün
Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl
Ey semen-ber lâle-had serv-i ser-efrâzum benüm
Başdan ayaga ser-â-ser şîve vü nâzum benüm
Hûblar içinde sensin yâr-ı mümtâzum benüm
Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl
Ey şeh-i ‘âlî-cenâb u kâm-bîn ü kâm-yâb
Niçe bir bu bende-i üftâdeye hışm ü ‘itâb
Ko cefâyı rahm kıl hâlüm harâb oldı harâb
Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl
Pâdişâhum bendeni mahrûm u nâ-kâm eyleme
Pây-mâl idüp hacîl ü hor ü bed-nâm eyleme
Gönlümi yap hâtırum yıkmaga ikdâm eyleme
Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl
Almaduk dil komadun ‘âlemde gunc u nâz ile
Fitneler saldun cihâna gamze-i gammâz ile
Halkı Mecnûn eyledün zülf-i kemend-endâz ile
Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl
Bir yana devrân gamı bir yana yârün hasreti
Başuma tar eyledi Şâhî diyâr-ı fürkati
Dirlügüm dirlük degül hâlüm diger-gûndur katı
Cân bedenden ayrılur ber senden ayrılmak muhâl

In English

1. O shah of the land of beauty, fair-faced chief, have mercy; with pain and longing my state has changed. O sweet-spoken one (sweet as Şirin), I stand on your road like Ferhad. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

2. My friend, you have increased torment, cruelty and oppression; at the gathering of grief you have made the tears of my eyes the colour of wine. With hardship and separation you have dyed my breast with blood like a tulip. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

3. O jasmine-breasted, tulip-cheeked, my proud and lofty cypress; from head to foot my grace and my coquetry. Among the beauties you are my chosen beloved. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

4. O noble-natured shah, who sees his desire fulfilled and attains his wish, how long this anger and reproach for this fallen servant. Leave cruelty, have mercy; my state is ruined, ruined. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

5. My padishah, do not leave this servant of yours deprived and disappointed; do not trample him underfoot and make him ashamed, despised and of ill name. Mend my heart, do not set out to break my spirit. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

6. With coquetry and grace you left no heart in the world that you did not take; with the talebearing glance you let loose turmoil on the world; with the lasso-throwing lock you made people into Mecnun. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

7. On one side the grief of the times, on the other the longing for the beloved; O Şâhî, the land of separation has made the world narrow above my head. My livelihood is no livelihood, my state is sorely changed. The soul may part from the body, but for me to part from you is impossible.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a murabba of seven stanzas with a refrain. The metre is 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 rhyme on "-âl": cemâl, bâl, makâl, muhâl. The other stanzas use in turn the rhymes "-ûn eyledün", "-âzum benüm", "-âb", "-âm eyleme", "-âz ile" and "-eti/-atı". The refrain is the line "Cân bedenden ayrılur ben senden ayrılmak muhâl". In the last stanza the refrain is printed in the edition as "ber senden"; compared with the other six stanzas, "ben senden" is expected, and we note this without changing the text. The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last stanza (fols. 68a-68b). It is not known to whom the poem was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The refrain rests on a comparison: at death even the soul parts from the body, but for the lover to part from the beloved is impossible. In the first stanza the poet likens himself to Ferhad waiting on the road; the word "şîrîn" in the epithet "şîrîn-makâl" (sweet-spoken) also recalls Şirin, Ferhad's beloved, and creates a double entendre (tevriye). In the second stanza tears turning the colour of wine and the breast dyed with blood like a tulip are familiar expressions of bloody tears in divan poetry. The third stanza describes the beloved's beauty through jasmine, tulip and cypress.

In the fourth and fifth stanzas the language changes: the beloved is called "şeh-i 'âlî-cenâb" (noble-natured shah) and "pâdişâhum" (my padishah), and the lover presents himself as a servant who has suffered anger and reproach. The epithets "kâm-bîn ü kâm-yâb" also occur in the phrase "kâm-bîn ü kâm-yâb u kâm-kâr" used to praise Bayezid in Emre's translation of the Pend-nâme, which Kılıç quotes; this resemblance is our own observation. It may be said that the forms of address in these stanzas share a common language with the poems Kılıç believes were written to the poet's father, but Kılıç does not mention this murabba among them. The sixth stanza returns to the familiar images of the glance, the lock of hair and Mecnun.

The word "dirlik" in the last stanza means both a peaceful life and, in Ottoman usage, the income that provided an official's living. That these two senses can be read together in "dirlügüm dirlük degül" is our own reading. The line "bir yana devrân gamı, bir yana yârün hasreti" repeats the "on one side ... on the other" construction of the first murabba.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book pp. 131-132, murabba no. 4 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fols. 68a, 68b); also p. 23 (Emre's translation of the Pend-nâme) and pp. 30-32 (the murabbas and the poems addressed to his father), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources