Original Persian Text

Metre: Mef’ûlü Fâ’ilâtü Mefâ’îlü Fâ’ilün

Ân ser ki bâ-niyâz ber-în âstâne nîst
Hergiz dil-eş be-tîr-i sa’âdet nişâne nîst
Ân kıssahâ ki ez-Hüsrev ü Şîrîn mî-konend
Û hasb-i hâl-i mâ-st füsûn u fesâne nîst
Ruhsâr-ı hûb dârî vü mevzûn-kâmetî
Hergiz tu râ zi-ser tâ be-kadem yek bahâne nîst
Müjgân-ı men bes-est be-tezyîn-i turreet
Z’ân rû şikenc-i zülf-i tû muhtâc-ı şâne nîst
Nâmeş be-âşıkî ne-nüvîsend Şâhiyâ
Ân râ ki bâ-çünîn gazel-i âşıkâne nîst

In English

1. The heart of a head that does not bow in supplication at this threshold never becomes the target of the arrow of happiness.

2. The tales they tell of Khosrow and Shirin are the account of our own state; they are not fable and legend.

3. You have a lovely cheek and a well-proportioned stature; from head to foot there is not a single pretext for finding fault in you.

4. My eyelashes are enough to adorn your tresses; therefore the curls of your tresses have no need of a comb.

5. O Şâhî, they do not write among the lovers the name of one who has no such amorous ghazal.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The five-couplet Persian ghazal is written in the "mef'ûlü fâ'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'ilün" pattern. The redif is "nîst" (is not, there is not), and the rhyme is the "-âne" sound in "âstâne, nişâne, fesâne, bahâne, şâne, âşıkâne". Kılıç counts "nîst" as the redif of two Persian ghazals; the other is Persian Ghazal 3. In the edition the folio mark [91b] stands at the end of the second couplet, so in the manuscript a new leaf begins with the third couplet. In his footnotes Kılıç notes that the metre of the first line of the second couplet and of the second line of the third couplet is faulty. In the last couplet the Persian divançe has the word "hem".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet presents the beloved's threshold as a dervish lodge: the heart that does not bow at that threshold cannot become the target of the arrow of happiness. The link between the arrow and the target (nişâne) creates a congruence of images (tenasüp). In the second couplet the story of Khosrow and Shirin, told since Nizâmî, is tied to the poet's own state; the phrase "füsûn u fesâne" says that what others take for a fable is for him a lived condition. "Mevzûn-kâmet" in the third couplet means both of well-formed stature and measured, metrical. It is striking that the line Kılıç considers metrically faulty stands in the very couplet that carries the word "mevzûn"; this observation is ours. The fourth couplet rests on a graceful exaggeration: the lover's eyelashes comb the tresses like a comb, so the beloved's tresses need no comb. The likening of eyelashes to a comb is a visual simile (teşbih) based on their teeth and density. The closing couplet is one of the rare couplets in which the poet praises his own poetry: the name of one who has no amorous ghazal is not written in the register of lovers.

The phrase "hasb-i hâl" in the second couplet also draws attention. Kılıç reports that Âlî considered Şâhî superior to most poets in hasb-i hâl, poetry in which a person tells of his own experience. That the poet uses this term in his own ghazal, while likening the tale of Khosrow and Shirin to his own state, stands in an interesting accord with this judgement; this connection is our observation. There is no sign in the poem of the person to whom it was written.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 155, Persian ghazal no. 2 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 91b); footnotes 134-140 (Turkish meanings of the couplets, lines with faulty metre, variant in the Persian divançe); also p. 29 (the redif "nîst"), p. 30 (hasb-i hâl), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources