Original Persian Text

Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Fe’ûlün

Zi dergâh-ı tu diger der ne-dânem
Kerîmâ afv kon ez-der me-rânem

In English

1. I know no door other than your court; O Generous One, forgive, do not drive me from the door.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The fifth Persian single couplet is written in the "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün fe'ûlün" pattern. In the edition the folio mark [96a] stands beside the number; this leaf is the page before the mark [96b] borne by the third Persian single couplet and the third Persian nazm. The order of the Persian single couplets in the edition does not follow the order of the leaves in the manuscript: the second, third, fourth and fifth single couplets bear the marks 90b, 96b, 64b and 96a respectively. The couplet is musarra' (both lines rhyme): "dânem" and "rânem" rhyme. Both words end in the first-person singular suffix ("-em"); the rhyme rests on the sound "-ânem".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet is built around the image of a door. "Dergâh" means a great gate, threshold, palace or dervish lodge; "der" simply means door. In the first line the words "dergâh" and "der" stand side by side; in the second line "der" is repeated. The use together of these words from the same root forms a weave of sound and sense close to the figure of iştikak (derivation from a common root). The lover's, or the servant's, only refuge is this door; he knows no other, and if he is driven from it he has nowhere to go. The address "Kerîmâ" means "O Kerîm". Kılıç renders it as "O generous (person)". Kerîm is also one of the names of God; taken together with the couplet's plea "afv kon" (forgive), it is also possible to think that, in keeping with the general air of supplication of the Persian single couplets, this address is directed to God. We have shown both senses together. The words "me-rânem" (do not drive me away, do not expel me) voice the greatest fear of a beggar or servant waiting at the door. That the second line begins with "afv kon" shows that being forgiven is the only condition for not being driven away.

Historical Context

The image of the door recurs in Şâhî's poems of pardon. In the third mesnevi the servant says "Kapuna geldüm işte şey'en lil'lâh" (here I have come to your door, something for God's sake) and speaks of a ruler who does not shut the door of generosity. In the twenty-first murabba there is the line "Şâh-ı âdilsin mürüvvet bâbını sedd eyleme" (you are a just shah, do not shut the door of kindness); that murabba addresses a shah. Whether the addressee of this single couplet is God or a ruler cannot be settled from the text. This comparison is our own observation.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 165, Persian single couplet no. 5 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225, fol. 96a), note 233 (Turkish meaning of the couplet); also p. 146 (murabba no. 21), p. 153 (mesnevi no. 3), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources