Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ūlü fā‘ilātü mefā‘īlü fā‘ilün

Şol ḫaṭṭ ki nā-müsā‘id-i ḥükm-i viṣāldür
Bir nüsḫadur ki pür-ġalaṭ u bī-me‘āldür
Ḫaṭṭ gūş-māl iderse naġam rūy-ı dil-beri
Ḥüsn-i ṣadā-yı sāza sebeb gūş-māldur
Ḫaṭṭ çıḳdı zülfden bedel āşūb u fitneye
Maḳṣūdı bī-ġalaṭ bedel-i iştimāldür
Bir dil ki ola naḳş-ı ḫaṭ-ı yārdan beri
Gūyā ki bī-şükūfa tehī bir sifāldür
Ḫaṭṭuñ dayanma devlet-i pā-der-rikābına
Ḫūrşīd-i vaḳt-ı ‘aṣr serī‘ü’z-zevāldür
Başdı rikāb-ı ḫaṭṭ-ı ḳadem şeh-süvār-ı ḥüsn
Beñzer ki ḳaṣdı mülk-i dili pāy-māldur
Ṣāḥib kitāb-ı sīne-i dil-dārı açmadan
Ḳaṣdum şifā-yı ṣadruma bir ḥasb-i ḥāldur

In English

1. That down which is not favourable to the decree of union is a copy full of errors and without meaning.

2. No wonder if the down twists the ear of the beloved's face with melodies; it is twisting the ear (the peg) that makes the fine sound of the instrument.

3. The down appeared in place of the turmoil and mischief of the lock; its purpose, to put it without error, is a "bedel-i iştimâl".

4. A heart that is without the image of the beloved's down is like an empty pot without flowers.

5. Do not rely on the fortune of the down, whose foot is in the stirrup (ready to depart); the sun of the afternoon is quick to set.

6. The royal horseman of beauty has set his foot in the stirrup of the down; it seems his aim is to trample the realm of the heart.

7. Sâhib, before opening the book of the beloved's breast, my purpose is a heart-to-heart talk about the cure of my own breast.

Literary and Historical Commentary

This ghazal, devoted entirely to the down, the "ḫaṭṭ", works the word's meaning of "script" from beginning to end. In the first couplet the hairs on the face are a copy of a book that spoils the decree of union, full of errors and without meaning. The third couplet uses a term from Arabic grammar: "bedel-i iştimâl" is a type of substitution that puts in place of a word something it contains. The down has taken the place of the confusion caused by the lock; the poet names this substitution with a rule of grammar. It is another example of the games Sâhib builds in his chronograms and ghazals with grammatical terms such as "mâ-yı mevsûl" and "sıla".

The second couplet moves to the world of music. "Gūş-māl" means twisting the ear; players tune the strings of an instrument by twisting its pegs, its "ears". The down too twists the ear of the beloved's face; but just as the fine sound of an instrument comes from twisting its ear, this also puts beauty back in tune. The fifth couplet says the fortune of the down will be short-lived: it is a fortune with its foot in the stirrup, ready to depart, and sets quickly like the afternoon sun. The phrase "pā-be-rikāb" of the muhammes meets us here again.

The pen-name couplet repeats the image of the divan's second ghazal: the beloved's breast is a book, and the lover seeks in it the "şifâ" (cure) of his own breast. As for the fourth couplet, the heart that does not carry the beloved's image is likened to an empty pot without flowers. The third couplet is missing from the Istanbul University T. 1710/6 copy.

Bibliography

  • Meral Topal, Pîrî-zâde Mehmed Sâhib Hayatı, Edebî Kişiliği, Eserleri ve Divanı'nın Tenkitli Metni, MA thesis, Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Elazığ 2004, p. 110, ghazal 16 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 16a; Istanbul University Library T. 1710/6, fol. 5a; Istanbul University Library T. 738, fol. 10b). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014

Online sources