Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: Mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün mefā‘īlün
Es̱er sūz-ı dil-i ‘uşşāḳdan ma‘şūḳa ‘ā’iddür
Sirāc ile anuñ çün olsa ‘add pervāne vāḥiddür
Müsāvīdür meges mīzān-ı ‘adl-i Ḥaḳda fīl ile
Müsāvāt olduġın mīzānda Ḥaḳḳ ḳavli mümehiddür
Bedūh ismi dü-ḥabb ise ḥesāben lafẓen u ma‘nen
Vedūd-ı ismi de anunla müsāvīdür müveddiddür
Kemend-i mūy-ı zülf-i yārdur bend-i dil-i ‘āşıḳ
Anuñçün ḳayd-ı kākülden rehā sevdā-yı fāsiddür
Görülmez ḫāb-ı rāḥat-ı dīde-i pür-nemde çoḳ demdür
Olup yeksān ṣabāḥ ile mesā da‘vāma şāhiddür
Ḥesāb itdikce dāġ-ı sīne-i mecrūḥ-ı sehv itdüm
Ṣayılsa derd-i hicr-i yār ne nāḳıṣ ne zā’iddür
Devādur ṭıbb-ı rindīde mey-i gül-gūn ġam-ı ‘aşḳa
Bu ḳulı tevbe itmege peşīmānī mü’ekkiddür
Nizā‘ vü ṣulḥı bir ‘add ile terk it cevr ü āzārı
Bu ‘ālem olduġı fānī bu ma‘nāya müsā‘iddür
Bu nev-vādīde pey-rev olmadan Nābī-i üstāda
Emīn ol daḫlden Ṣāḥib ta‘arruż ġayr-ı vāriddür
In English
1. The effect of the burning of the lovers' hearts returns to the beloved; for if counted in numbers, the lamp (sirâc) and the moth are one.
2. On the scale of God's justice the fly is equal to the elephant; the word of God too confirms that they are equal on the scale.
3. If the name "Bedûh" equals "two loves" by reckoning, then the name "Vedûd" (the Loving) too is equal to it in word and meaning and confirms love.
4. The lasso of hair of the beloved's lock is the bond of the lover's heart; that is why escape from the bond of the lovelock is a vain passion.
5. It has been long since restful sleep was seen in the tearful eye; morning and evening being equal bear witness to my claim.
6. As I counted the scars of my wounded breast, I erred; if the pain of separation from the beloved is counted, it is neither less nor more.
7. In the medicine of the libertines, rose-coloured wine is the cure for the grief of love; repentance confirms this servant's vow of penitence.
8. Count strife and peace as one number, give up cruelty and torment; the world's being transient favours this meaning.
9. O Sâhib, unless you follow the master Nâbî in this new vale, be sure of criticism; the objection is not applicable. (The connection of the couplet is not fully clear.)
Literary and Historical Commentary
Abjad (ebced) reckoning is the backbone of this ghazal: in almost every couplet two words whose numerical values are equal when written in Arabic letters are set side by side, and the words of the redif (refrain word) in "-iddür" (vāḥid, müsāvī, müveddid, şāhid, nā-ḳıṣ ne zā’id, mü’ekkid) proclaim this equality. In the first couplet "sirāc" (lamp, سراج) and "pervāne" (moth, پروانه) both come to 264; that is why the poet says "if counted in numbers, the lamp and the moth are one". In the second couplet "meges" (fly, مگس) and "fīl" (elephant, فیل) meet at 120; Topal cites this couplet as one that speaks of divine justice and the equality of all creatures before God, but does not mention the number game. The calculations are ours and follow the common spelling of the words.
The third couplet raises the equality to three. "Bedūḥ" (بدوح) and "Vedūd" (ودود), the name of God meaning the Loving, come to 20; "dü-ḥabb", twice "ḥubb" (love, حب = 10), is also 20. The poet therefore says that the three words are equal "both by reckoning and in word and meaning". In the fourth couplet the "mūy" (hair, موی) of the lock and the "bend" (bond, بند) of the heart are 56, and kâkül (lovelock, کاکل) and sevdā (passion, سودا) 71; Sâhib had also used this last equality in the seventeenth ghazal. In the fifth couplet "ṣabāḥ" (morning, صباح) and "mesā" (evening, مسا) are "yeksān", equal, at 101, and bear witness to the claim of the sleepless lover. In the sixth couplet "derd" (pain, درد) and "hicr" (separation, هجر) are 208, neither less nor more; in the seventh "tevbe" (repentance, توبه) and "peşīmānī" (remorse, پشیمانی) "confirm" each other at 413; in the eighth "nizā‘" (strife, نزاع) and "ṣulḥ" (peace, صلح) become "one number" at 128.
Signing the poem with his pen name, the poet says he follows the way of the master Nâbî in this "new vale". Topal cites this couplet among those showing that Sâhib took Nâbî's poetry as his model and was a follower of his school. Whether the phrase "nev-vādī" (new vale) refers to the play on numerical equalities in this ghazal cannot be told from the text. The order of the couplets differs greatly between the manuscripts, and the third couplet is missing from the T. 738 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, pp. 120-121, ghazal 24 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 18a; Istanbul University Library T. 1710/6, fol. 6a; Istanbul University Library T. 738, fol. 11b); also p. 3 (couplet 9), pp. 4 and 12 (couplet 2). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014
Online sources
