Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ol āfetüñ helāk-i ḫaṭ-ı dil-ḫırāşıyuz
Minnet-keş-i telāfī-i rūz-ı tirāşıyuz
Ṣanmañ bizi ki meclis-i rindīde-pāşıyuz
Bezmüñ ayaġı ṭopraġıyuz gerçi başıyuz
Virir şifā-yı ṣadr bize sāde ḥüsn-i medḥ
Müstaġni-i nükāt-ı ḫaṭṭ çün h̆āşıyuz
‘Arż-ı niyāze her ne ḳadar söz ḥażırlasaḳ
Yāri görünce yine esīr-i telāşıyuz
Geh telḫ-kām-ı tünd-i ḫiṭāb-ı ‘itābıyuz
Geh ḫoş-meẕāḳ-ı la‘l-i leb-i nükte-pāşıyuz
Ṣāḥib bu tāze vādī-i ra‘nāda nüzhetüñ
Meftūn-ı ṭarḥ-ı nev-ġazel-i ḫoş-ḳumāşıyuz

In English

1. We are the slain of the heart-scratching down of that calamity; we are grateful for the amends of the day it is shaved.

2. Do not suppose that we are those who break up the gathering of the rinds; though we are the head of the feast, we are the dust at its foot. (The meaning of the first line is not fully clear.)

3. Plain praise of beauty gives us ease of heart; for we have no need of the subtleties (and glosses) of the down. (The reading of the last word of the second line is not certain.)

4. However many words we prepare to present our plea, when we see the beloved we are again captives of agitation.

5. Sometimes we taste the bitterness of harsh words of reproach; sometimes we relish the ruby lip that scatters witticisms.

6. Sâhib, with the pleasure of strolling in this fresh and lovely valley, we are enamoured of the well-woven design of the new ghazal.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The pen-name couplet is one of the places where Sâhib states his own idea of poetry openly, and Topal cites it as an example of the poet's search for "fresh meaning" (taze mana). "Vâdî" means both a valley and a style of poetry, a path of manner; the word "gazel" recalls both the poetic form and the gazelle roaming the valley. So the poet says that, strolling in a fresh valley, he is enamoured of the new style of ghazal that appears like a new gazelle. "Kumaş" (fabric) expresses the weave and quality of a thing; a ghazal worked as soundly as a well-woven cloth is the measure of the poets seeking fresh expression at the start of the eighteenth century.

The second couplet is one Topal mentions among the descriptions of gatherings. The lover, though counted the head of the gathering, presents himself as the dust at its foot; the contrast of "head" and "foot" is enriched by the fact that in old Turkish the word "ayak" (foot) also meant a wine cup. The foot of the gathering is both its lowest place and the cup passed from hand to hand.

The opening couplet sets up an account between the down and the razor: the beloved's down has slain the lovers, but the day it is shaved makes amends for this loss, and the lover is grateful to that day. In the third couplet the words "nükat" (subtleties) and "hat" also recall the commentaries and glosses written in the margins of madrasa books; the down on the edge of the face resembles writing in the margin of a book. Since the last word of the line cannot be read clearly in the edition, this interpretation remains a possibility.

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. 3 (couplet 6), p. 18 (couplet 2), p. 145, ghazal 47 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 21a; Istanbul University Library T. 1710/6, fol. 8a). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014

Online sources