Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün

Dünya heves-i devlet ü cāh itmege degmez
Ḫūbān-ı zamān nāle vü āh itmege degmez
Ḫaṭṭ olmaz ise ‘āşıḳa dībāce-i vuṣlat
Ser-nāme-i ruḫsārı siyāh itmege degmez
Ol şeh kerem itmezse eger naḳd-i viṣālin
Ümmīdi gedā-yı ser-i rāh itmege degmez
İtmezse o şehnāza es̱er nāle-i ‘uşşāḳ
Āmed şüd-i enfāsı dügāh itmege degmez
Bir serde ki sevdā-yı muḥabbetden es̱er yoḳ
Ṣāḥib ṭaleb-i tāc u külāh itmege degmez

In English

1. The world is not worth the craving for power and rank; the beauties of the age are not worth moaning and sighing for.

2. If the down is not to be the preface of union for the lover, it is not worth blackening the title page of the cheek.

3. If that king does not graciously give the cash of his union, it is not worth nursing the hope of the beggar at the head of the road.

4. If the moan of the lovers (Uşşak) leaves no trace on that Şehnaz, it is not worth turning the coming and going of breaths into a Dügâh. (The meaning of the couplet is not fully clear.)

5. Sâhib, in a head with no trace of the passion of love, it is not worth seeking crown and cap.

Literary and Historical Commentary

The fourth couplet places the names of three makams (modes) of Turkish music in a love scene: Uşşak, Şehnaz and Dügâh. "Nâle-i uşşâk" is both the moan of the lovers and a melody in the Uşşak mode; "şehnâz" is both the beloved, the king of coquetry, and the Şehnaz mode; "dügâh" is both the name of a mode and, by its literal sense, "two places, two frets". "Âmed şüd" (coming and going) describes breath drawn in and let out, and recalls wind instruments such as the ney. The meaning of the couplet is not fully resolved because of the two-way use of the mode names; but it is clear that the poet turns the lover's moan into a musical performance.

The second couplet uses terms of bookmaking. "Dîbâce" is the ornate preface at the start of a work; "ser-nâme" is the heading, the first page, of a letter or book. The down is writing that blackens the cheek; if this writing is not to be the preface of the book leading to union, it is not worth blackening the heading of the cheek. Likening the down to writing is a known path in divan poetry; Sâhib adds to this writing the layout of a book.

The opening and pen-name couplets frame the ghazal with the thought of renouncing worldly goods and rank. The world is not worth the craving for power and rank; and there is no sense in placing a crown or a cap on a head without the passion of love. The crown is the headgear of the ruler, the külah that of the dervish; the poet finds both out of place on a head whose heart is empty.

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. 149, ghazal 51 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Manzum 243, fol. 22a; Istanbul University Library T. 1710/6, fol. 9a; Istanbul University Library T. 738, fol. 13b). https://openaccess.firat.edu.tr/handle/11508/16014

Online sources