Original Persian Text

Istanbul 1306 printing, couplet 4 of ghazal 3; the full ghazal is not given in the source.

Dūr ez-ḫāk-i deret revnaḳ-ı şāhî cüstem
Be-cüz în nîst der-eyyām peşîmāni-i mā

In English

4. Far from the dust of your door I sought the splendour of kingship; in this world we have no regret but this.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplet is the fourth couplet of ghazal 3 in the Istanbul 1306 printing of the Dīvān. Seda Aydın quotes this couplet in her article showing how Selîmî combines the identity of the sultan with that of the lover in his Persian ghazals, under the heading of the spiritual emblems of sovereignty, that is, titles and epithets. By Aydın's count the words "şeh, şāh, şehinşāh, şāhān, şāhî" occur 17 times in the 102 ghazals of this printing. The rhyme is formed by "-āni" in "peşîmāni" and the redif (refrain word) by the suffix "-i mā"; the same rhyme and redif are found in ghazal 7 ("āsāni-i mā, perîşāni-i mā"). This resemblance is our own observation. Selîmî's life, his Persian divan and the debate over his Turkish poems are discussed in detail in Yavuz Sultan Selim (Selîmî) and his poems.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet is a confession of regret. A contrast is set up between the dust of the beloved's door (ḫāk-i der) and the splendour of kingship (revnaḳ-ı şāhî). Dust is the sign of lowliness and splendour of loftiness, yet the poet regrets having chosen loftiness. In divan poetry the lover counts becoming dust at the beloved's door as the highest rank. Here, leaving that rank to seek sovereignty is named as the only regret. The reader may think of the hard road from prince to throne in this couplet. The couplet, however, points to no particular event, and such a connection is only an interpretation. As Aydın stresses, Selîmî carries kingship into his poetry even when he speaks the language of love.

Bibliography

Online sources