Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Serv-i mā’il idügi ḳaddüñe hācet mi delīl
Yoḳ ḫilāf aña ki el-cinsü ile’l-cinsi yemīl
Nice ṣāḥibnaẓarı gözleri ol lāle-ruḫuñ
Ḳıldı nergis gibi her kūşede bīmār u ‘alīl
Kūyuñ ehli ṭaraf-ı çeşmümi gözlerse n’ola
Mıṣr ḫalḳına temāşāgeh olupdur leb-i Nīl
Şem‘i pervāne gibi oda yaḳarlar ṣanemā
Pertev-i ḥüsnüñe inkār idüp isterse delīl
Āḫirü’l-emr ser-i zülfüñi sevdā idinüp
Getüre Ca‘fer ele bulur ise ‘ömr-i ṭavīl

In English

1. Is proof needed that the cypress inclines towards your stature? There is no disputing it, for like inclines to like.

2. The eyes of that tulip-cheeked one have made many a man of discernment sick and ailing in every corner, like the narcissus.

3. Is it any wonder if the people of your street gaze at the rim of my eye? The bank of the Nile has become a place of spectacle for the people of Egypt.

4. O idol, if the candle denies the radiance of your beauty and asks for proof, they burn it in the fire like the moth.

5. If Ca'fer, making the tip of your tresses his passion, finds a long life, at last he will lay hold of it.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Like Inclines to Like

The second line of the opening couplet ends in an Arabic saying: "al-jinsu ila'l-jinsi yamīl", "like inclines to like". The saying is a common maxim expressing that similar things attract each other. Câfer Çelebi applies it to the cypress and the beloved's stature: the cypress is tall and straight, and so is the beloved's stature; so there is no need to look for further proof that the cypress inclines towards the beloved. The word "mā'il" means both inclining and leaning; the cypress leaning in the wind leans towards the beloved's stature. The rhymes end in "-īl": delīl, yemīl, ‘alīl, Nīl, delīl, ṭavīl.

Nazmî names as its model Vasfî's ghazal with the opening "Hûblık peykerine ‘arz idicek hüsn Cemîl"; Câfer Çelebi is followed by Revânî, Vefâyî, Derûnî and Nazmî. Nazmî gives the opening as "Serv mâyildügine"; the comparison in the thesis shows that the Paris, Ayasofya and Hâlet Efendi copies also read so, while the Manchester copy writes "Serve mā'il idügi".

The Bank of the Nile and the Candle

The third couplet rests on a well-known sight of Egypt. At the times of the Nile's flood the people would gather on the bank and watch the river. The tears flowing from the lover's eye have become a Nile; and so the people of the beloved's street come to gaze at the rim of his eye. The Hâlet Efendi copy reads "ḳavmine" for "ḫalḳına".

The word "delīl" (proof) returns to the rhyme in the fourth couplet. Whereas in the opening no proof was needed for the cypress's inclination, here the candle is punished if it denies the radiance of the beloved's beauty and asks for proof, and it is burned in the fire like the moth. The candle's burning is explained as the penalty of its denial. The pen-name couplet draws a link between long tresses and a long life: if Ca'fer wishes to reach the tip of the tresses, he must find a life as long as those tresses. The Paris copy reads "idinüben" for "idinüp" in this couplet; the Ayasofya copy omits the word "inkār" in the fourth.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

  • İsmail E. Erünsal, The Life and Works of Tâcî-zâde Ca‘fer Çelebi, with a Critical Edition of His Dîvân, PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1977, vol. 2, ghazal no. 116 (variants). https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/17182

Official sources

Online sources