Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün

Ḳavline aldanmañuz bir ‘ahd ü peymānsuzdur ol
İtdügi iḳrāra ṭurmaz hey ne īmānsuzdur ol
Yoḳ durur mihr ü vefādan ẕerrece anda eser
Şīve vü nāz u cefā isterseñ oransuzdur ol
Derd-i dilden bir devā ṣordum ṭabībe didi kim
Cān u dil derdine dermān umma dermānsuzdur ol
Her ne dil kim menzil-i ‘ışḳ olmaya olur ḫarāb
‘Āḳıbet vīrān olur şol yir ki sulṭānsuzdur ol
Hecr ile eyler güẕer ‘ömri ḳapuñda Ca‘ferüñ
Bülbül-i ḳudsī iken hayfā gülistānsuzdur ol

In English

1. Do not be deceived by her word, she is one without covenant or pledge; she does not keep the promise she made, how faithless she is.

2. There is not a mote of love or fidelity to be found in her; if you want coquetry, airs and cruelty, she is without measure.

3. I asked the physician for a remedy for the heart's pain; he said, "Hope for no cure for the pain of soul and heart; it is without remedy."

4. Every heart that is not the dwelling of love falls into ruin; in the end, a place without a sultan becomes desolate.

5. Ca'fer's life passes at your door in separation; alas, though he is a nightingale of the holy realm, he is without a rose garden.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Refrain Built on "-suz"

Every couplet counts a lack, and the refrain says so: "-suzdur ol", "he/she is without ...". The Turkish privative suffix is attached in each couplet to another word: peymānsuz (without pledge), īmānsuz (without faith), oransuz (without measure), dermānsuz (without remedy), sulṭānsuz (without a sultan), gülistānsuz (without a rose garden). Most of the words are Persian or Arabic; the "oran" of the second couplet, however, is Turkish and means measure, amount. The rhyme on "-ān" binds these lacks together.

The opening couplet is a warning. The beloved's word is not to be trusted; she does not keep her promise. The word "īmānsuz" is used here both for faithless and for untrustworthy, one whose word cannot be believed; together with "iḳrār" (avowal) in the same line, it applies a religious expression to a beloved's infidelity. The second couplet finds no trace of fidelity in the beloved, but if coquetry and cruelty are wanted, they are without measure.

A Place without a Sultan

The fourth couplet is built on a maxim from the language of politics: a place without a sultan becomes desolate in the end. The idea that a land left without a head will fall into ruin was a familiar thought among Ottoman statesmen; Câfer Çelebi, who was in state service, applies this maxim to the heart. A heart that is not the dwelling of love falls into ruin like a city without a sultan; the heart's sultan is love.

The third couplet is a physician scene. The lover asks the physician for a cure for the heart's pain; the physician's answer is that the pain is "dermānsuz", without remedy. The word also means "without strength, feeble". The pen-name couplet likens the lover to a nightingale of the holy realm; but this nightingale is deprived of a rose garden, and his life passes at the beloved's door in separation. The thesis notes no difference between the copies, and Nazmî's anthology does not show the ghazal.

Bibliography

Online sources