Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Ṣubḥumı şām itdi dün bir meh-liḳāya uġradum
Ne ‘aceb ḥāl oldı baña ne belāya uġradum
Çeşmi dünyānuñ ḳażāsını ḳopardı başuma
Baḳmış oldum bir naẓar nāgeh ḳażāya uġradum
Zülfin añup dā’imā aġladuġumdan añla kim
Ne uzun uzaḳ perīşān mācerāya uġradum
Ġayretümden ditredüm dem urdı mihrüñden raḳīb
Ṭutdı ḥummālar beni nā-ḫoş havāya uġradum
Bir bunuñ gibi sitemkāra ṣataşmadum daḫi
Gerçi Ca‘fer niçe niçe bī-vefāya uġradum

In English

1. Yesterday I came upon a moon-faced one, and she turned my morning into evening; what a strange state befell me, what a calamity I met.

2. Her eye brought down the world's misfortune on my head; I looked once and suddenly met with disaster.

3. From my weeping ever as I remember her tresses, understand what a long, long and tangled adventure I have met.

4. When the rival boasted of your love I trembled with jealousy; fevers seized me, I have met with unwholesome air.

5. O Ca'fer, though I have met with many and many a faithless one, I never ran into a tyrant like this one.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Bad Air and Fever

The fourth couplet applies a belief of old medicine to a scene of jealousy. Feverish illnesses, especially malaria, were believed to come from corrupt and unwholesome air. The rival has "dem urmuş", boasted of the beloved's love, spoken of it; and the word "dem" also means breath. On hearing this the lover trembled with jealousy, and "ḥummālar", bouts of fever, seized him. The rival's breath is a "nā-ḫoş havā", an unwholesome air that makes the lover ill. Trembling and fever, the bodily signs of jealousy, are likened to the symptoms of disease.

The refrain "-a uġradum" means "I came upon, I met with", and the rhyme before it ends in "-ā": meh-liḳā, belā, ḳażā, mācerā, havā, bī-vefā. The ghazal as a whole relates the consequences of an encounter. In the opening couplet the lover came upon a "meh-liḳā", a moon-faced one, and his morning became evening: the moon belongs to the night, and the day of the lover who meets a moon-faced one turns to night.

One Glance, One Disaster

The second couplet plays on the two meanings of the word "naẓar": a glance, and the touch of the evil eye. The lover looked once and suddenly "met with disaster"; the beloved's eye has brought down all the world's misfortune on his head. In popular belief the touch of an evil eye brings unexpected calamities; here it is the beloved's beautiful eye that brings the calamity. Here the Paris copy reads "tā ki" for "nāgeh" in this couplet.

The third couplet carries the length and disorder of the tresses over into a story: what has befallen the lover is a "long, long and tangled" adventure. The expression "uzun uzaḳ" comes from spoken language. The pen-name couplet also closes on an everyday comparison: the lover has met many faithless ones, but never "ran into" a tyrant "like this one". The Hâlet Efendi and Ayasofya copies read "‘ışḳuñdan" for "mihrüñden" in the fourth couplet. Nazmî's anthology does not show it.

Bibliography

Online sources