Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Leyle-i Mi‘rāca irdük ḫoş ṣafāmuz var bizüm
Kim bu şeb bir māh ṭal‘at Muṣṭafāmuz var bizüm
Māhı gösterdi şafaḳdan reşk idüp gerdūn bize
Gördi rengīn cāmelü bir mehliḳāmuz var bizüm
‘Aḳlumı zülfi ṭaġıtdı sen daḫi ey ḫaṭ gelüp
Bir belā olma bize yiter belāmuz var bizüm
Ẓulm idüp çeşmüñ şehā her dem bize ḳan aġladur
Ol siyehkār ile ḫaylī mācerāmuz var bizüm
‘Āşıḳuz dīdāra Ca‘fer bizde cennet şevḳi yoḳ
Ol hevesden fāriġüz özge hevāmuz var bizüm

In English

1. We have reached the Night of the Ascension, we have a pleasant delight; for tonight we have a moon-faced Mustafa.

2. Out of envy the sky showed us the moon from the twilight; it saw that we have a moon-faced one in a colourful robe.

3. His tresses have scattered my reason; O down, do not you too come and be a calamity to us; we have calamity enough.

4. My king, your eye does wrong and makes us weep blood every moment; we have had a good many adventures with that black-deeded one.

5. O Ca'fer, we are lovers of the sight of the face, we have no longing for Paradise; we are free of that desire, we have another passion.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Mustafa on the Night of the Ascension

The opening couplet shows that the ghazal was written in connection with a particular night: "Leyle-i Mi‘rāc", the Night of the Ascension, on which the Prophet's ascent to heaven is commemorated. "Muṣṭafā", one of the Prophet's names, comes in the second line as the rhyme word; but here it describes a moon-faced beloved. On that night the lover has met a "māh-ṭal‘at Muṣṭafā", a moon-faced Mustafa. It appears that the beloved's name was Mustafa and that the ghazal tells of a meeting on the Night of the Ascension; a holy night and a beloved's name meet in the same line. Who Mustafa was is not known; like Pîrî in ghazal 107, he is a beloved called by name.

The rhyme ends in "-ā" and is followed by the refrain "-muz var bizüm" ("we have our ..."): ṣafā, Muṣṭafā, mehliḳā, belā, mācerā, hevā. The sky of the second couplet grows envious and shows the moon from the twilight that night, but sees that on earth there is a moon-faced beloved in a colourful robe. The redness of the twilight corresponds to the beloved's colourful robe. The Manchester and Cairo copies read "reng idüp" for "reşk idüp" in this couplet, and the Hâlet Efendi and Ayasofya copies "germ olup".

We Have Calamity Enough

The third couplet speaks in an everyday voice: the tresses have scattered the lover's reason; let the down not appear and be a new calamity, "yiter belāmuz var bizüm", we have calamity enough already. The beloved's eye in the fourth couplet is "siyehkār": the word means both black in colour and sinful, evil-doing. The lover has had "ḫaylī mācerā", a good many stories, with this black eye.

The pen-name couplet compares Paradise with the beloved's face. Lovers are in love with "dīdār", the sight of the face; they have no longing for Paradise. The words "heves" (desire) and "hevā" (passion) are used side by side: the lover is free of the desire for Paradise, he has another passion. The religious air of the Night of the Ascension turns in this last couplet into a choice of love. The Manchester and Cairo copies read "sebebden" for "hevesden" in this couplet. Nazmî's anthology does not contain this ghazal of the Night of the Ascension.

Bibliography

Online sources