Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Gülşen-i ḥüsnüñ ne nāzük bāġ-ı ‘izz ü nāz olur
K’anda nergis nāvek-efken gül kemend-endāz olur
‘Āşıḳ ol kebk-i ḫırāmānı ‘aceb mi ḳılsa ṣayd
Hemdem-i şāhīn-i ‘ışḳ olsa meges şehbāz olur
Geh düm-i ṭāvus olur ṣūretde geh perr-i ġurāb
Sünbül-i gülpūş-ı dilber hey ne ṣūret-bāz olur
Ḳış irişdi ḳoma elden dāmenin anuñ kim ol
Açılup meclisde gülse gül açılup yaz olur
Çoḳ zamāndur yolda daḫi görmez olduḳ yārı biz
Gelmemek gerçi belā ‘āşıḳ yolına az olur
‘Işk u sevdādur iden esrār-ı ḥüsni ḫalḳa fāş
‘Işḳ ile müşk ey büt-i Çīn ü Ḫaṭā ġammāz olur
Giryeden Ca‘fer murādın idemez yāra edā
Çeng her dem kim nem ola nagmesi nāsāz olur

In English

1. What a delicate garden of honour and coyness is the rose garden of your beauty, where the narcissus shoots arrows and the rose casts a lasso.

2. Is it any wonder if the lover hunts that strutting partridge? If it becomes the companion of the falcon of love, even a fly becomes a royal falcon.

3. The beloved's hyacinth (tresses) that veils the rose looks now like a peacock's tail, now like a crow's wing; what a conjurer of shapes it is.

4. Winter has come; do not let go of her skirt, for if she opens up and laughs at the gathering, the rose opens and it becomes summer.

5. For a long time now we have not even seen the beloved on the road; though it is rare indeed that no affliction comes on a lover's road.

6. O idol of China and Cathay, it is love and passion that reveal the secrets of beauty to the people; love and musk are tell-tales.

7. From weeping Ca'fer cannot put his wish to the beloved; whenever the harp grows damp its melody goes out of tune.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Hunter and Prey

Of the responses that Nazmî's anthology gathers on Necâtî's ghazal beginning "Yâr mâyil olıcak mihr ü mahabbet az olur", Câfer Çelebi's comes first; it is followed by İshak Çelebi of Skopje, Atâ, Visâlî, Lâmi'î, Zâtî, Revânî, Mesîhî, Sun'î-i Pîr, Şerîfî of Sinop and Nazmî. The refrain is "olur" (becomes), the rhyme "-āz": nāz, endāz, şehbāz, ṣūret-bāz, yaz, az, ġammāz, nāsāz.

The first two couplets are built in the language of hunting. In the garden of beauty the narcissus, that is, the eye, is an archer shooting arrows; the rose casts a lasso. In divan poetry the beloved's gait is likened to a strutting partridge; the lover may hunt that partridge, for even a fly that becomes the companion of the falcon of love turns into a royal falcon (şehbāz). This contrast between the greatest of hunting birds and the smallest of creatures says that love makes even the weakest strong. The beloved's tresses in the third couplet are a conjurer: depending on the light they look now colourful like a peacock's tail, now black like a crow's wing.

Love and Musk

The sixth couplet is built on a well-known saying: love and musk cannot be hidden. Musk betrays itself by its scent, love by the lover's state. In the couplet the beloved is an idol of China and Cathay, the land of musk, and what spreads the secrets of her beauty among people is the lover's love and passion. "Ġammāz" means a tell-tale, one who carries secrets; love and musk are therefore counted tell-tales. The fourth couplet plays with the seasons: winter has come, but if the beloved laughs at the gathering, the rose opens and it becomes summer.

The pen-name couplet rests on an observation about a musical instrument. When the strings of the harp grow damp the sound is spoiled and plays out of tune; Ca'fer, too, being wet with weeping, cannot put his wish properly to the beloved. Some variants change the sense. According to Erünsal's thesis, the Cairo copy reads "melek" (angel) for "meges" (fly) in the second couplet; the Manchester and Cairo copies read "gül gelse açılur" for "gülse gül açılup" in the fourth and "yazı" for "yārı" in the fifth; the Hâlet Efendi and Ayasofya copies give "esrār-ı ‘ışḳı" for "esrār-ı ḥüsni" in the sixth and "saña" for "yāra" in the last.

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. 55 (variants). https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/17182

Official sources

Online sources