Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dil metā‘-ı vaṣla kim cān virmege iḳrār ider
Sen ṣanemden ġayrıdan ṣanma ki ol bāzār ider
Ḳıblesiydi her büt evvel şimdi nādimdür göñül
Ḳaşlaruñ miḥrābına girmişdür istiġfār ider
Yārı terk itmek ḳolaysuz ṭa‘n-ı düşmen daḫi güç
Ṭatlu cānından kişiyi acı söz bīzār ider
Öldürür yüz kez beni bir laḥẓada biñ nāz ile
Düşmen itmez dōstlar anı baña kim yār ider
Dōst ‘uşşāḳını ṣaymış Ca‘feri yād itmemiş
Beñzer ol bī-çārenüñ añmaġa adın ‘ār ider

In English

1. The heart agrees to give its soul for the merchandise of union; do not think, O idol, that it trades with anyone but you.

2. Once every idol was the heart's qibla; now it is repentant, it has entered the prayer niche of your brows and is asking forgiveness.

3. To leave the beloved is not easy, and the enemy's reproach is hard to bear; a bitter word makes a man weary of his sweet life.

4. With a thousand airs she kills me a hundred times in a moment; friends, what the beloved does to me no enemy would do.

5. My friend counted up her lovers and did not mention Ca'fer; she seems ashamed to speak that poor man's name.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Bargain in the Market

The opening couplet likens love to a bargain. The heart has agreed to give its soul as the price of the merchandise called union, that is, it has given its "consent" to the deal. The lover assures the beloved that the heart makes this bargain with her alone, the lovely idol called "ṣanem". The words "metā‘" (merchandise), "iḳrār" (consent, assent) and "bāzār" (trade) set up a congruence of images (tenasüp) from the language of trade. The refrain is "ider" (does), with the rhyme on "-ār": iḳrār, bāzār, istiġfār, bīzār, yār, ‘ār.

The second couplet fits the passage from idolatry to the worship of the one God to love. Formerly the heart took every beauty, every idol, as its qibla; now it has repented and, entering the prayer niche of the beloved's brows, asks forgiveness. Likening the arched brow to a prayer niche is a familiar image in divan poetry; here the niche becomes the place where the heart repents and binds itself to a single beloved.

A Bitter Word, a Sweet Life

The third couplet sets up a contrast with the flavour of a proverb: a bitter word makes a man weary of his sweet life. Placing "bitter" beside "sweet" is an antithesis; the phrase "tatlı can", sweet life, is still used today. The lover is caught between two fires: it is not easy to leave the beloved, yet he cannot bear the enemy's reproach. The Paris copy reads "il sözi", the talk of people, for "acı söz" (bitter word) and ties the reproach to society. The fourth couplet turns the pain to the beloved: with a thousand airs she kills him a hundred times in a moment, and what she does not even an enemy would do.

The pen-name couplet is a small scene of hurt feelings: the beloved has counted her lovers one by one but has not mentioned Ca'fer; it is as if she were ashamed to speak his name. The thesis records two more variants: the Paris copy has "aña" for "göñül" in the second couplet, while the Hâlet Efendi and Ayasofya copies raise "yüz kez" (a hundred times) in the fourth to "biñ kez" (a thousand times). Nazmî did not add this ghazal to his collection.

Bibliography

Online sources