Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Yāra düşmen düşmene yār olubdur dōstlar
Yār ile işüm ‘aceb düşvār olubdur dōstlar
Her ne ḥālüm var ise yār-ı perīruḫsār ile
Hep sürūd-ı meclis-i aġyār olubdur dōstlar
Gāh dīvārı dibinde geh ḳapusında raḳīb
Gūyiyā seng-i der-i dildār olubdur dōstlar
Gül gibi her ḫāra ol yüz virdügiçün ḫāṭırum
Dāġ-ı ġamdan lāleveş efgār olubdur dōstlar
İtsem aḫterden şikāyet tañ mı rūz-ı vaṣlda
Kendü eşküm mānī‘-i dīdār olubdur dōstlar
Dest-būs-ı yāra irüp şāḫ-ı devletden raḳīb
Āh u vāveylā ki berḫurdār olubdur dōstlar
Ādemi bīzār ider cāndan çü hercāyī güzel
Ca‘fer ol cāndan bilüñ bīzār olubdur dōstlar

In English

1. Friends, the beloved has become an enemy to me and a friend to my enemy; my affair with the beloved has grown very hard.

2. Whatever my state with the fairy-faced beloved, friends, it has all become a song sung at the rivals' gathering.

3. The rival is now at the foot of her wall, now at her door; friends, it is as if he had become the stone of the beloved's threshold.

4. Because, like the rose, she gives her face to every thorn, friends, my heart has been wounded like the tulip with the brand of grief.

5. Is it any wonder if I complain of my star on the day of union? Friends, my own tears have kept me from seeing the beloved's face.

6. The rival has reached the beloved's hand to kiss it and eaten the fruit of the branch of fortune; friends, alas and alack.

7. A fickle beauty makes a man weary of his life; friends, know that Ca'fer too has grown weary of his.

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Complaint to Friends

Here the lover does not address the beloved; he turns to his listeners, his friends, and tells what has befallen him as if it were news. The refrain carries this address: "olubdur dōstlar", "has become, friends". This address gives the ghazal the air of a conversation of complaint. Each couplet reports something the rival has gained and the lover lost: the beloved has become the enemy's friend, the lover's state has become a song at the rivals' gathering, the rival never leaves the beloved's door, it is he who kisses her hand. The rhyme is built on "-ār": yār, düşvār, aġyār, dildār, efgār, dīdār, berḫurdār, bīzār.

The phrase "Yāra düşmen düşmene yār" in the opening is an example of reversal (‘aks): the same two words are used a second time with their places exchanged. The rival of the third couplet, since he never leaves the foot of the beloved's door, resembles its stone; in the Paris, Hâlet Efendi and Ayasofya copies the phrase reads "seng-i der ü dīvār", the stone of door and wall. In the fourth the lover's heart has been branded like the tulip because the rose gives its face to every thorn; the rose's being found together with thorns answers to the beloved's being found together with rivals.

The Fruit of the Branch of Fortune

The fifth couplet finds a reason for the lover's ill luck: the day of union has come, but his tears keep him from seeing the beloved's face; he may well complain of his star. In the sixth the word "berḫurdār" describes eating the fruit of a tree and having one's share. The rival has reached the "branch of fortune", kissed the beloved's hand and eaten the fruit of that branch; for the lover there remains only "āh u vāveylā", alas and alack. The Manchester and Cairo copies begin this line "Āh u dād eyle ki".

The epithet "hercāyī" stands out in the pen-name couplet: the fickle beauty who calls everywhere and is bound to no one makes a man weary of his life. Ca'fer, too, has grown weary of his. The third couplet changes once more in the copies: Erünsal's thesis has "ṭaşında" for "dibinde" in the Hâlet Efendi copy, while the Ayasofya copy gives yet another reading. Nazmî's anthology lacks this ghazal of complaint.

Bibliography

Online sources