Original Ottoman Turkish Text
Metre: fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün
Üstine gülden düşer gülzāra girse in‘ikās
Bilmeyen geymiş ṣanur ol servi gül-gūnī libās
Cism-i pākinden ider kesb-i leṭāfet cāmesi
Ol leṭāfetden ḳoparur in‘ikas ol iltibās
Āteş urur cānına mecmu‘-ı ‘ālem ḫalḳınuñ
Eyleyüp yāruñ libāsın āteşīn ol in‘ikas
Yandum āteş-gūn libāsından ben anuñ derdi yoḳ
Gerçi od anı yaḳar kim ol ola aña mümāss
Vaṣla me’nūs olmış iken hecre ṣalma Ca‘feri
Ḫoş degül bir cāme ba‘żı aṭlas u ba‘żı palās
In English
1. If she enters the rose garden, a reflection falls on her from the roses; one who does not know thinks that cypress is wearing a rose-coloured garment.
2. Her garment gains fineness from her pure body; and from that fineness the reflection gives rise to an illusion.
3. When that reflection makes the beloved's garment fire-coloured, it sets fire to the souls of all the people of the world.
4. I was burned by her fire-coloured garment, and she has no care; true, fire burns only what touches it.
5. Having grown used to union, do not cast Ca'fer into separation; it is not pleasing for a garment to be satin on one side and sackcloth on the other.
Literary and Historical Commentary
A Reflected Garment
The ghazal is a play of light and colour. The beloved enters the rose garden; the red of the roses is reflected on her, and one who does not know thinks that the cypress-tall beloved is wearing a rose-coloured garment. The second couplet explains the cause of this illusion: the garment has gained fineness and transparency from the beloved's pure body, and so it shows the reflection falling on it as if it were its own colour. In the third the reflection dyes the garment the colour of fire, and that fire falls on the souls of all the people of the world. The rhymes gather on "-ās": in‘ikās, libās, iltibās, mümāss, palās; the word "in‘ikās" (reflection) is used as a rhyme in three couplets and is the central idea of the ghazal.
Erünsal cites the fourth couplet as an example of Câfer Çelebi's bringing truths accepted by everyone into his poetry: fire burns only what touches it. The lover has been burned by the beloved's fire-coloured garment, yet the beloved has no care at all; for the fire burns not the beloved wrapped in the garment but the lover who touches it. The truth itself does not change; its application in the poem becomes a reproach.
Satin and Sackcloth
The pen-name couplet sets two fabrics against each other: satin (atlas), a silky, shining cloth, and palas, a coarse weave like sackcloth. A garment satin on one side and sackcloth on the other would not look well; the lover, too, having grown used to union, does not want to be thrown into separation. The couplet recalls the saying "either satin or sackcloth" and closes the ghazal by tying its image of dress to a piece of advice.
The "ḳoparur in‘ikās" of the second couplet becomes "ḳopar bu in‘ikās" in the Paris, Ayasofya and Hâlet Efendi copies, by the comparison in the thesis; in the third the Ayasofya and Hâlet Efendi copies have "urup" for "urur". The second line of the fourth couplet reads "kim ol aña ola" in the Paris copy and "kim od aña ola" in the Hâlet Efendi copy. Nazmî's collection of response poems shows no trace of this ghazal.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- İsmail E. Erünsal (ed.), Tâcî-zâde Ca‘fer Çelebi Dîvânı, Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018 (e-book), pp. 377-378, ghazal no. 73. https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/TR-211662/taci-zade-cafer-celebi-divani.html
- İsmail E. Erünsal, "Ca‘fer Çelebi'nin Edebî Kişiliği", introduction to Tâcî-zâde Ca‘fer Çelebi Dîvânı, Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018 (e-book), p. 59 (statements accepted by all). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
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. 73 (variants). https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/17182
Online sources
