Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Dest-bāzī iderek la‘l-i güher-efşānın öp
Furṣat el virmiş iken bir dem ol adem cānın öp
Var ise başuñda devlet ḫāk olup yolında ḫoş
Gel ayaġına yüzüñ sür gil gibi dāmānın öp
Perde-i Beytü’l-Ḥarem’dür her nefes ta‘ẓīm idüp
Sür yüzüñe gözüñe bu zülf-i müşk-efşānın öp
Ḫaṭ getürmiş leblerin ṣormaġa saña ḫaṭṭ-ı yār
Göricek i‘zāz idüp yāruñ ḫaṭ-ı fermānın öp
Sāḳi-yi bezm olsa dilber isteme nuḳl-i lisān
Geh dilin em Ca‘ferā geh piste-i ḫandānın öp

In English

1. With sleight of hand kiss her pearl-scattering ruby lips; while opportunity gives you its hand, kiss for a moment that "nothingness" of a mouth, that soul. (The phrase "ol adem cānın" is obscure; since in divan poetry the beloved's mouth is called "nothingness" for its smallness, the line most likely rests on this motif.)

2. If fortune sits on your head, come and become dust on her road; rub your face on her feet and kiss her hem like the clay that clings to it.

3. These musk-scattering tresses are the veil of the Kaaba; with reverence at every breath, rub them on your face and eyes and kiss them.

4. The beloved's down has brought you a writ to ask after her lips; when you see it, show it honour and kiss the beloved's script of command. ("Ḫaṭ" means both the down on the cheek and writing.)

5. O Ca'fer, if the beloved is cupbearer at the gathering, do not ask for tongue as a relish; now suck her tongue, now kiss her laughing pistachio (her mouth).

Literary and Historical Commentary

A Ghazal in the Imperative

The refrain "öp" (kiss) is a command, and each couplet tells the lover, or the reader, what to do. Each couplet rhymes on "-ānın": efşānın, cānın, dāmānın, müşk-efşānın, fermānın, ḫandānın. The repetition of "efşān" (scattering) in the first and third couplets looks at first sight like a fault of rhyme; but since one is "güher-efşān" (pearl-scattering) and the other "müşk-efşān" (musk-scattering), the rhyme words are distinguished in their compound forms. The tone of the ghazal is informal: the lover advises himself not to miss his chance and to steal a kiss with sleight of hand (dest-bāzī).

The couplets arrange the things to be kissed like a ladder of reverence. In the second the lover becomes dust, rubs his face on the beloved's feet and kisses her hem like the clay (gil) that clings to it. The third likens the tresses to the covering of the Kaaba; as pilgrims rub their faces on the Kaaba's veil and kiss it, the lover rubs the tresses on his face and eyes. With the fourth, the down on the cheek becomes an imperial decree. Kissing a sultan's decree and raising it to the head was a known gesture of respect among the Ottomans; here the double meaning of "ḫaṭ", both the down on the cheek and writing, turns the down on the beloved's face into a script to be read and kissed.

The Relish of the Gathering

The drinking party supplies the language of the pen-name couplet. The relish (nuḳl) eaten with wine at the gathering is here "tongue"; the lover says that when the beloved is the cupbearer there is no need to ask for relish, her tongue and her mouth, called a "laughing pistachio", will be enough. The split pistachio is a familiar image for a small, smiling mouth. The pleasure-loving manner and free speech that Erünsal notes in Câfer Çelebi show plainly in this ghazal.

In the thesis's list of variants the Hâlet Efendi and Ayasofya copies go together. In both, the second line of the second couplet reads "Geh ayaġına yüzüñ sür gel gehī dāmānın öp" (now rub your face on her feet, now kiss her hem); the same copies read "ḫadd-i yār" (the beloved's cheek) instead of "ḫaṭṭ-ı yār" in the fourth couplet and "nuḳl u lisān" instead of "nuḳl-i lisān" in the last. The two also arrange the couplets in a different order.

Bibliography

Online sources