Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef'ûlü Fâ'ilâtü Mefâ'îlü Fâ'ilün

Zencîr-i zülf ü çâh-ı zeneḫdâna dil düşüp
Bir gözi yaşlu sâ’il-i zindân olup gezer
Bilmez ki niçe azıda aġyârı gezdirüp
Gören ṣanur Zemâniyi segbân olup gezer

In English

1. The heart has fallen into the chain of the beloved's locks and the well of the dimple in the chin; now it wanders about as a prison beggar with one tearful eye.

2. Whoever does not know how wildly he leads the rivals along behind him, seeing Zemânî, takes him for a segban walking the hunting hounds.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The two couplets we have are part of a ghazal (gazel) with the refrain word (redif) "olup gezer" (goes about as); the rhyme is the sound "-ân" in the words "zindân" and "segbân". Because the first lines do not rhyme, neither couplet is an opening couplet (matla); the second is the closing couplet (makta), in which the pen name (mahlas) appears. The rest of the ghazal is unknown. The couplets are given in Âşık Çelebi's biographical anthology of poets (tezkire), in the entry on Zemânî, with the words "Eş'âr-ı û" (his poems). Kınalızâde and Beyânî quote only the second couplet and read the redif as "olup gider"; they also give the first line of the couplet as "Bilmez ki kasdı âzîde agyâr gezdirüp" (Kınalızâde) or "Bilmez ki kasdı âzide agyârı gezdürüp" (Beyânî). The edition does not indicate the metre; the lines fit the pattern mef'ûlü fâ'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'ilün, and this identification is ours. When and to whom it was said is unknown.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first couplet builds a well-known chain of images in divan poetry. The beloved's curling locks are a chain that binds the lover's heart, and the dimple in the chin is a well into which one falls. The harmony between the words chain, well and prison is an example of congruence of images (tenasüp), and it also recalls the prophet Joseph, who was first thrown into a well and later fell into prison. The chained heart comes out of prison and wanders from street to street like a beggar with tearful eyes. The phrase "sâ’il-i zindân" suggests a prisoner who begs on behalf of those in prison or begs in chains; this interpretation is ours.

In the second couplet the poet plays on his own profession. The lover never leaves the beloved's door, and the rivals follow behind him; an onlooker takes Zemânî, walking at the head of this crowd, for a segban walking his dogs. In this way the rivals are likened to hunting hounds. When one remembers that Zamânî was secretary of the segbans in Şehzade Mustafa's court, the couplet takes on the character of an in-joke. The word "azı" in the line is written differently in the manuscripts and its meaning is not certain; it can be read in the sense of "wild, fierce", while manuscript F of Âşık Çelebi reads "azdura". In the reading "kasdı" found in Kınalızâde and Beyânî, the line means "whoever does not know with what purpose he leads the rivals about".

Historical Context

Âşık Çelebi gives these couplets after saying that the poet was "fond of finding meanings no ear had heard" and mentioning the kaside he wrote in the name of Celâlzâde; the segban comparison reads like an example of this description. For the poet's life, his place in the prince's household in Amasya and the differing accounts of his fate, see the article Zamânî Mahmud Çelebi.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources