Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Ṭutmaz ayaġı elüm bâde-i nâb olmayıcaḳ
Gelmez ʿaḳlum başuma mest ü ḫarâb olmayıcaḳ

In English

1. Unless there is pure wine, my hands and feet are powerless; unless I am drunk and ruined, my reason does not come back to me.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The couplet is the opening couplet (matla) of a ghazal (gazel), and both its lines end with the same rhyme and redif (refrain word). The redif is "olmayıcaḳ" (unless there is, unless I am), and the rhyme is the sound "-âb" in the words "nâb" and "ḫarâb". The rest of the ghazal is unknown; the couplet appears only in Latîfî's biographical anthology of poets (tezkire), as the first example in Zârî's entry. The edition of the tezkire does not indicate the metre. When and to whom it was said is unknown.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet rests on a logic built against common sense. When an ordinary man drinks wine his limbs fail him and his reason leaves his head; with the poet it is exactly the reverse. It is wine that gives him strength and wine that brings his reason back. This reversal is built on the negative forms of two idioms, "eli ayağı tutmak" (to have the use of one's hands and feet) and "aklı başına gelmek" (to come to one's senses), and gives the couplet a witty air. It is also worth noting that in the first line the word "ayaġ" also meant "cup" in old Turkish: "Ṭutmaz ayaġı elüm" can be understood both as "my hand and foot are powerless" and as "my hand cannot hold the cup". This observation of a double entendre (tevriye) is ours. "Bâde-i nâb" is unmixed, pure wine; "mest ü ḫarâb" describes the state of being drunk and ruined. The word "ḫarâb" in the second line is one that divan poetry associates with the tavern and the life of the libertine (rind); it comes from the same root as harabat, the tavern.

Historical Context

Latîfî gives this matla immediately after the sentences describing the poet's life. According to him Zârî, a student (dânişmend) distinguished by learning and intelligence and possessing a fine hand and well-liked poetry, gave all his attention to wine parties, so that he left his studies unfinished and "the daughter of the vine" carried off his reason. The writer ties this account together with the words "Keyfiyyet-i ḥâli bu maṭlaʿından maʿlûmdur", his condition can be seen from this matla. The couplet is thus presented not only as a sample of poetry but also as a testimony to the poet's character. For Zârî's life, his post as secretary in Şehzade Mustafa's Amasya divan and the other records about him, see the article Zârî Mehmed Çelebi.

Bibliography

Online sources