Original
Ey vücûd-i kâmilin esrâr-i hikmet masdarı Masdarı zâtın olan eşyâ sıfâtın mahzarı Mahzarı her hikmetin sensin ki kilk-i kudretin Safha-i eflâke nakş etmiş hutût-i ahteri Ahteri mes’ûd olan oldur ki tab’-i pâk ilen Kâbili feyz ola lûtfundan safâ-yi cevheri Cevheri ma’yûb olan nâkış benim kim muttasıl Sâdedir hattın hayâlinden zamîrîm defteri Defteri a’mâlimin hatt-i hatâdandır siyâh Kan döker çeşmim hayâl ettikçe hevl-i mahşeri Mahşeri eşkim verir seyl-âba Ger Rûz-i cezâ Olmada makbûl-i der-gâhın sirişkim gevheri Gevheridir aşk bahrinin Fuzûlî âb-i çeşm Lîk bir gevher ki lûtf-i Hak anadır müşterî
—Fuzuli, 1562
Translation
O Thou Perfect Being, Source whence wisdom’s mysteries arise; Things, the issue of Thine essence show where thy nature lies. Manifester of all wisdom, Thou are He whose pen of might Hath with rays of star illumined yonder gleaming page, the skies That a happy star, indeed, the essence clear of whose bright self Truly knowth how the blessing from Thy word that flow to prize But a jewel flawed am faulty I: alas for ever stands Blank the page of my heart’s journal from thought of Thy writing wise In the journal of my actions Evil’s lines are black indeed; When I think of Day of Gathering’s terrors blood flows from my eyes Gathering of my tears will form a torrent on the Reckoning day; If the pearls, my tears, rejecting, He but view them to despise. Pearls my tears are, O Fuzuli, from the ocean deep of love; But they’re pearls these, Oh! Most surely, that the Love of Allah buys!
—Translation by Elias John Wilkinson Gibb, 1901
Analysis
This is a gazel style poem that was originally written in Turkish. This translation was done by Elias John Wilkinson Gibb. A gazel is a love poem, however they are allegories; the subject of these love poems are not for the love of a particular person, instead they are for the love of Allah (Gibb, 1901, 9). Each word in the poem has a separate, significant meaning to those who know the language of the gazel. This poem is about the flawed nature of humanity and of the writer, as he fears judgment day due to his actions in life.
The meter of the poem is known as a qasida. In a qasida style poem, the first two lines rhyme together, and then every other line rhymes throughout the poem. This rhyme scheme appears in every gazel and was strongly influenced by Persian poets of the time (Gibb, 1901, 4). We are fortunate that this translation manages to maintain the meter of the original, despite the big differences between Turkish and English languages. When we look at the original text of the poem, we notice that this is composed in a “chain verse” style as well, where the last word of each couplet is repeated as the first word in the next couplet throughout the poem. Unfortunately this is not apparent in the translation to English.
Translations of Turkish poems done by Gibb have been criticized (Black et al., 2006, 9) as being more focused on the formal features and obscure references of Ottoman poetry. The format of Gibb’s English translation does not appeal particularly to the modern ear and sensibilities. In the original Turkish, these poems are filled with language specific puns and allegories that do make translating Ottoman poems into English a difficult task (Andrews, 2004, 22). However, no large translation project has been attempted since Gibb in 1901.
This poem was written by Mahammad bin Suleyman, better known by his pen name Fuzuli, who is considered one of the great masters of Ottoman poetry (Warner et al., 2005, 12). The name Fuzuli literally means “impertinent, improper, unnecessary”, which was an intentional, playful choice made by the author. The poem follows standard gazel convention, wherein the poet’s pen name is mentioned in the last or in this case, second to last line (Black et al., 2006, 8).
References
- Andrews, W. G. (2004). In Pursuit of a Poem: Reflections on Translating Ottoman Turkish Poetry. Translation Review, 68(1), 22-32.
- Black, N., Andrews, W. G., & Kalpaklı, M. (Eds.). (2006). Ottoman Lyric Poetry: An Anthology (Publications on the Near East). University of Washington Press.
- Gibb, E. J. W. (2016). Ottoman Literature: The Poets and Poetry of Turkey; Translated From the Arabic With Introduction and Biographical Notes (Classic Reprint). FB&C Limited.
- Warner, J., & Halman, T. S. (Eds.). (2005). Nightingales and Pleasure Gardens: Turkish Love Poems. Syracuse University Press.