Description
Mehmed the Conqueror.
And my translation of Sultan’s poem under his pen name Avni, ghazal (lyric poetry) no.2:
If my eyes shed tears of my heart’s pain about you,
Then my secret concealed would be obvious to you
You sit on the throne of beauty, while I stand on the soil of the road.
How should I help myself, an ant, while you are my Süleyman?
See him, the candle who is weeping at the gathering,
Oh, you are the beautiful candle who illuminates my room!
When the morning comes I am faithful, but love-stricken
When the day will end, oh you, my shining crescent!
Yesterday my rivals cried out their pain with grief,
The pursuers of love have suffered the misfortunes you had inflicted upon me.
My friend, it isn’t possible to explain the wound of heart’s pain,
That burning flash in my chest will show it to you.
Stop ruining Avni’s eyes and heart with your torture,
Because the pit of my sea can give pearls and jewels to you.
Avni. Translated from ottoman Turkish ©Elveo
Commentary for Poem of Mehmed i-Sani, Ghazal no.2
*Ghazal from arabic: ḡazala, “to display love to the loved one via speech, to exchange talk of love with the loved one”.
1. Çeşm-i giryânım – literally ‘my tears shed from eyes’ (çeşm [cheshm] – Persian word for eyes, ottoman Turkish has many Persian terms; giryân – in Ottoman Turkish literally means 'tears rolling ’ or to 'shed tears’)
2. Derd-i derûnum – the pain of my heart (derd – trouble, sorrow, misery, grief; derûn - the inside, inner part, soul)
3. Pinhân – secret, something hidden
4. Âşikâr – clear, open, obvious.
5. Hâk-i rehde pâymâl – lit. 'on the soil of street’, soil or dust may be an often poetic symbolism of being hopeless, homeless or being humble, for example: 'my heart fell behind the wind as road-dust’ or 'you whose road-dust is worth the blood money’ (poem of Hafiz).
6. Here the poet refers to himself in the second person, so literal translation is: 'How shall you supply yourself, an ant, while he’s your Süleyman?’ He compares himself to an ant – mûr, the popularity of the ant symbolism in Persian poetry is chiefly due to the story in the Koran (Sura 27: 17–19). According to legend a tiny ant once complained to the mighty king that the horses of his soldiers were disturbing the ants’ colonies, and Solomon heeded the insect’s complaint. This juxtaposition of highest power and grandeur with infinitesimal smallness and insignificance offered the poets wonderful possibilities for hyperbolic statements about their own unworthiness and the ruler’s, or the beloved’s, glorious position.’ (Schimmel)
7. Süleyman – a male name demonstrates that apparently his love-object wasn’t a female by any means, as he described his beloved like Suleiman, comparing him to the biblical Solomon who was well-known in poetry for his beauty and wisdom.
8. Şem – Candle symbolizes the beautiful beloved: tall, white, slim and made of fragrant (wax was mixed with ambergris); moth – the love-stricken poet who flies to the flame of love and burns himself.
9. Meclis – double meaning here: meclis was the social assembly or symposium, poets gathering, banquet or party, and the second translation of meclis is chamber, house, or place for council.
10. Şebistân – lit. bedroom, inner chambers,
11. Sâdık – loyal, faithful, devoted, never cheating, never betraying.
12. Gam-ı aşkında – sorrow of love.
13. Mâh-ı tâbân – shining moon, bright crescent (mâh-i base – same meaning); Tâbân is also a male name.
14. Rakîb – opponent, enemy, love rivals.
15. Şerhi – interpretation, written down explanation, commentary, meaning
16. Hicrân - sadness of heart, emotional pain, feeling of separation
17. Çâkin – sparkle, flash of light, lightning flash.
18. Bu bahr ile kânım – the phrase is explained by metaphors: the pit or mine - 'kân’ and the sea - 'bahr’ allude to eyes and tears, which offer true love veiled under the metaphor of 'pearls and gemstones’ (dürr ü gevherler).
Reference:
A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poetry. Annemarie Schimmel
Text and translation by ©Elveo-art.tumblr .