İnsanlarda bir adettir tebessüm,
Dar zamanlarda kuvvettir tebessüm.
Yakut dudaklar ile akşam üstü,
Şüpheli yerde rüşvettir tebessüm.
Taze taze bahar zamanlarda ki,
Sevenlere işarettir tebessüm.
Dediler ki hep; bir dilsiz dil vardır,
O dilsiz dilde evettir tebessüm.
Tanıdıklara ve yabancılara,
Ey Mâhî deme: "zahmettir tebessüm".
Composing gazels/ghazals in Turkish appeals a lot to me because you can put the words in almost any order you like (which comes in handy when using a redif/redeef) and the many words that rhyme with each other. Here is a translation:
Smiling is a tradition for people,
Smiling is a strength at hard times.
When it's night, at a suspicious place,
With ruby-lips, smiling is a bribe.
At the fresh times of spring,
Smiling is for the lovers a sign.
They said, there is a language without words,
Smiling means ''yes'' in that languages without words.
To the known and the strangers,
Don't say ''smiling is a hard thing to do'' o Mâhî.
