Thanks be to God, the reign of the world passes away; our name remains lasting on the page of the world.
Minnet Hudâ'ya devlet-i dünyâ fenâ bulur
Bâkî kalur sahîfe-i âlemde adumuz
Baki, Dîvân, last couplet of the ghazal opening "Fermân-ı aşka cân iledür inkıyâdumuz" (16th century).
Baki gives thanks.
That the sovereignty of the world will fall.
A strange thanks.
Then the line turns:
What remains is our name.
The word baki does two jobs here.
It means lasting,
and it is the poet's own name.
Possessions go.
A word well said remains.
Whoever reads this line
does not remember those empires.
He reads the poet's name.