Kınalızade Hasan Çelebi (Qınalızāde Ḥasan Çelebi) (953–1012/1546–1604) was an Ottoman poet and author of a tezkire-i şuara (tedhkire-i şuʿarāʾ, biographical chronicle of poets). He was born in Bursa in 953/1546, into a family known by the name of Kınalızadeler (Qınalızādeler). A disciple of the Ottoman kadı (qāḍī, judge) and scholar Ebussuud (Abū l-Suʿūd) Efendi (897–982/1491–1574), he received an education that matched his family’s high status. He worked as a müderris (mudarris, professor) and kadı (qāḍī) in a number of locations, including Bursa, Edirne, Gelibolu (G…

Kınalızade Ali (Qınālızāde ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī) Efendi (916–79/1510–72), an Ottoman scholar and judge, was the author of Ahlak-ı Alai ( Akhlāq-i ʿAlāʾī, “ʿAlāʾī Ethics”), a popular treatise on Ottoman political and social morality. Born to a high-ranking judge in Isparta, in central Anatolia, Kınalızade studied in Istanbul for a career in the Ottoman legal establishment. After receiving his icazet ( icāzet, licence to teach) in 945/1538, he took several teaching positions in Istanbul, Edirne, Bursa, and Kütahya (948–66/1541–58), followed by the prestigious…

Beyani (Beyānī, d. 1006/1597), whose real name was Mustafa (Muṣṭafā) and who was known to have had the nickname Carullahzade (Cārullāhzāde), was an Ottoman author about whose life we have little information. While the majority of sources inform us that he was born in Rusçuk—currently a town in Bulgaria—others claim that his birthplace was Niğbolu (also in modern Bulgaria). Beyani began his education in his home town before furthering it in Istanbul. Having received the talik icazet ( taʿlīq icāzet, talik) from Şükrüllah Halife (Şükrüllāh Khalīfe, d. 950/1543) and become a …

Danişi, Süleymanegizade Piri Çelebi (Dānişī, Süleymānegīzāde Pīrī Çelebi, d. 969/1561), was a tenth/sixteenth-century divan ( dīvān, high-culture) poet from Kayseri. His date of birth is unknown, and the best information about him, even if superficial, comes from tenth/sixteenth-century tezkires ( tedhkires, poets’ biographies). Türk dili ve edebiyatı ansiklopedisi states that his original name was Mehmed (Meḥmed) and that he was known as Süleymanegizade Pir (Süleymānegīzāde Pīr) Çelebi, while contemporary tezkires (Aşık [ʿĀşıq] Çelebi; Kınalızade Hasan [Qınalızā…

Figani (Fighānī, d. 938/1532) was the pen name of Ramazan (Ramaḍān) of Trabzon, an Ottoman poet who was executed for composing a couplet that accused the grand vizier İbrahim (İbrāhīm) Paşa (d. 942/1536) of idolatry for erecting three statues in front of his palace. When the couplet, which circulated openly, was attributed to Figani, the poet was quickly arrested, exhibited publicly on a mule, and strangled at the fish market in Istanbul’s Eminönü district. Executions of poets were rare in Ottoman Istanbul, and this event seems to have aroused great consternation in t…

Arşi (ʿArşī) was the pen-name of Mahmud (Maḥmūd) Çelebi, who was probably born sometime in the early tenth/sixteenth century, in Yenipazar (Rumeli), whence his by-name Yenipazarlı (Yenipāzārlı). Information concerning his life is sparse, and the sources do not always agree in their reports. There are even differing opinions on his name: according to most tezkires ( tez kires, poets’ biographies) his name was Mahmud (Maḥmūd), but Riyazi (Riyāżī, d. 1054/1644), Şemseddin Sami (Şemseddīn Sāmī, d. 1904), and the Sicill-i ʿOsmānī all state that his name was Mehmed (Meḥmed), alt…

Hudayi (Khudāyī, also erroneously Hüdāyī, Hüdāʾī) Mustafa (Muṣṭafā) Bey, given the byname Okçuzade (Oqçızāde), was an Ottoman janissary and poet born to a janissary on an unknown date in Istanbul. The meagre information we have about his life comes from a rhymed petition that he wrote to Sultan Süleyman (Süleymān) I (r. 926–74/1520–66) after having been demoted from his position of scribe, seeking a post in Istanbul, his home town. His professional career, like his father’s, was in the Ottoman military. He was enlisted as a janissary for more than twenty years, reaching the rank of yaya-ba…

Bahari (Bahārī) (885/6–958/1481–1551) was an Ottoman poet. He was born in Tırhala (Trikala) in Rumeli (present-day Thessaly), and given the name Ali (ʿAlī) by his parents. His pen-name was initially Kemali (Kemālī), but later he changed it to Bahari. Kadıasker Seyyidi Çelebi (Qāḍī-ʿasker Seyyidī Çelebi) made him a mülazim ( mülāzim, lecturer), and he originally worked as a müderris (professor) in Karaferye (Béroia, present-day Vérria in Macedonia) and Edirne. Âşık (ʿĀşıq) Çelebi (d. 979/1572) states in his tezkire ( tedhkire-i şuʿarā, poets’ biographies) that it is evident …

Cem Sadisi (Cem Saʿdīsi, Saʿdī-i Cem, “Saʿdī of [Prince] Cem”) was a ninth/fifteenth century high culture ( divan) poet and the best known of the “Cem Poets”. His real name is Sadullah (Saʿdullāh), although in his poems he used the pen name Sadi (Saʿdī). His father’s name was Mustafa. He was born in Sivrihisar (formerly Karahisar, Seferihisar) in west central Anatolia (Beyani [Beyānī],40; Āli [ʿĀlī], 137), but some biographers give his birthplace as Siroz, an area near to the larger town of Sivrihisar, close to the province (eyalet) Karaman in south central Anatolia (Latifi [Latīf…

Arşi (ʿArşī) Dede was born in Tire (Western Anatolia, near Izmir) sometime in the tenth/sixteenth century, hence his sobriquet Tireli (resp. Tirevī in Ottoman). Little is known about his life, only that he was an educated man who initially worked as a müderris (professor) before becoming a Mevlevi (Mevlevī) dervish and moving to the Peloponnese (Mora). He stayed in a number of different places there before his death, the date of which is unknown, in a Mevlevi convent (tekke/tekye). When Âşık (ʿĀşıq) Çelebi (d. 1572/979) wrote his Tezkire ( Tedhkire, book of poets’ biographies, compl…

Günahi (Günāhī, d. 988/1580–1), whose real name was Hasan (Ḥasan), appears in some poetry collections as Hasan Baba, Baba Hasan, or Hasan Dede. He was from Vardar Yenicesi (Giannitsa, in present-day northern Greece). He was educated in Mevlevi (Mevlevī) Ṣūfī lodges, but nothing more is known about his education. He was trained by Yusuf-ı Sineçak (Yūsuf-ı Sīneçāk, d. 953/1546–7) as a Mevlevi. While Aşık Çelebi (Āşık Çelebī, d. 979/1572) was writing his tezkire (biographical work), Günahi was teaching Persian in Selanik (Thessaloniki) for a small fee. Judging from the…

Aşık Mehmed b. Ömer b. Bayezid (Aşık Mehmed;ʿĀshiq Muḥammad), an Ottoman traveller and cosmographer, was born in Trabzon (in present-day Turkey) around 963–4/1555–6, as the son of a teacher in a local medrese ( madrasa). He spent most of his adult life travelling and serving alims ( ʿālims, including Kınalızade Hüseyin (Qınalızāde Ḥüseyn) and Taşköprüzade Kemaleddin (Ṭaşköprüzāde Kemāleddīn), d. 1030/1621), military officials (such as Özdemiroğlu Osman (Özdemiroghlu ʿOthmān) Paşa, d. 993/1585), and prince Mehmed (Meḥmed, the future Sultan Me…

Andelibi (ʿAndelībī, Kastamonulu, fl. tenth/sixteenth century) was an Ottoman divan (dīvān, high culture) poet, originally from Kastamonu (in north-central Anatolia). His real name was Hasan (Ḥasan), and he lived under the aegis of Sultan Mehmed (Meḥmed) II (r. 848–50/1444–6 and 855–86/1451–81). Sources from his era provide the only evidence about his life and work, and his biographical information is mostly recorded in şuara tezkireleri (şuʿarā tedhkireleri, poets’ biographies). Andelibi worked as a religious official in Istanbul, where he achieved fame as a Qu…

Born in Baghdad, Ahdi’s (ʿAhdī’s) real name, according to Aşık Çelebi (ʿĀşıq Çelebi, 926–79/1520–72) and Riyazi (Riyīżā, d. 1054/1644), was Mehdi (Mehdī), while according to Ali (ʿĀlī, 948–1008/1541–1600) it was Ahmed (Aḥmed) and he was known as Ahdi-i Bağdadi (ʿAhdī-yi Baghdādī). Ahdi was born into an intellectual family, his father being a man called Şemseddin (Şemseddīn) who had written poems under the pen-name Şemsi. After completing his education, Ahdi left Baghdad for Ottoman lands in 960/155…

Avni (ʿAvnī) was the pen name of Mehmed (Meḥmed) II (r. 848–50/1444–6 and 855–86/1451–81), who was both the Ottoman sultan and a poet. The son of Murad (Murād) II (r. 824–48/1421–44 and 850–5/1446–51) and Hüma Hatun (Hümā Khatun), Mehmed II was born on 26 Recep (Rajab) 835/March 1432 in Edirne. Writing under the pen-name Avni (ʿAvnī, “pertaining to aid”), Mehmed himself became a well-known literary figure whose divan ( dīvān, collection of a poet’s literary output) still survives. He was a sultan, statesman, and military leader as well as an intellectual interest…

Ayşe Sıddıka (ʿĀyşe Ṣıddīqa, 1872–1903), also known as Ayşe Sıddıka Bint Mustafa (ʿĀyşe Ṣıddīqa Bint Muṣṭafā), was an Ottoman educator and a teacher at the Darülmuallimat (Dār al-Muʿallimāt, a teachers' training school for women) in Istanbul. She was born in Istanbul, and her father, Mazlumzade Mustafa Numan Efendi (Maẓlūmzāde Muṣṭafā Nuʿmān Efendi), was a religious scholar from Cuma-ı Bala (Cumʿa-i Bālā, present-day Blagoevgrad, in Bulgaria). Following the untimely death of her mother, Ayşe's fa…

The Turkish term çar-ender-çar (çār-ender-çār, from Pers. chār-andar-chār, lit., four-by-four) is a term used for gazels ( ghazels) or kasides ( qaṣīdes) whose couplets—using one or several of various rhetorical figures from the divan ( dīvān, high culture) poetry tradition that involve the ordering of concepts and/or images within a couplet or couplets—all feature four parallel elements in each hemistich; these figures include, for example, leff ü neşr (parallelism or chiasmus), taksim ( taqsīm, a type of parallelism in which the connection between parallel elements…

Bihişti Ahmed (Bihiştī Aḥmed, b. 877/1473, fl. 918/1512) was an Ottoman poet and historian active during the reign of Bayezid (Bāyezīd) II (r. 886–918/1481–1512). He is the author of the earliest known hamse ( khamse, “quintet”) in Ottoman Turkish, as well as of an Ottoman dynastic history. Bihişti was the son of Karışdıran Süleyman Bey (Ḳarışdırān Süleymān Beg), the district governor of Vize, in eastern Thrace, during the reign of Murad (Murād) II (r. 824–48/1421–44 and 850–5/1446–51) and, according to Bihişti, the first man to surmount the…

Baki (Bāqī) is the pen name of Mahmud Abdülbaki (Maḥmūd ʿAbd al-Bāqī, 933–1008/1526–7–1600), who has been, from his time to the present, one of the most admired and emulated poets in the Ottoman tradition. His mastery of the kaside ( qaṣīda, panegyric) and gazel ( ghazal, lyric), his elegant use of Turkish, his playful use of refined rhetoric, and his sensitive reflections on nature and love are considered second to none. He was honoured as the Sultanü’ş-Şuara (Sulṭān al-Şuʿarāʾ, “Sultan of Poets”) and introduced a new style that influence…

Fakiri (Faqīrī) was the pen-name of a sixteenth-century minor Ottoman poet, who showed considerable originality in his choice of subjects and genres. His real name and date of birth are unknown; the sources only mention that he was from Kalkandelen (Qalqandelen), today’s Tetovo, near Üsküp (Skopje), and that he spent most of his life in Istanbul. The biographer Latifi (Laṭīfī, d. 990/1582) recounts that he worked as an imam ( imām, leader in public worship), hatip ( khaṭīb, preacher), remmal (geomancer), and tabip (ṭabīb, physician). According to the biographer Aşık (ʿĀşıq) Çe…