Poet (b. 1583, İstanbul – d. 10 January 1635). His
real name was Ataullah. He was educated by the private lessons he took from the
famous scholars of the period. After he took his diploma (1603), he became a
Madrasah (Muslim Theology School) teacher. He worked as a kadi (judge) in Lofça
(1608), Babaeski (1610), Varna, Rusçuk, Silistra, Tekirdağ, Tırnova, Manastir
and Skopje. When he was dismissed from the post of the Kadi of Üsküp, he
returned to İstanbul (1632). He was one of the followers of Aziz Mahmud Hüdai
Efendi from Üsküdar. He was buried next to his father's grave in Şeyh Vefa
Mosque Graveyard.
At first he wrote short stories in his Hamse (Five Poems) which was the best
example of his work in which he gave up imitating Iranian poetry and became the
most successful poet of his time for stories written in prose. The poems in his
Divan* were written with the
influence of Baki. His other work is his Zeyl
(Appendix) written for Taşköprülüzade’s Poppy Anemone. Taşköprülüzade gave information about the lives of scholars and
sheiks who lived from the time of Osmanlı Gazi to the time of Kanuni Sultan
Süleyman. Atayî, in his Turkish appendix that is in two volumes, continued this
work and added the lives of those who lived between 1557 and 1635.
WORKS:
Divan (Divan*), Hamse (Five Mesnevi*s, Sâkiname-Book of Cupbearer, Nefhatü’l-Ezhar-Flowers, Sohbetü’l-Efkar-Conversations of Greats,
Heft Hân, Hilyetü’l-Efkâr-Miracles of
Greats, his last two poems were published by Ağah Sırrı Levend, 1948), Hezliyat (Satire, his five poems are at
the end of the book), Şakâik-i Nizamiye
Zeyli (Appendix of Şakâik-i Nizamiye -The Roses of Nizamî, two
volumes, 1852), Siyer-i Veysi Zeyli
(Appendix of the Biography of Veysi).
