Poet (b. ?,
Taşlıca - d. 1582, Tamışvar). He was originally from Albania. Coming from Albania
to İstanbul, he entered the army. He educated himself at the same time. He was
appointed as head of some religious foundations. He won the respect of the
important people of the time, including Kanuni Sultan Süleyman with his poems.
He participated in the Sultan’s military expedition to Baghdad (1535). The elegy that he wrote upon
the murder by strangulation of Prince Mustafa near Ereğli in Konya
(1533) whilst with the Sultan on campaign to Iran was read with appreciation.
However, because of this elegy, the Grand Vizier Rüstem Paşa, who had planned
the Prince’s murder, wanted him to be executed. He was saved when the Sultan
did not give permission for this. In order to distance himself from the malice
of Rüstem Paşa, he went to Tamışvar in Bosnia taking a large fief from the
Sultan, he died there or in Zvornik town. He was famous for his poems that
contained rhymed couplets, which he wrote without the influence of Iranian
traditions, such as Şah ü Geda (Shah and Beggar), Yusuf ve Züleyha (Yusuf
and Züleyha).
WORKS:
Divan (Divan*, 1977, Selections from his
Collected Poems, by Mehmet Çavuşoğlu, 1983),
Hamse (Five Poems Made up of Rhymed Couplets, two of them Şah ü Geda
-Shah and Beggar, and Yusuf ve Züleyha -Yusuf and Züleyha were
published. Other poems: Gencine-i Raz (Treasure of Secret), Gülşen-i
Envar (Rose Garden of the Lights), Kitab-ı Usul (Book of Procedure), Şehrengiz-i İstanbul (City Book of
İstanbul) by Mehmet Çavuşoğlu published by Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Dergisi,
1969).
He also wrote Şehrengiz (City Book) describing Edirne.