Sinan Pasha

Poet (b. 1440, Edirne – d. 1486, İstanbul). His real name was Yusuf Sinaneddin and he was the son of the poet, Hızır Bey, who was also the first Muslim Judge of İstanbul and a famous scientist of his time. He was raised with his father’s tutoring and became a lecturer at Edirne School of Hadis*. He was appointed as lecturer of İstanbul Sahn-ı Seman Madrasah (Muslim School) and became Sultan Fatih’s gentleman-in-waiting with the title of Vizier. Some time later, due to an unknown reason, the Sultan dismissed him from his service and imprisoned him.

Some time later, Sinan Paşa was released and sent to Sivrihisar as a local judge and lecturer. During the reign of Bayezid II he was again appointed as the lecturer of Edirne School of Hadis* (1481). Sinan Paşa, who was a wise intellectual and educated a lot of scholars, became a pioneer in Divan* literature with his ornamented language and attached great importance to the art of words, elaborate poems and prose. His most famous work is Tazarruname (Letter of Supplication), which is a work of Sufism.

MAIN WORKS:

Tazarrunâme (Letter of Supplication, 1887; by A. Metrol Tulum, 1971), Nasihatname (Book of Recommendations, with the name Maarifname-Book of Education, by İsmail Hakkı Ertaylan, 1961), Tezkiretü'l-Evliya (Tezkires* of the Saints, epics of around thirty saints).

In addition, he wrote works on astronomy, geometry and philosophy.