Scholar
and poet (b. 1472, İstanbul - d. 1532). He attended courses at the Muradiye
Madrasah (Muslim Theology School) and learned the sciences of the time. He
joined the Nakshbendi Dervish order and then, all his life, he engaged himself
in writing books, which consisted of translations and interpretations of works
on Sufism and which number thirty. Lami Çelebi lived in Bursa until his death
and lived on the patronage of Yavuz Sultan Selim and Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, on
the presentation of his works. He is remembered as Camîi Rumî as most of his
translations were from the works of the Persian poet Molla Camî (1414-92).
Among his works, the most popular is Nefahatü'l
Üns (Breaths of Friendship) comprising the epics of theologians, in
addition to the epics of Turkish theologians in Anatolia. Another popular work
by Lamii is Şehrengiz (City Book),
written when Kanuni Sultan Süleyman visited Bursa, which presents Bursa’s
various characteristics to its readers.
WORKS:
Şevahidü'nl-Nübüvve, (Witnesses
of the Prophet, Translation from
Camî, a book
on the life story of Muhammed the Prophet, 1876), Nefahatü'l-Üns (Breaths
of Amity, translation from Camî, 1872), Şerefü'l-İnsan
(Glory of Humans, on superiority of humans), Maktel-i İmam Hüseyin (Murder of İmam Hüseyin, mesnevi*, on the
Kerbela event), Veysel vü Ramin
(Veysel and Ramin, translation from Fahreddin Curcanî, mesnevi*), Selâmân ü Absal (Salaman and Absal,
translation from Camî, mesnevi*), Namık u
Azra (translation from Unsurî, mesnevi*), Şehrengiz (The City Book, Bursa, 1871; translation into German,
Vienna, 1839), Divan*, Hüsn ü Dil (Beauty and Inclination, mesnevi*),
Münazara-i Bahar u Şita (1873), Münşeat (The Written Ones), Ferhadname (Book of Ferhad, translation from Nevaî, mesnevi*; translation into
German, Stuttgart, 1817), Şem ü Pervane (Candle and Moth, mesnevi*).