Aşık Çelebi

Pir Mehmed ("Mehmed the Pir"; 1520–1572), better known as Aşık Çelebi ("Gentleman Bard" in Turkish), was an Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator. Born in Prizren in Kosovo, he served as kadi (judge) in many towns of the Rumelia. His major work Senses of Poets (Meşairü'ş-Şuara) of 1568 is of major importance.

Life and work

Çelebi was born in Prizren, Ottoman Empire. After that he would work in many cities of Rum as a judge, such as Pristina, Servia, Arta, Kratovo, Nikopol, Rousse, etc. In overall, he failed to get the position of his dreams which his father and grandfather had, the Nakibü'l-eşraf (MP, representative Sayyid and Sharif of the Empire). He completed it while working as a kadi in Kratovo, and presented it to the Sultan Selim II in 1568. 30 copies have been encountered which makes it the second most read tezkire of all times after that of Latifî (1491-1582) with 91 copies. It covers 427 poets, in poetry or prose. where he died in 1571 or 1572. He is buried there, which coincides in today's Gazi Baba Municipality. His türbe is known as Aşık Çelebi Türbe. It was severally damaged during the 1963 earthquake and was not repaired or reconstructed by the Yugoslav authorities. Today, only a few ruins remain.