ḠOBĀRI, ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN

 

ḠOBĀRI, ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN b. ʿAbd-Allāh, Ottoman poet, calligrapher, and Sufi who wrote in both Turkish and Persian (d. 974/1566). According to Ḡobāri himself (Kaʿba-nāma, MS Manisa, fol. 10), he was born in Akşehir (Āq-šahr). He came to Istanbul, most probably after completing his primary education, where he studied with the celebrated scholars of the time and received calligraphy lessons from Shaikh Ḥamd-Allāhzāda Moṣṭafā Dada (Mostaqimzāda, p. 246). He excelled in the ḡobār style of calligraphy (q.v.), hence his pen name Ḡobāri. After serving for a while as director of a madrasa, he became a secretary in the army and accompanied Solaymān the Magnificent (Kanunî Sultan Süleyman) during his campaigns in Mesopotamia (Tahir, III, p. 112). Upon returning to Istanbul, he wanted to become a Sufi and consequently gave up his official posts, became a disciple of Shaikh ʿAbd-al-Laṭif Efendi, and joined the Naqšbandi order (ʿĀšeq Čelebi, fol. 285a). He later became shaikh of the Sultan ʿAbd-Allāh zāwia (hospice) in Akşehir. In 944/1537, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca and resided there for some time, occasionally serving as a ḥajj official (ṣorra amini, custodian of the government’s gifts to the holy places). Around 946/1539, Ḡobāri moved to Kütahya (Kutāhia) and entered the service of the local Ottoman administration under Prince Bāyazid. After Bāyazid revolted against Sultan Solaymān, was defeated by his brother Prince Salim, and took refuge in Persia, Ḡobāri was briefly imprisoned but was released after the intercession of his friends. Sultan Solaymān then sent him back to Mecca to act as custodian of the covering for the Kaʿba (maḥmel amini). Ḡobāri remained there until his death.

Works. Ḡobāri’s experiences in the Ḥejāz provided the basis for several works, including the Turkish Kaʿba-nāma (MSS Üsküdar, Haci Selim Ağa Kütüphanesi, Kemankeş Emîr Hoca 223; Manisa, İl Halk Kütüphanesi, Çaşnigîr 4952), an account of Ottoman pious foundations in Mecca presented to Sultan Solaymān in 963/1556. Ḡobāri’s best known work in Persian is the Šāh-nāma or Solaymān-nāma, (MS Manisa, İl Halk Kütüphanesi, Murâdiye 11346), an encomium of Sultan Solaymān which drew freely on the poetry of Ferdowsi (q.v.). He also authored a mystical maṯnawi, the Šabestān-e ḵayāl (MSS Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Haci Mahmud Efendi 3830; Manisa, İl Halk Kütüphanesi, Murâdiye 2715; see also Sobḥāni, pp. 109-10), written in imitation of a namesake Persian poem by Fattāḥi Nišāburi (q.v.)

 

Bibliography:

Moṣṭafā ʿĀli, Konh al-aḵbār, ed. M. İsen, Ankara, 1994, pp. 247-49.

Ali Alparslan, “Gubârî, Abdurrahman,” in Türkiya diyanat vakfiİslâm ansiklopedisi XIV, Istanbul, 1996, pp. 167-69.

Franz Babinger, Die Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke, Leipzig, 1927, p. 93; tr. Coskun Üçok as Osmanlı Tarih Yazanları ve Eserleri, Ankara, 1982, pp. 103-4.

ʿAbd-al-Laṭif Laṭifi, Taḏkerat al-šoʿarāʾ, Istanbul, 1314/1896, pp. 252-53.

Solaymān Mostaqimzāda, Toḥfa-ye ḵaṭṭātin, ed. İbnulemin Mahmut Kemal, Istanbul, 1928.

İsmet Parmaksızoğlu, “Abdurrahman Gubârî’nin Hayatı ve Eserleri,” Tarih Dergisi 2/2, March 1950, pp. 347-56.

Qenālizāda Ḥasan Čalabi (Kınalızâde), Taḏkerat al-šoʿarāʾ, ed. İbrahim Kutluk as Tezkiretü’ş-şuarâ, Ankara, 1981, II, pp. 712-17.

Tawfiq Sobḥāni, Fehrest-e nosḵahā-ye fārsi-e ketāb-ḵāna-ye Maḡnisā, Tehran, 1366 Š./1987.

Bursalı Mehmet Tahir, Osmanlı Müellifleri, 3 vols. in 4, Istanbul, 1333-42/1914-28, III, pp. 112-14.

(Tahsİn Yazici)

Originally Published: December 15, 2001

Last Updated: February 9, 2012

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