KĀMI AḤMED ÇELEBI

 

KĀMI AḤMED ÇELEBI (Kāmi Aḥmad Čelebi; b. Edirne; d. Istanbul, 1579), Ottoman scholar, judge, writer, and translator. He was born in Edirne (his birth date is unknown) and known as Mesnevi-hānzāde (Maṯnawi-ḵvānzāda). He inherited the title of shaikh of the Mevlevi-hāne (Mawlawi-ḵvāna) of Muradiye in Edirne from his father, but later gave up this position in order to work as a scholar. He taught as a professor (modarres) at the madrasas of Meḥmud (Maḥmud) Pasha, Mustafa (Moṣṭafā) Pasha, Yıldırım Han (Yelderem Khan), Eyüb (Ayub), Sahn-ı Semān (Ṣaḥn-e Ṭamān), and Süleymaniye (Solaymāniya) in Istanbul. He met Sultan Selim II (1566-74) and worked as a judge (qāżi) in Edirne and Cyprus, before returning to Istanbul, where he died in 1579. His grave is on the outskirts of Edirnekapı, near the Dergāh of Emir Buhāri (Amir Boḵāri) in Istanbul.

Kāmi Ahmed Çelebi is also mentioned as a poet in various sources. He was, however, unable to complete his major works, the Tāriḵ-e āl-e ʿOṯmān and Manāqeb-e ʿolamāʾ. He had also begun a translation of Kimiā-ye saʿādat by Abu-Ḥāmed Ḡazāli (d. 1111) for Sultan Selim II, but he did not complete it. Some sources say that he completed the translation from Persian to Ottoman Turkish of the Kalila o Demna (q.v.) under the title of Homāyun-nāma, which had been begun by ʿAlāʾ-al-Din ʿAli Çelebi (d. 1543). These translations prove that he was well-versed in the Persian language. His art of poetry has been praised in various sources.


Bibliography:

Bursalı Mehmed Tahir, Osmanlı Müellifleri, 3 vols., Istanbul, 1972-75, II, p. 196.

Dāneš-nāma-ye adab-e fārsi. Adab-e fārsi dar Ānātuli wa Bālkān, ed. Ḥasan Anuša, VI, Tehran, 2005, p. 682.

Kātib Çelebi (Kāteb Čalabi), Kašf al-ẓonun, ed. G. Fluegel, 7 vols., Leipzig, 1835-58, V, p. 285.

Kınalı-zāde Hasan Çelebi (Qenāli-zāda Ḥasan Čelebi), Teḏkeret al-šoʿarāʾ, ed. İbrahim Kutluk, 2 vols., Ankara, 1981, II, p. 815.

Şemseddin Sāmi (Šams-al-Din Sāmi), Qāmus al-aʿlām, 6 vols., Istanbul, 1889-98, V, p. 3817.

Tahsin Yazıcı (Taḥsin Yāziji), Pārsinevisān-e Āsiā-ye Ṣaḡir, Tehran, 1992, p. 54.

Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Ansiklopedisi, 8 vols., Istanbul, 1977-98, V, p. 129.

(Osman G. Özgüdenlī)

Originally Published: December 15, 2010

Last Updated: April 20, 2012

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