Haxhi Ymer Kashari known also as Ymer Mustafa Kashari was an Albanian

bejtexhi The Bejtexhinj (in Albanian sing. ''bejtexhi'', pl. ''bejtexhinj''; from tr, beyte meaning "poem"), were popular bards of the Muslim tradition, literally meaning " couplet makers". It means the same in the Albanian literature, firstly muslim poe ...

of the 18th century. Haxhi Ymer was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

in early 18th century. Back then part of the

Sanjak of Scutari The Sanjak of Scutari or Sanjak of Shkodra ( sq, Sanxhaku i Shkodrës; sr, Скадарски санџак; tr, İskenderiye Sancağı or ''İşkodra Sancağı'') was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Otto ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, Tirana was already flourishing as an oriental-style town. Haxhi Ymer was a sheikh (Sufi leader) of the

Qadiri The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...

order of Sufism, a less spread order going towards extinction in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. Most of his work is lost because of earlier lack of interest in him. His name Haxhi indicates that he had completed his hajj in

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

. He used the pen name Suzi. The outer facade of the

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

Et'hem Bey Mosque The Hajji Et'hem Bey Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Haxhi Et'hem Beut) is a mosque in Tirana, Albania. Closed under communist rule, the mosque reopened as a house of worship in 1991. Without permission from the authorities, 10,000 people attended and the p ...

in Tirana has an inscription written by him with his pen-name as signature. Haxhi Ymer was a ''bejte'' poet who wrote in two languages: Albanian and Turkish. From a few odes that are saved to date, one is of special interest. It is named ''Alif'' and it is one of a kind due to the specific structure it introduced to Albanian poetry of those times. The poem is based on the letters of the Arabic alphabet and thus has 28 verses, each verse starts with a unique letter in alphabetic order. The first starts with '' alif'' and the last with '' yā’''. This type of verse introduced by Haxhi Ymer became a tradition in Albanian poetry and had many followers. Though heavily laden with Oriental vocabulary, his work has

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

significance due to the specific Tirana area

Gheg Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds ...

dialect of the Albanian language (part of the Central Gheg branch), being the oldest written piece in this dialect.

References

{{authority control 18th-century Albanian people Albanian-language poets Turkish-language poets People from Tirana Sanjak of Scutari Albanian Sufis Qadiri order 18th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Albanians from the Ottoman Empire Divan poets from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century Albanian poets 19th-century Albanian poets Albanian male poets 19th-century male writers 18th-century male writers

See also

References