Bâḳî (باقى) was the
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
(
Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
: مخلص ''mahlas'') of the
Ottoman Turkish poet Mahmud Abdülbâkî (محمود عبدالباقى)
(1526 – 1600). Considered one of the greatest contributors to
Turkish literature. Bâkî came to be known as ''Sultânüş-şuarâ'' (سلطان الشعرا), or "
Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
of poets".
Life
Bâkî was born to a poor family in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, his father being a
muezzin
The muezzin (; ), also spelled mu'azzin, is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque from the minaret. The muezzin ...
at the
Fatih Mosque. Originally, his family apprenticed him to a harness-maker, but he would often skip work to attend classes at a nearby ''
medrese
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
'', or
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic school. Because of this, his family eventually allowed him to formally attend school. Bâkî was a good student, and he attended the lectures of many of the famous lecturers of the time. It was during his school years that his interest in and talent for poetry began to take shape, helped largely by the established poet
Zâtî (ذاتی)
(1471–1548). After completing school, he worked for some time as a teacher, but later, as his poetic fame began to grow, he was granted a number of different positions—generally as a ''
kadı'' (ﻗﺎضی), or Islamic judge—in the Ottoman
bureaucracy
Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...
. Bâkî died in Istanbul in the year 1600.
Bâkî was always very close to the
Ottoman palace, particularly during the reign of
Süleymân I, with whom he had good relations. During the subsequent reigns of
Selim II and
Murad III
Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...
, he remained close to the palace and to state affairs, and received a great deal of attention and interest both from the public and the palace.
Works
Bâkî lived during the
height
Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For an example of vertical extent, "This basketball player is 7 foot 1 inches in height." For an e ...
of the Ottoman Empire, and this affected his poetry greatly. Love, the joy of living, and nature are the primary subjects of his poems. Although almost no
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
influence is found in his poetry—as it is in many other Ottoman-era poets—his concept of love as revealed in his poetry was not entirely divorced from the
Sufi concept thereof.
One of his most celebrated works is his ''Mersiye-i Hazret-i Süleymân Hân'' (مرثیه ﺣﻀﺮت سليمان خان; "''Elegy for His Excellency Süleymân Khan''"), among the most famed of
elegiac
The adjective ''elegiac'' has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to something of, relating to, or involving, an elegy or something that expresses similar mournfulness or sorrow. Second, it can refer more specifically to poetry composed in ...
works in Turkish literature.
References
*.
*.
External links
One of Baki's poems in English translationat ''Poems Found in Translation''
The Baki Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baki
16th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire
Divan poets from the Ottoman Empire
1526 births
1600 deaths
Male poets from the Ottoman Empire