ALİ EMİRÎ

Poet, writer and writer of tezkire* (b. 1857, Diyarbakır – d. 23 January 1923, İstanbul). He attended primary school in Diyarbakır Sülukkiye Madrasah. He worked as a tithe director, tithe chief secretary, accountant, district treasurer and inspector. After his retirement in 1908, he moved to İstanbul. Known for his love of books, Ali Emiri Efendi found and revealed the original issues of many valuable books like Divan-ı Lügati’t Türk (Dictionary of Turkish Languages). He founded the Library of Nation in Fatih in İstanbul with the manuscript books he collected in the provinces where he worked as public servant. He published the reviews like Osmanlı Tarih ve Edebiyatı Mecmuası (31 March 1334 - 30 September 1336, 31 issues) Tarih ve Edebiyat (first issue published on 31 August 1338, 5 issues) and Amid-i Sevdâ (6 issues, 1325).

Besides of his investigative personality, he had an important place in the history of Turkish literature with his poetry and his tezkire*, where he introduced the poets of various provinces and regions. His grave is at the Fatih Mosque.

One of the most famous Turkish poets, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı wrote an ode to honor Ali Emiri Efendi and praised him in the couplets of his poem titled Ali Emiri Efendi’ye Gazel (An Ode for Ali Emiri Efendi):

"If you need the light of advices of old men
Kneel down now before Emiri Efendi
Let Diyarbakır, that city of light, eternally be proud of
Virtue and virtuousness of his valuable son"

WORKS:

PUBLISHED WORKS:

Tezkire-i Şuârâ-i Âmid (Tezkire* of Diyarbakır Council, volume 1, 1910), Cevahir-ül Mülûk (Essences of Sultans, the poems of the Ottoman Sultans, 1901), Yavuz Sultan Selim'in Türkçe Eş'arının Tahmisatı, Osmanlı Vilayat-ı Şarkıyyesi (Making Five Lines of the Turkish Poems of Yavuz Sultan Selim, The Ottoman Eastern Provinces, 1918), Osmanlı Şairleri Tezkiresi (The Tezkire* of Ottoman Poets, 16 volumes, the first volume is owned by Muzaffer Esen, the other volumes are at the Millet Kütüphanesi), Divan (Divan*), Levami-ül Hamdiyye (The Holy Lights of the Thankful, 1911), Ezhar-ı Hakîkat (The Flowers of the Fact, 1918; published in a review titled Kızılırmak by Assistant Prof. Dr Mehmet Arslan, issue: 9 September 1992, Sivas), Emin-i Tokadî Hazretlerinin Terceme-i Hâli (Biography of His Majesty Emin-i Tokadî, 1950), Sivani (Sivani, 3 volumes, Library of Nation, the books of Emiri, Manzur No: 37, 38, 39).

MANUSCRIPT: İşkodra Şairleri (The Poets of Shkodra), Yanya Şairleri (The Poets of Ionnia), Esâmi-i Şuarâ-i Âmid (Names of the Poets of Diyarbakır), Diyarbakırlı Bazı Zevatın Tercüme-i Halleri (Biographies of Some People from Diyarbakır), Tunus Tarihi (The History of Tunus), Teselya Osmanlı Şairleri (The Ottoman Poets in Teselia), Yemen Hâtırâtı (The Memoirs of Yemen).

EDITION: (Under the general title of Nevâdir-i Eslaf -The Rare Ancient Works): Cam-ı Cem-Âyin (Goblet of Cem, Selimnâme-i Osmani-Book of the Ottoman Sultan Selim, 1900), Mardin Mülük-i Artukiyye Tarihi (History of Mardin, the Sultan of the Artukids, 1900), Asafnâme (Book of Viziers), Lutfi Paşa (Lutfi Paşa, 1900), Nizâmü'd-Düvel (Order of States, ?), Acaibü'l Letâif (Strangeness of Beauties, 1900).

LOST WORKS: Tuhfetü'l-Leyliyye (Gifts of Nights, satires and jokes), Mir'âtü'l-Fevâid fi Teracim-i Şuarâ-i Âmid (The Mirror of Utilities in the Translations of Poets of Diyarbakır), Abâü'l Akvam (Fathers of Nations), Kitâbü'l- Egâni Tercümesi (Translation of the Book of Egâni).