Divan Edebiyatı Araştırmaları Dergisi

Abstract

Classical Turkish literature researchers have significant advantages in writing an artist's biography. They can find the raw life story of the personality they are researching in the wide pool of biographical sources of literature. The relevant person may have written their own autobiography or created autobiographical passages in their work. In addition to these possibilities, the artist in question may have incorporated glimpses of their life and experiences through conventional phrases. By bringing together these fragments of information provided through established expressions, the researcher can construct a comprehensive biography of the artist in question. Gallipolian Âlî Mustafa Efendi has provided information about his life on the date of publication of Kunh al-Akhbâr. The findings obtained here contribute to the accuracy and confirmation of the existing biography of Gallipolian Âlî Mustafa. The narratives in the first three episodes of Kunh al-Akhbâr mention that Âlî Mustafa was present in Palestine, Gaza, and Askalan in the year 970 (1562-63), served in Syria in the year 977 (1569-70), was active in Tokat in the year 997 (1588-89), and that his books were lost in a shipwreck on Lake Van. It is also mentioned that he could read and write in Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Nevâyi languages, that he composed parody poems in Persian on famous Iranian artists' poetry, and that he had a close relationship with Ramazanoğlu Pîrî Paşa. The statements found in Kunh al-Akhbâr provide information that Âlî Efendi was born in 1541, was dissatisfied and pessimistic because he couldn't reach deserving positions, served as the secretary of Lala Mustafa Pasha in Damascus in 1563, and held the position of registrar in Baghdad in 1585. Furthermore, the information about Âlî Mustafa staying in Damascus for six years is corrected to eight years. In this article, the sentences containing information about Gallipolian Âlî Mustafa are listed in the first three episodes of Kunh al-Akhbâr, and based on these sentences, determinations about Âlî Efendi's life have been made, contributing to his current biography.