Aḥmed-i Dāʿī was a distinguished
figure in early Ottoman literature. Renowned for his literary skills, Dāʿī was
also a prolific writer. From his original works and translations we can infer that
he had knowledge in various fields such as poetry, tafsir, astronomy, astrology,
dream interpretation, language (Turkish, Arabic and Persian), and medicine. His
father’s name is İbrāhīm ; his grandfather’s name is Meḥmed.
Sources agree that Aḥmed-i Dāʿī is from the principality of Germiyān, but his date and place of birth are not
certain. We can tell from his works that he lived during the reigns of Murād I (d. 791/1389), Yaʿḳūb II of
Germiyān (d. 831/1428) , Emīr Süleymān (d.
813/1411) and Murād II (d.
855/1451). According to ʿĀlī and
Sehī, he served as qadi in the
principality of Germiyān for
some time. Yaʿḳūb II took him under his patronage after the death of Germiyān
prince Süleymān Şāh (d. 789/1387). Emīr Süleymān, who
was known to be very generous to men of letters, probably took him under his
patronage after the defeat of Yaʿḳūb II by Yıldırım and the subsequent Ottoman annexation of the Germiyān lands. Aḥmed-i Dāʿī
dedicated his work Çeng-nāme, written in 808 AH [1406 CE], to Emīr Süleymān. In his Dīvān, he also wrote some
poems in praise of Emīr Süleymān. After the death
of Emīr Süleymān in 813 AH [1411 CE], Aḥmed-i Dāʿī began serving under
the patronage of Çelebi Meḥmed
(816/1413-824/1421), as is evident from a qasida that he wrote for
the latter’s enthronement. Aḥmed-i Dāʿī dedicated his Persian Dīvān to Vezīr-i aʿẓām
ʿOsmāncıḳlı Ḫalīl Pāşā (d. after 816/1413). After a period of low
attention, he was finally accepted to the court as a tutor for Çelebi Meḥmed
(816/1413-824/1421) son Murād II
(824/1421-848/1444). He wrote his Arabic to Persian dictionary ʿUḳūdü’l-cevāhir for
Murād II (824/1421-848/1444).
After Çelebi Meḥmed
(816/1413-824/1421) death in 824 [1421 CE], Murād II
(824/1421-848/1444) took him under his patronage. He wrote Tercüme-i
Tezkiretü’l-evliyā during this period, probably his last work. Aḥmed-i
Dāʿī’s date of death is unknown. There is a mosque, a district and a hammam known
by his name in Bursa . According to
tradition, the tomb near the mosque known as Dāʿī Dede belongs to him.
Aḥmed bin İbrāhīm bin Muḥammed, active 1387-1421
Ahmed Dâi, fl. 1387-1421
Ahmed-i Dāʻī, active 1387-1421
احمد داعى
Manuscripts by this author
Cāmāsb-nāme
A translation of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s (d. 672/1274) work
of the same name into Turkish. It is a short masnavi about the life of Jamasb, son
of prophet Daniel.
ʿThe title of this work is based on catalogue information. However, there is no
records in secondary literature of any works by Dai with this title. It is possible
that this work is actually Uḳūdü’l-cevāhir but this information needs to be confirmed
The work is part of Aḥmed-i Dā’ī's
külliyāt at Burdur İl Halk Kütüphanesi. It
consists of 5 qasidas and 199 ghazals. Two of the qasidas are dedicated to
Çelebi Meḥmed (816/1413-824/1421).
The külliyāt includes two more works by Dāʿī: Vaṣiyyet-i Nūşirevān and Çeng-nāme. Another copy of the Dīvān is located in
Cairo, at the National Library Dar al-Kotob
al-Qavmiya collection. It is more complete compared to the Burdur copy.
This mathnawî, Ahmedî,
1334?-1413’s best known work, consists of 8754 couplets in its longest
version. The first known versified Alexander romance written in Turkish, the work
was composed over a decade from c.
1389 to c. 1410. Its final recension was dedicated to Bayezid I, Sultan of the Turks, approximately
1360-1403’s son, Süleymān Çelebi (Emīr Süleymān), 1377-1411 just
before his death in 1410. It is
similar to Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 1141-1202 or
1203 Persian Iskandarname in
emphasizing Alexander’s prophetic mission and employing the Alexander romance as a
frame for a series of discourses on theology, myticism, philosophy, geography,
medicine and astronomy. Yet much of the narrative content dealing with Alexander, the Great’s adventures
derives from Firdawsī's Shāhnāme (شاهنامه). Ahmedî,
1334?-1413 attributes a greater role to the semi-prophetic figure of
Khidr (Ḫızır) than his predecessors. Completing the world history part of the work
is a section of 334 couplets entitled "Dāsitān-i
tevārīkh-i mülūk-i āl-i ‘osmān (داستان تواريخ ملوك ال
عثمان)" (Narrative of the Deeds of the Kings of the House of
Osman), which presents the earliest historical discussion of the Ottoman dynasty.
This section relates the rise of the Ottomans in the aftermath of Mongol domination
of Anatolia, with Osman’s
father Ertuğrul Gazi, 1198-1288 and
concludes with Süleymān Çelebi's ascension to the throne following Bayezid’s death in 1402 and upon the outbreak of the civil
war with his brothers. Ahmedî,
1334?-1413 presents the Ottomans as fervent ghāzīs expanding the realm
of the dār al-islām along moralistic rather than annalistic terms.
This is a religious work, translated from Arabic into Turkish at the behest of Lūʾlū Pāşā about whom we lack
information. The work consists of eight sections and has many copies. The original author is unknown.
This is a dictionnary and grammar book which aims to teach Persian to Turkish
speaking beginners. It consists of four parts: 1. Names, 2. Verbs, 3. Morphology,
4. Particles. Unlike
ʿUḳūdü’l-cevāhir, Müfredāt
is in prose.
This is a Turkish translation of Abū Baḳr b. ʿAbd Allah al-Wāṣiṭī (d. after 320/932)’s work probably of
the name kitāb al-taʿbīr, originally in Arabic. Dāʿī used the Persian version of the work for his
translation. This work on dream interpretation is dedicated to the Germiyān prince Yaʿḳūb II (d. 831/1428).
It begins with a qasida of fifteen couplets written for the same prince, not found in Aḥmed-i
Dāʿī's Dīvān. The work has two extant copies.
The work is Dāʿī’s translation of Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī’s (d. 373/983) Arabic
tafsir. It is accepted to be the first
tafsir of the Quran translated into Turkish in Anatolia. It is dedicated to Emīr Süleymān and written at the behest
of Umūr Bey (d. 865/1461)
son of Timūrṭāş Pāşā (d. 806/1404)
. Beside the translation, Dāʿī also added his explanations to the work, as well as a muqaddima
in verse. The manuscripts at the Istanbul University Library and
Süleymaniye Library include this muqaddima. According to Abdulbaki Çetin, this work belongs not to
Aḥmed-i Dāʿī but rather to Mūṣā b.
Ḥacı Ḥüseyin İznikī who uses the term “dāʿī” (a well-wisher) as an adjective for himself.
This is a translation of ʿAṭṭār's (d. 618/1221)
work
Tazkirat al-Awliyā, prepared at the behest of Ḳaraca Bey (d. 754/1353) [local ID],
dedicated to Murād II. The work illustrates that
Aḥmed-i Dāʿī was alive after 824,
the date of Murād II accession.
The work is the earliest known Turkish manual of inşāʾ (letterwriting). It concerns the
earliest and most beautiful types of correspondence and the rules of composition.
Sehī Bey (d. 955/1548) gives the most correct information about its content, in his
tazkira. The only known extant copy is at the Manisa
Muradiye Library and has missing parts.
The work is a translation of an unknown author’s Tafsir of Āyat al-Kursī (2:255). It
also contains Esmā’ü’l- Ḥüsnā (the 99 beautiful names of God), various stories, and
legends of the saints. In the muqaddima, Dāʿī clearly explains the purpose of writing
such a work. He states that this work is a present offered to a certain emir whose
patronage he wishes to obtain. Although Dāʿī does not mention the name of the emir,
it is probable that this is Yaʿḳūb II (d. 831/1428). The only known extant copy
is in Konya, at the İzzet Koyunoğlu Library.
The work is part of Aḥmed-i Dā’ī's
külliyāt at Burdur İl Halk Kütüphanesi. It
consists of 5 qasidas and 199 ghazals. Two of the qasidas are dedicated to
Çelebi Meḥmed (816/1413-824/1421).
The külliyāt includes two more works by Dāʿī: Vaṣiyyet-i Nūşirevān and Çeng-nāme. Another copy of the Dīvān is located in
Cairo, at the National Library Dar al-Kotob
al-Qavmiya collection. It is more complete compared to the Burdur copy.
The work is a verse dictionnary which gives the Persian equivalents of Arabic
words in 650 couplets and five shorts poems. It is an abridged version of
Rashīd al-dīn Vaṭvāṭ’s
Nuqūd al-ẓawāhir. Dāʿī prepared the work for the use of prince
Murād, when he was the latter’s tutor.
