Kani'i and Va'di: Two Poets in Ravza-i Evliya

Abstract

Baldirzade Selisi Shaykh Mehmed's (d. 1060/1650) Ravza-i Evliya (Garden of Saints), known as Baldirzade Tarihi (History of Baldirzade) is the first vefayatnama (Book of the Deceased) written about Bursa, to which there have been many supplements written later on. Ravza-i Evliya carries importance not only due to having biographies of the deceased intellectuals and sufis who lived in Bursa from its conquest by the Ottomans up to the middle of the 17th century but also having information about two poets who have not been mentioned in any other source, making it very significant in terms of Turkish literature and folklore as well. The first of the these two poets is Muezzinzade Shaykh Ahmed (d. 1054/1644), preacher of the Cami-i Kebir (Big Mosque) poet with the pen name Kani'i, and the other one is Mehmed Chalabi (d.1059/1649), poet with the pen name Va'di. The aim of this paper is to emphasize Ravza-i Evliya's importance in terms of being a source for Turkish folklore and literature, and making an assessment of the information given in this work on Kani'i and Va'di in this book.