Aşık Çelebi

Aşık Çelebi
Senses of Poets
Native name	Pir Mehmed
Born	1520 Prizren, Ottoman Empire
Died	1572 Üsküb, Ottoman Empire
Resting place	Gazi Baba, Skopje
Language	Ottoman Turkish
Nationality	Ottoman
Genre	Tezkire, Diwan Poetry
Notable works	Senses of Poets (Meşairü'ş-Şuara)

Aşık Çelebi ("Gentleman Bard" in Turkish) was the name of Pir Mehmed ("Mehmed the Pir"; 1520–1572), an Ottoman biographer, poet, and translator. Born in Prizren, he served as kadi (judge) in many towns of the Rumelia. His major work Senses of Poets (Meşairü'ş-Şuara) of 1568 is of major importance.

Çelebi was born in Prizren,Kosovo. His birth name was Pir Mehmed, and descended from a seyyid family. After his father's death in 1535 (941 in Ottoman calendar) he departed for Filibe and later to Istambul. He studied in a medrese in Istambul under best tutors of his time and received an excellent education. His first civil servant position was that of a court secretary in Bursa. There he was also a trustee of a vakif. He returned to Istambul in 1546. There he obtained a clerical position of justice with the help of his tutor Emir Gisu. He applied for the position of the head cleric of the Imperial Council left vacant after the death of Receb Çelebi, but did not succeed, following with accepting a position as a cleric at the Fatwa Office.
After that he would work in many cities of Rum as a judge, such as Pristina, Servia, Arta, Kratovo, Nikopol, Rousse, etc. In overall, he failed to get the position of his dreams which his father and grandfather had, the Nakibü'l-eşraf (MP, representative Sayyid and Sharif of the Empire).

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