NECATÎ

Poet of Classical Ottoman Poetry (b. ?, Edirne – d. 17 March 1509, İstanbul). His real name was İsa. According to Âşık Çelebi, he was a slave of a woman in Edirne. He had a good education with the help of this woman. He was known for his poems and calligraphy. When his fame reached the palace he was appointed as a secretary at the State Council and he came to İstanbul. After Conqueror Sultan Mehmet, he also won the favor of the new sultan, Beyazıd II and he became a secretary to Prince Abdullah when he traveled to the Karaman province. He returned to İstanbul upon the death of Prince Abdullah (1483). He prepared his Divan (Divan) for Müeyyetzade Abdurrahman Çelebi, the Chief Military Judge, and came under his protection. Although he was appointed as marksman to Prince Mahmud when he went to the Manisa province, this duty didn’t last long. Afterwards, he did not take on any more official work, settling in his house in the Vefa district.

The importance of Necati, who was the best poet of the 15th century after Ahmed Paşa, is due to his use of Turkish concepts, proverbs and idioms in his lyric poems and eulogies. While his Şeyh and Ahmed Paşa remained influenced by Iranian Poets, his wide use of local motifs and introduction of new subjects with a plain and clear language made him one of the poets who has been loved and read with pleasure throughout the centuries. Necatî influenced many famous poets such as Baki, Yahya, Neşatî, Nailî, Nedim and Enderunlu Fazıl with his works, which are considered to be beyond ordinary classical poems. Prof. Dr. Ali Nihad Tarlan published Necati Bey Divanı (Divan* of Necatî Bey) in 1963.