Ahmed Sudi
Ahmed Sudi, also known as Sudi-yi Bosnawi, was a 16th-century Bosnian commentator under the Ottoman Empire. He was the author of several Ottoman Turkish commentaries on Persian classics such as the Masnavi of Rumi, the Gulistan and Bostan of Saadi Shirazi, and The Divān of Hafez. According to Professor of Persian and Islamic studies Hamid Algar, Sudi is "perhaps the most prominent of all Ottoman Persianists".
Biography
Sudi was born at an unknown date in Sudići near Foča in eastern Bosnia. His place of birth provided for his nisba Sudi. The names of his parents and details of his relatives in general are unknown. Sudi probably received early education in Foča, but he then apparently moved to Sarajevo as attested by a reference in his Sherh-i Gulistan, a commentary on the Gulistan of Saadi Shirazi. Like others from Bosnia, Sudi then moved to Constantinople in order to pursue education. At the time of his arrival, fellow Bosnian Sokollu Mehmed Pasha was the Ottoman Grand Vizier. Sudi then moved to the east, visiting Erzurum, before heading to Amed in the Diyarbekir Eyalet, where he met the Sunni Iranian emigré Mosleh al-Din Lari. Sudi subsequently studied Persian under Lari.While Lari was mainly interested in the religious sciences, Sudi wanted to dedicate his time to Persian literature. He then travelled to Damascus in Ottoman Syria followed by the cities of Baghdad, Najaf and Kufa in the Ottoman provinces that make up present-day Iraq. Sudi also undertook the Hajj. Sudi provided comments on the places he visited, and complained "about an ignorance of Persian and good Arabic among the people of Baghdad". He also reported on the condition of the mosques and tombs of Kufa, which according to Sudi, were in ruins. He did not visit Iran itself, but during all of his travels, he tried to "widen his knowledge of Persian", not merely through contact with scholars, but also according to himself by discussing difficult passages of the works of the aforementioned Persian poets Hafez and Saadi with Iranian merchants.
Back in Constantinople, he continued his studies, before being appointed teacher at the Ibrahim Pasha madrasa. One of his students, Mostarli Dervish Pasha would later mention Sudi in the preface of his own Murad-name.
Works
In Constantinople, having returned from his travels in the east, Sudi started to write a series of commentaries in Ottoman Turkish on Persian classics such as the Masnavi of Rumi, the Gulistan and Bostan of Saadi Shirazi, and The Divān of Hafez. Sudi's commentary on Hafez's divan was reportedly produced at the suggestion of Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Muhyi'l-Din al-Munshi from Akhisar. The work was of such quality that it has remained relevant up to this day. His commentary on the Gulistan of Saadi remains the standard Turkish commentary. Burrill explains that Sudi's commentary on Hafez's divan outclasses that of Şem'i and Sürūrī, and it was used for editions by scholars of Persian and by Western orientalists.Sudi in his Sherh-i Gulistan in many places criticizes the previous interpreters; one of the main targets of his critics is Shem'i. The commentary on Hafez was completed in Constantinople in 1594.