Kâfiri Mihrabda Eğrilik

Starting from a letter written from a major Ottoman poet Baki to Ottoman Sultan Süleyman I about a poem of the latter, the article analyses a series of parallel poems by various Ottoman poets produced throughout the sixteenth century. Article investigates two questions: Why Baki was so impressed by a simile Süleyman employed in one line of the poem for the eyebrow of the beloved: "It is no wonder that the infidel's altar is crooked"? Why didn't Baki and Süleyman mention the existence of the same line in two poems by two poets who lived before their time? Tackling with these questions, the article compares existing six poems by four poets that incorporates the same simile.