Ahmed Sudi

Ahmed Sudi Bosnevi (b. ? - d. Sudići, Ottoman Empire, now in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1592-3/8 May 1598)[1] was a Bosnian translator and commentator under the Ottoman Empire. He is famous for his commentary on the Persian writings of Hafez[2] and the Gulistan and Bostan of Sa'di. Sudi in his Sherh-i Gulistan in many places criticizes the previous interpreters; one of the main targets of his critics is Shem'i.[3] The commentary on Hafez was completed in Istanbul in 1594.[4]

Sudi was born in Bosnia, in a village called Sudići, and received his early schooling in Sarajevo.[5] To further his education, he came to Istanbul sometime in the period 1565–79, during the time of the Bosnian-born Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. After this he travelled to Amid (Diyarbakir), Damascus, and Baghdad, where he studied under various scholars, and at some stage he also visited Egypt. However, he never appears to have visited Persia itself. After returning to Istanbul, Sudi was appointed by Sokollu Mehmed Pasha to teach Persian to selected slave-boys in the Ibrahim Pasha Palace, one of the foremost centres for the training of future administrators. Eventually, however, he was forced to retire from this position. He appears to have died shortly after 1599.[6]

It is known that he is buried in Yusuf Pasha mosque in Aksaray but the exact place of his tombstone is not clear.[1]