Mihri Hatun (also known as Lady Mihri and Mihri Khatun, Ottoman Turkish: مهری خاتون; "sun/light"; c.1460 - c.1506), was an Ottoman poet. She was the daughter of a kadi (an Ottoman judge) and according to sources she spent most of her life in and near Amasya, in Anatolia.[1] Documentation places her as a member of the literary circle of Şehzade Ahmed, the son of Sultan Bayezid II.[2] She is referred to as the "Sappho of the Ottomans".[3]
Lady Mihri's poems reveal an artist grounded in both Turkish and Persian literature, writing in such forms as the Gazel, as well as the recipient of a deep literary education.[1] Modern critics, such as Bernard Lewis describe her style as “retaining remarkable freshness and simplicity.”[2]
One of her more popular lines goes as follows:[4]
“At one glance
I love you
With a thousand hearts
Let the zealots think
Loving is sinful
Never mind
Let me burn in the hellfire
Of that sin.”
Another is:[5]
“My heart burns in flames of sorrow
Sparks and smoke rise turning to the sky
Within me the heart has taken fire like a candle
My body, whirling, is a lighthouse illuminated by your image.”