Kaside-I Kalemiyye by Yusuf Asim, the Poet of Sarajevo

Abstract

A large number of “pen qasidas” (kaside-i kalemiyye) have been written in the rich tradition of divan literature. These are kasidas whose theme is “kalem” (the pen), or kasidas with the radif “kalem”. In this paper, we will present “Kalemiyye” written by Yusuf Asim, the poet from Sarajevo from the 17th century, that he dedicated to his contemporary, friend and poet Sabit Alauddin Užičanin. The poetry of Yusuf Asim is relatively unknown in previous studies of the literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina in oriental languages, so this work will be one of the first to present this poet and his work.