ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the life and career of Zati, mainly after his arrival in Istanbul, and of the poets he was acquainted with and his patrons and audiences. The career trajectory of Zati, as laid out by Asik celebi, has a consistent story line and a compelling narrative logic. His career can be divided into two distinct phases: literary and financial success, if not necessarily material comfort, in his years in Istanbul up to the end of Ibrahim Pasha's grand vizierate and failure afterward. Upon his arrival in Istanbul, Zati had a very clear strategy for gaining prominent patrons. With the loss of his influential patrons, Zati set up a shop in the square outside the mosque of Bayezid II in order to tell fortunes and write amulets for a living. Aspiring poets who dropped by his shop reflected the growing number of individuals in Istanbul who were interested in poetry and tried their hand at it.
