During their time, the sultans were known as hukumdar (ruler). That is one who rules, one who holds authority in their hands. It is arguable whether every sultan was a ruler; but there is no doubt that every ruler lived in his own poetry as the sultan of the word. The Sultans of Poetry ruled during the Ottoman centuries, enlivening the corridors of history with dize (lines), beyit (couplets), gazel (lyric poems) and kaside (eulogies); now all these words have given us an eagerness to undertake an uplifting journey through the royal gardens where the poems of the sultans used to resound. I hope you enjoy the trip!...