Quote by Mihri Hatun: “Beloved, your absence is a desert, my heart a thirsty wanderer within.”

This metaphor vividly conveys the profound emptiness and suffering caused by the absence of a loved one. The heart feels lost and parched, longing desperately for reunion and sustenance in a desolate landscape of separation.

Common in Divan poetry, the imagery of a desert and thirst effectively communicates the pain of separation and longing for the beloved, often with Sufi undertones of yearning for the divine presence.

Ottoman Turkish poet born around 1460 in Amasya, celebrated as one of the most accomplished female poets of the classical Ottoman period. Her diwan (collected poems) explores romantic love with unusual directness for a woman of her era, and she is known for challenging the conventions that limited women's public voice.