Quote by Zeynep Hatun: “Love set me on fire and I was glad to burn.”

Complete surrender to love is terrifying in theory, but those who have truly experienced it often describe it not as loss but as a strange and welcome transformation. Being consumed by love changes you into something you could not have become otherwise.

Zeynep Hatun wrote during the consolidation of the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II and Bayezid II, a period of rapid imperial expansion and extraordinary cultural patronage. Istanbul had just been established as the new Ottoman capital, and the court became a centre for literature and scholarship.

Ottoman Turkish poet born around 1440 in Amasya, considered one of the finest female poets of the early Ottoman period. She corresponded poetically with other poets of her era and was celebrated at court for her mastery of the Persian-influenced Ottoman literary style.