Halil b. Hüseyin al-Si'irdi al-Umari, a versatile Ottoman scholar authoritative in tafsir, fiqh, hadith, theology, grammar and Sufism. Born 1754 in Hizan (Bitlis), he spent his last thirty years teaching at Siirt's Fahriye Madrasa and died in Siirt in 1843. He wrote over twenty works; his Kurdish didactic poem Nahj al-Anam is renowned. His tomb lies on a hill east of the city. (Sources: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 'Molla Halil Siirdî'; Siirt University resources)