Not much is known about the life and works of the sixteenth century Persian poet Mahfî-i Gilanî. The existing pieces of information suggest that he entered the service of Sulaiman the Magnificent in Istanbul following the death of his previous patron, Ebu'l-Muzaffer Bahadır Khan. Ebu'l-Muzaffer Bahadır Khan was the ruler of Gilan for whom Mahfî had served as a poet and joined military campaigns. Mahfi is the author of Arz-ı Hal ü Sergüzeşt-i Gilanî, an autobiographical piece on the unfair conditions he witnessed under the rule of some administrators. He is also the translator of a medicine booklet titled Tercüme-i Bih-i Çinî. It is a well known fact that Suleiman and his administrators have been great patrons of poetry who endorsed poets both from inside and outside the Empire. This was especially the case for the Persian poets who were well-respected by the administrators and received a special treatment from the Sultan. However, despite Suleiman's benevolent patronage to other poets, Mahfi has not found what he expected from his reign. In Arz-ı Hâl ü Sergüzeşt-i Gilanî, Mahfi acounts his experience of not being supported by his patrons in the way he anticipated. It might be fruitful to look at Mahfi's work to ask questions about his unique experience as a neglected Persian poet and explore how he represented this experience through his work. Against the backdrop of these questions, I will first present the autobiographical work of Arz-ı Hâl ü Sergüzeşt-i Gilanî and locate it within the history and literature of the Ottoman Empire. I will then move on to some critical questions and suggestions about the classification of works like "Arz-ı hâl", "Hasbihâl", "Sergüzeştname" and locate Mahfi's Arz-ı Hâl ü Sergüzeşt-i Gilanî within the framework of this body of literature.