Ümm-i Veledzâde Abdülazîz Efendi, recorded as a poet in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, was a scholar born in 880 (1475) in the town of İltekin near Amasya; after a life spent as madrasa teacher (müderris) and judge (kadı) he became mufti of Amasya, and he died in İstanbul in 950 (1543-44). We owe this record to Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi; but of his poems in the three languages only a three-couplet Arabic verse signature, written beneath a court document (hüccet) while he was judge of Manisa, has come down to us. The information about him rests on the entry in Mecdî Mehmed Efendi's translation of Taşköprülüzâde's Şakâyık and on records kept in his father's own hand. The page Abdülazîz Efendi-Ümm-i Veledzâde reproduces Hüsameddin's entry as it stands.

Family

Abdülazîz Efendi belonged to one of the important scholarly families of fifteenth-century Amasya. His grandfather was Mevlânâ Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin, known by the by-name "Ümm-i Veled"; according to Hüsameddin the line goes back to Hâmid of Tabriz. His father Zeynelâbidîn Ali Çelebi, while teaching in the town of İltekin, wrote a treatise in verse on the movements of the stars, presented it in 882 (1477) to Mehmed II (the Conqueror), and thereby became teacher at the Hüsâmiyye Madrasa in Amasya. After the accession of Bayezid II he drew close to the governor of Amasya, Şehzade Ahmed (Prince Ahmed), taught at the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa, then served as judge in various places and died in 921 (1515). In the entry of his uncle Abdülevvel Çelebi, Hüsameddin states expressly that Abdülazîz's father was Zeynelâbidîn and that Abdülevvel was his uncle; he does not say against which source he makes this correction. Abdülazîz's son Ali Efendi was also of the mevâlî, that is, of the scholars who rose to the great judgeships and teaching posts.

Hüsameddin's Record

Hüsameddin's entry stands in the section of the eleventh volume given to the letter "ayn":

Amasyalıdır. Meşâhîr-i ulemâdan Amasya'da mukîm olan Zeynel Âbidin Ali bin Ümm-i Veled Hüsameddîn Hüseyin Çelebi'nin oğludur. Pederi Amasya civârında İltekin kasabasında müderris iken 880 senesi rebîülevvelinde doğdu. Amasya'da Mevlânâ Abdî, Bahşî gibi fuzalâdan ve İstanbul'da Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi vesâir ulemâdan ahz-ı ulûm ederek tedrîse mülâzım ve Davud Paşa ve bir sene de Manastır medreselerine müderris oldu. Ba'dehû meslek-i kazâyı ihtiyâr ederek Amasya ve Kayseriyye, Manisa vilâyetlerine kadı oldu. Sonra bu mesleği terk ederek Trabzon kazâsından isti'fâ ederek Trabzon'da Hâtuniyye ve Edirne'de Dârülhadîs müderrisi ve buradan Halep kadısı oldu. 939 senesi rebîülâhirinde Halep kazâsından naklen Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi olup geldi. Ne yazık ki 940 senesi evâhirinde Amasya'da çıkan büyük bir ihtilâlde mevkii sarsıldı. Amasya kadısı Müeyyedzâde Abdülhayy Efendi ile medhûl olduğundan 941 senesi rebîülevvelinde her ikisi de azl edilerek İstanbul'a gönderildi. Bunun üzerine tekâüde ayrılıp yetmiş akçe verildi. Bu hâl üzere sekiz yıldan ziyâde kalıp 950'de vefât etdi. Meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan edîb, kerîm, vakûr, edebiyât-ı Arabîyye ve fünûn-ı akliyyede mâhir, fıkıh ve usûlde fazîleti bâhir, elsine-i selâsede şâir bir zât idi.

In English: He is from Amasya. He is the son of Zeynelâbidîn Ali Çelebi, one of the famous scholars living in Amasya; Zeynelâbidîn was the son of Ümm-i Veled Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Çelebi. He was born in the month of Rebiülevvel of the year 880, while his father was teacher in the town of İltekin near Amasya. He studied in Amasya with scholars such as Mevlânâ Abdî and Bahşî, and in İstanbul with Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi and other scholars, became a candidate for office (mülazım), and was teacher at the Davud Pasha Madrasa and for one year at the Manastır Madrasa. Then, choosing the judicial path, he became judge in Amasya, Kayseri and Manisa. Later, to leave this profession, he resigned the judgeship of Trabzon; he became teacher at the Hâtuniye in Trabzon and the Darülhadis in Edirne, and from there passed to the judgeship of Aleppo. In the month of Rebiülâhir of the year 939 he was transferred from the judgeship of Aleppo and came as mufti of Amasya and teacher at the Sultaniye Madrasa. Unfortunately, at the end of the year 940 his position was shaken in a great disturbance that broke out in Amasya. Because he was considered implicated together with the judge of Amasya, Müeyyedzâde Abdülhay Efendi, both were dismissed in the month of Rebiülevvel of the year 941 and sent to İstanbul. Upon this he retired and was granted seventy akçe. He lived in this state for more than eight years and died in 950. He was one of the famous scholars, a man of letters, generous, dignified, skilled in Arabic literature and the rational sciences, eminent in jurisprudence and its principles, and a poet in three languages.

Hüsameddin says that this is the summary of the entry in Mecdî's translation of the Şakâyık, and that he learned the place and date of birth from the record his father kept. He then lists Abdülazîz's works in İstanbul: in the Fatih district, at Küçük Karaman, opposite his house, he built a lofty madrasa, and outside Edirnekapı, near the lodge of Mahmûd Çelebi of Amasya, a school, in whose yard he is buried. He had an endowment and wrote a gloss (haşiye) on the work of Sadrüşşerîa.

The Mufti's Office in Amasya and the Events of 940

Abdülazîz's career broke shortly after his return as mufti to the city of his birth. In Rebiülâhir 939 (autumn 1532) he was appointed from the judgeship of Aleppo to the office of mufti of Amasya and the teaching post of the Sultaniye Madrasa, but a year later, at the end of 940 (1534), a "great disturbance" that broke out in Amasya also shook his position. Hüsameddin does not describe the nature of the event here; he says only that Abdülazîz was considered implicated in it together with the city's judge, Müeyyedzâde Abdülhay Efendi, and that both were dismissed in Rebiülevvel 941 (autumn 1534) and sent to İstanbul. The same event has left traces in other entries of Hüsameddin: the father of the poet Rahîmî Abdurrahîm Efendi was sent to Bursa "in the Amasya affair of 940". These records show that the events of 940 ended in the exile or dismissal of more than one person in Amasya's learned circles; the cause of the event is not explained in these sources.

After his dismissal Abdülazîz did not return to office, and lived for more than eight years in İstanbul on a retirement pension of seventy akçe. His madrasa in Fatih and his school at Edirnekapı may belong to these years; Hüsameddin does not give their dates of construction.

Poetry

There is no record of a divan by Abdülazîz, whom Hüsameddin presents as "elsine-i selâsede şâir", a poet in Arabic, Persian and Turkish. The one piece that remains is a three-couplet Arabic poem that Hüsameddin gives with the words "Manisa kadısı iken şu imzâyı yazmışdır" (while judge of Manisa he wrote this signature). The judge put his signature beneath a court document he was confirming in verse rather than prose, and fitted into these couplets the soundness of the document, the truth of its contents and his own name together with the judgeship of Manisa. Hüsameddin gives the text in Arabic script; Safi Arpaguş, who prepared the edition, adds a Turkish translation in a footnote. The Latin-script reading of the verse signature and its English rendering have a page of their own. When the document was written and where Hüsameddin saw it are not stated.

Chronology

Rebiülevvel 880 (July 1475): Born in the town of İltekin.

882 (1477): His father Zeynelâbidîn Ali Çelebi presents his treatise on astronomy in verse to Mehmed II.

921 (1515): His father dies.

Rebiülâhir 939 (October-November 1532): Moves from the judgeship of Aleppo to the office of mufti of Amasya and the Sultaniye teaching post.

End of 940 (1534): A great disturbance breaks out in Amasya.

Rebiülevvel 941 (September-October 1534): Dismissed together with the judge of Amasya and sent to İstanbul.

950 (1543-44): Dies in İstanbul.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources