While his brothers served as kazasker and sheikh in İstanbul, Müeyyedzâde Abdülkerîm Efendi stayed in Amasya; though he was several times kadı (judge) of the city he never gave up teaching, and he died in 927 (1520-21) still kadı of Amasya. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, author of Amasya Tarihi, calls him "edîb, şâir, hattât-ı meşhûr", a man of letters, a poet and a famous calligrapher, and quotes a passage from Mecdî's translation of the Şakâyık praising his knowledge of history. The sources remember him above all as a calligrapher and give not one example of his verse. His sons Abdülhay Efendi and the poet Abdî Abdullah Efendi also belong to this branch of the family. The page Abdülkerîm Efendi-Müeyyedzâde gives Hüsameddin's entry as it stands.

Hüsameddin's Record

The entry in the eleventh volume is short; Hüsameddin's own words do not run beyond two paragraphs, and the rest is quotation from Mecdî:

Abdülkerîm Efendi-Müeyyedzâde Amasyalıdır. Mevlânâ Şemseddîn Müeyyed Çelebizâde Alâeddîn Ali Çelebi mahdûmu ve kazasker Abdurrahman ve Şeyh Abdürrahîm Efendiler'in birâderidir. Fuzalâdan sabıkü't-terceme Mevlânâ Abdülkerîm Amâsî'den ikmâl-i tahsîl ve hutût-ı mütenevviayı hattât-ı meşhûr Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi'den ahz ederek müderris-i be-nâm oldu. Ba'dehû mükerreren Amasya kadısı olup tedrîsden ferâgat etmedi. 927'de Amasya kadısı olduğu halde vefât etdi. Âlim, fâzıl, ulûm-i Arabiyye ve edebiyât-ı Fârisiyye'de mâhir, tevârih ve muhâzarâta vâkıf, edîb, şâir, hattât-ı meşhûr idi. Mecdî Mehmed Efendi "Terceme-i Şakâyık"da diyor ki: "İlm-i tevârih ve ahbârda ve hikâyât-ı kudemâ-i ahyârda ıttılâ-ı tâmmı olup bir mertebe istihzâr-ı tâmmı var idi ki nevâdir-i ahvâl-i mütekaddimîn ona nisbet ma'kûlât-ı evvel mesâbesinde idi." "Merhûm Abdülkerîm'in dahi oğlu Mevlâna Abdülhay gibi hüsn-i hatta yed-i beyzâsı var idi. El-hak ikisinin dahî pâdişâh Ahmed ve Şâh Mahmûd nâm be-nâm hattâtlar bende-i mekâtibi mesâbesinde olup halhalı anların tavk-ı ubûdiyetine boyun vermişdi. Her birisi hüsn-i hattı sarmaşık gibi başa çıkarıp kemâle irgörmüşdü." Pâdişâh Ahmed ve Mahmûd Şâh Çelebilerin hâl tercemeleri yazıldı. Bunlarda asrında meşâhîr-i hattâtînden olup hattât kaynağı olan Amasyalılardır.

In English: A native of Amasya, he is the son of Alâeddin Ali Çelebi, son of Mevlânâ Şemseddin Müeyyed Çelebi, and the brother of Kazasker Abdurrahman Efendi and Sheikh Abdürrahîm Efendi. He completed his studies with Mevlânâ Abdülkerîm Amâsî, one of the scholars whose life was written earlier, learned the various scripts from the famous calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah Efendi, and became a professor (müderris) of renown. Later he was several times kadı of Amasya, but did not give up teaching. He died in 927 while kadı of Amasya. He was learned and virtuous, a master of the Arabic sciences and of Persian literature, versed in history and in the culture of conversation, a man of letters, a poet and a famous calligrapher. Mecdî Mehmed Efendi says in his translation of the Şakâyık: "He had full knowledge of history, of reports and of the stories of the virtuous ancients, and knew them by heart to such a degree that the rare circumstances of the men of old were to him like self-evident truths." "The late Abdülkerîm, like his son Mevlânâ Abdülhay, had a miraculous hand in fine writing. Truly, the famous calligraphers named Pâdişâh Ahmed and Şâh Mahmûd were like slaves of the school of both, and had put the collar of servitude round their necks. Each of them raised fine writing to the top like ivy and brought it to perfection." The lives of Pâdişâh Ahmed and Mahmûd Şâh Çelebi have also been written; they too were famous calligraphers of their age and people of Amasya who raised calligraphers.

Mecdî's second passage is a formula of praise, and what exactly it means can be understood in two ways: either it says that Pâdişâh Ahmed and Şâh Mahmûd were trained in the writing school of father and son, or simply that father and son surpassed these two famous calligraphers. Hüsameddin adds that these two calligraphers were also from Amasya and notes that he wrote their lives separately in his book. On either reading it is clear that Abdülkerîm was known in his own time for his calligraphy.

Life

Abdülkerîm Efendi was a grandson of Müeyyed Çelebi, from whom the family took its name. The most widely known of the sons of his father Alâeddin Ali Çelebi was the kazasker Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi; the other brother, Abdürrahîm Efendi, served as a Halveti sheikh in İstanbul. Abdülkerîm, however, remained in his home town, and his teacher too was a scholar of Amasya. He learned the various scripts from the calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah. The sources give no date for his birth.

The entry on his brother Abdürrahîm Efendi gives one more detail about Abdülkerîm's life in Amasya. When Selim I came to the throne in Safer 918 (1512), Abdürrahîm Efendi's sheikh and father-in-law was sent to İskilip and Abdürrahîm himself to Amasya, where he stayed in the house of his brother Abdülkerîm Efendi. Abdürrahîm's son, the later şeyhülislam Abdülkâdir Şeyhî Efendi, was born in Amasya in 920 according to Hüsameddin; the source does not say whether the birth took place in his uncle's house.

His Poetry

Hüsameddin uses the descriptions "man of letters, poet" for Abdülkerîm himself; there is no uncertainty about whom they refer to. Yet the entry quotes no couplet of his and mentions no divan or work in verse. The quotation from Mecdî, too, speaks not of his poetry but of his knowledge of history and his calligraphy. His being a poet is on record; his poetry is lost.

Family

His son Abdülhay Efendi became a mülâzım of his uncle Abdurrahman Efendi and served as professor, then, after the conquest of Diyarbekir, as kadı of Diyarbekir with the title "kazasker of Kurdistan", and as kadı of Amasya; he died in 950 (1543-44). Hüsameddin too describes him as a calligrapher and a man versed in history. The couplet "Uğradım bir kazâ-yı mübreme âh / Oldu Âmid bana belâ-yı siyâh" (Alas, I met with an inescapable fate; Âmid became a black calamity for me), which he spoke when sent to Diyarbekir a second time, is recorded in his entry. His other son, Abdî Abdullah Efendi, was a poet who died in 961 (1553-54) as son-in-law of Grand Vizier Pîrî Mehmed Paşa and kadı of Sofia; Hüsameddin states in a separate note that he was the son of Abdülkerîm Çelebi bin Ali Çelebi bin Müeyyed Çelebi and the brother of Abdülhay. Abdülhay's son Ahmed Efendi also learned the ta'lik script from Ebü'l-Fazl Mehmed and served as deputy judge and kadı of Amasya. The wider family tree is given in the article The Müeyyedzâdes.

Another person with the same name and the same father's name also appears in Amasya Tarihi: in the entry on İsmâil Efendi of the Abdîzâde family his father is named "Abdülkerîm Çelebi bin Ali Çelebi, of the descendants of Müderris Abdî Çelebi". This man's son died around 991, and the family is not the Müeyyedzâdes but the line of Müderris Abdî Çelebi. Because of the similarity of the names, the two Abdülkerîms should not be confused.

Chronology

918 (1512): His brother Sheikh Abdürrahîm Efendi is sent to Amasya and stays in his house.

927 (1520-21): He dies while kadı of Amasya.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources