Amasyalıdır. Ulemâdan Şemseddîn Mehmed Çelebi bin Şeyhî Çelebi mahdûmu ve Hâtemî Abdulkerîm Efendi’nin birâderidir. Amasya ulemâsından ulûm-i şer’iyye ve akliyeyi, fünûn-i edebiyyeyi ahzedib ders-i âm oldu. Bu esnâda Amasya vâlisi olan Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânîye kasîdeler takdîm ederek tekarrub edib musâhibleri sırasına girdi.
[28] 883 senesinde Halîmî vak’asında bu da musâb olup Ankara’ya gönderildi. Orada müderris olup 886’da Sultân Bâyezîd Hân’ın cülûsunda Sultâniye-i Merzifon müderrisi, buradan Ankara ve ba’dehû Sivas kadısı olup 903’de talebiyle ber-vech-i tekâ’üd Amasya’da Sultân Bâyezîd evkâfına mütevellî ve şehzâde Sultân Ahmed musâhibi olduğu halde 907 senesi evâilinde vefât etdi.
Âlim, edîb, şâir, kitâbet ve inşâda mâhir, azbü’l-lisân, latîfe-gû, muhâzarâta âşinâ idi. Mahdûmu Abdulhayy Efendi de kibâr-i kudâtdandır. Sultân Bâyezîd’in cülûsunda Ankara’dan gönderdiği bir kasîdesinden şu beytler Latîfî Tezkiresinde yazılıdır.
Müjen tîrine cân itmek hedef devlet nişânıdur
Velî benden gibi hâkînün ol devlet ne şânıdur
Yeter düşdüm ırak ok gibi kurbân oldugum rahm it
Ham-ı ebrûlarundan kim yed-i kudret nişânıdur
Zamanında bu şâhun çek taṣarrufdan elin ey çarh
Yıkarlar pîr isen gönlün yiğitlik ‘unfuvânıdur
[29] Bu da onundur.
Ney gibi sûz-i derûn âh-ı nefesden bilinür
Hânenün şenliği içindeki sesden bilinür
Âşık Çelebi Tezkiresinde denir ki: “Âfitâbî, Çırak Çelebi nâmında bir nev-civâna mübtelâ idi. Şu gazel onundur:
Ka‘be-i kûyuna yol vir ki ana yol varamaz
Bitür anun dilegin ki yüz urup yalvaramaz
Çekdi çâk eyledi ten-i cübbesini ‘aşk henüz
Dostun dest-i gamdan yakasın kurtaramaz
Dokunam dir dil-i ‘uşşâk-i perîşâne meger
Ol perî şâne ile zülfin anunçün daramaz
Âfitâbî doga devlet güneşi birgün ola
Hak te’âla kulunu kahr ile dâ’im karamaz
Bu Çırak Çelebi, Amasya’da Dârü’s-selâm Mahallesi’nde mukîm olan Yaglu Murâd Beyzâde Mirlivâ Çırak Bey olmalıdır. Amasya defterdârı Sa’dî Çelebi bin Hacı Mehmed Çelebi de bu çerağın pervânelerindendi. Şu kıt’a da Âfitâbî’nindir
Gafleti ko gözün aç ey gâfil
Elde iken koma reh-i talebi[30]
Vaktine hâzır ol ki çalındı
Penç-gâh-i Muhammed-i ‘Arabî
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Şemseddîn Mehmed Çelebi, son of the scholar Şeyhî Çelebi, and the brother of Hâtemî Abdulkerîm Efendi. He learned the religious and rational sciences and literature from the scholars of Amasya and reached the level of giving general lectures. At that time he drew close to Prince Sultan II. Bayezid, then governor of Amasya, by presenting him odes (kaside), and entered the circle of his conversation companions.
In 883 [1478], in the Halîmî affair, he too suffered a misfortune and was sent to Ankara. There he became a müderris (madrasa professor). In 886 [1481], on Sultan Bayezid Han's accession to the throne, he became müderris of the Sultaniye in Merzifon; from there he moved to Ankara, then to the judgeship of Sivas. In 903 [1497-98], at his own request he retired, became trustee (mütevelli) of the Sultan Bayezid waqfs in Amasya, and as a conversation companion of Prince Sultan Ahmed died in early 907 [1501-02].
He was a scholar, man of letters and poet; he was skilled in correspondence and official writing, sweet in speech, witty and quick in repartee. His son Abdulhayy Efendi was also one of the great judges. The following couplets from an ode that he sent from Ankara on Sultan Bayezid's accession are written in Latîfî's Tezkire.
To be a target for the arrow of your lashes is the sign of fortune
But what closeness has a clod of earth like me to that fortune
Enough, I have fallen far like an arrow, pity me, the sacrificed
By the bow of your brows, which is the mark of the hand of power
In the time of this shah, O heaven, withdraw your hand from tyranny
Even if you are old, they ruin your heart; valor is the work of youth
This too is his.
The fire in the heart, like a reed flute, is known from the breath of sighs
The gaiety of a house is known from the voice inside it
In Âşık Çelebi's Tezkire it is said: "Âfitâbî was smitten with a youth named Çırak Çelebi. This ghazal is his:
Give way to your street like the Kaaba, for none can reach it
His wish is fulfilled who does not beg with face to the ground
Love has already torn your body like a robe
The friend cannot free the collar of sorrow from the hand
The hearts of scattered lovers perhaps say "let me touch"
For this reason that fairy does not comb her locks with a comb
Âfitâbî, the sun of fortune will surely rise one day
The Most High God never leaves His servant always in wrath
This Çırak Çelebi must be Çırak Bey, Mirlivâ [sanjak bey] son of Yağlu Murâd Bey, who lived in the Dârüsselâm Quarter in Amasya. Sa'dî Çelebi, son of Hacı Mehmed Çelebi, the defterdar of Amasya, was also among the moths around this çırak (candle). This quatrain is also Âfitâbî's:
Leave heedlessness, open your eyes, O heedless one
While it is in your hand, do not abandon the path of seeking
Be ready for your time, for it has been sounded
The five daily calls of Arab Muhammad
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ders-i âm: authority to give general lectures; müderris
- musâhib: conversation companion, close friend of a sultan or prince
- müderris: teacher who gives lessons in a madrasa
- azbü'l-lisân: sweet-tongued
- latîfe-gû: one who tells witty remarks, a joker
- muhâzarât: quickness of repartee, finesse in conversation
- kitâbet ve inşâ: the art of writing and official correspondence
- kasîde, gazel: in divan poetry, a long poem of praise; a short love poem
- kıt'a: a poem of four lines
- nev-civân: a young man, a youth
Hatemî's Brother, the Prince's Companion
Âfitâbî is a divan poet associated with Amasya in the old sources. Latîfî gives his birthplace as Amasya; other sources write Tosya. After finishing his madrasa education and entering the path of a religious order, he joined the close circle of Prince Bayezid while the latter was in Amasya. According to Latîfî and Âlî, he won Bayezid's admiration and support through his learning and wisdom, but through the slander of the envious he was estranged from the sultan. He was retired on a small stipend and spent the rest of his life preaching and giving counsel to the people in and around Amasya. This account partly confirms the line Hüsameddin gives, "close to the sultan, then withdrawn to Amasya", but the posts of professor and judge that Hüsameddin lists were not seen in the same detail in other sources.
On the date of death the sources are not certain. Sadettin Nüzhet Ergun argues that the poet must have lived until about 1494. Hüsameddin gives the year 907 [1501-02]; the difference between the two dates has not been resolved. The poet's divan is mentioned in the sources, but no copy of it has survived. Four of his poems are preserved in the Pervâne Bey Mecmuası and two poems in Nazmî of Edirne's Mecma'u'n-Nezâ'ir.
The Poems in the Text
The Turkish rendering of the couplets is meant to convey the sense and is not a full translation of the poems; in the original couplets some words (for example "yed-i kudret", "penç-gâh") make analysis difficult. According to the account of the ghazal that Âşık Çelebi reports, Âfitâbî had given his heart to a youth named Çırak Çelebi; Hüsameddin guesses this person to be Çırak Bey, the sanjak bey who lived in the Dârüsselâm Quarter in Amasya. This is an inference and is not documented separately.
Bibliography