Amasyalı Halîl oğludur. Fenercizâde el-Hâc Evliya Halîl Efendi’den tahsîl-i ulûm edib mücâz oldu. Bu esnâda eş-Şeyh Hasan Sinan Efendi’nin tevhid-hânesine müdâvim olup, ondan ahz-ı tasavvuf etdi.
Dersi-âm iken terk-i tedrîs ederek meşgûl-i ibâdet oldu. Ba’dehû mekteb-i sıbyân mu’allimi olup İmâret şeyhi Mehmed Efendi sohbetinde zevk-i rûhânî buldu. Ondan inâbe edib Nakşibendî oldu.
Bir müddet sonra talîm-i sıbyândan da ferâgat edib imâret arkasında Hacı İlyas Mescidi odasında münzevî oldu. Odası ziyâret-gâh-ı ulemâ ve a’yân hâlini aldı. Bütün dünya ve halâyıktan alakasını kesip dergâh-ı ulûhiyyetine kalbini rabt ederek 1221 senesi rebiülevvelinin beşinci çarşamba günü dâr-ı kudse intikâl etdi. Perşembe günü bir cemm-i gafîr ile nâmazı Sultân Bâyezîd câmi’înde edâ ve Narlıbahçe Mezarlığına [709] defnedildi.
Akif Efendizâde es-Seyyid Abdürrahim Efendi “el-Mecmû” adlı eserinde diyor ki: “Âlim, âmil, âbid, kâmil tam manasıyla zâhid, kanû’, sabûr, haşû bir zât-ı kerâmet-simât idi. Evâ’il-i hâlinde riyâzât-ı şedîdeye mükib olup günlerce yemez içmezdi. Halk ile tekellüm ve ihtilâtdan kaçınırdı.”
Büyük Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi ahyânen kendisini ziyâret ve sohbetinden istifade-i meymenet eylediğinden ulemâ nezdinde pek muhterem idi. Ulemâ ve a’yân ziyâretine koşarlar fakat bilâ-tekellüm yanından kalkıp giderlerdi. Söylerse hikmet ve istifadeli şeyler söylerdi.
Üstâzî Hacı Evliya Halîl Efendi bazen gelip tekellüm için ibrâm etdikte ahvâl-i sûfîye ve kelimât-ı ulemâya dâ’ir sözler söylerdi. Havâss ve avâm ziyâretini teberrük addederek hâssaten cuma günleri hücre-i sa’adeti müzdehim olurdu.
Hücresinde yorganı, bir aba, döşeği, bir post-ı bî-bahâ idi. Mu’ahharan ziyâretcilerin çokluğuna binâ’en hücrenin her tarafı postekilerle döşendi. Kış günleri ateş yakmadığından ocağında [710] yaz ve kış yeşil çimen biterdi. Soğan ve sarımsak asla yemez, yiyeceği ekmek, pekmez, kuru üzüm, ceviz, hurma gibi şeylerdi. Bunları umulmayan zamanlarda bile sevdiklerine verirdi.
Her cuma günleri zâ’irlere dolabında bitmek tükenmek bilmeyen taze hurma takdîm etdiğine hâdimi Yeşil Ahmed Efendi hayret eder. Bir gün şeyhi abdeste çıktığı sırada dolabı yoklar asla bir nesne olmadığını anlar.
Şeyhinin avdetinde gelen bir zâ’ire dolabtan taze hurma ve ceviz içi çıkarıp verdiğini görünce hayreti artar. Bunu şeyhinden istifsâr eylediği günden i’tibâren meczûbâne hareketler göstermeye başlamış bir daha hücresinde oturmamıştır.
Geceleri de sabahlara kadar mekâbir-i evliyâ ve sulehâyı ziyâret ederek dolaşır, uyumaz, gündüzler de oruç tutar. Tenhalarda da’ima ağlardı. Herkese gâyet beşûş, latîfeci, güler yüzlü görünürdü. Kendisinde haşyetullah gâlibti.
Kendisi gassâl değildi. Fakat a’yân ve ulemâdan kendisini gasl etmesini vasiyyet ve pek ricâ ederlerse ba’zılarına gasl ederdi. Onu da mülâtefe ederek yıkar, kabrine de indirirdi. Birini [711] gaslederken bileğini sıkar “Ne güzel ve yüce yerin var!” der, ölü gözünü açıp kendisine bakar, tebessüm ederek yine kapar!” Bunu pek çok kimseler görmüşdür.
Merhûm fakirâne yaşar, kimseden ne bir ücret ne de bir habbe sadaka ve fitre almazdı. Ahvâl-ı kulûb ve kubûra aşinâ idi. Bununla beraber mütecâhil görünürdü. Rumûz ve işarâtı çoktu. İmâ ve işaret etdiği şeyler çıkardı. Kaddesallâhü sırrehü’l-aziz.
Şeyh-i müşârün-ileyhi bilenlerden yalnız bir kimseye tesadüf etdim. Çarşambalı Hacı Abdülkadir Efendi merhûm derdi ki; “Şeyh Ahmed Efendi uzunca boylu, esmer benizli, seyrek sakallı, bünyesi nahîf, güleç yüzlü bir zât-ı şerîf idi. Kabri Narlıbahçe mezârlığının şimâlinde Şehzâde türbesinin yan tarafında olup yüksek ve ziyâret-gâh idi”.
In Modern English
He is the son of Halil of Amasya. He learned from Fenercizâde Hacı Evliya Halil Efendi and received icazet. During this time he attended the tevhidhane (place of dhikr) of Şeyh Hasan Sinan Efendi and learned Sufism from him.
While a ders-i âm he gave up teaching and devoted himself to worship. Then he became teacher at a sıbyan mektebi (primary school) and found a spiritual savor in the company of Mehmed Efendi, sheikh of the İmaret. He attached himself to him and became a Naqshbandi.
After a while he withdrew from teaching children as well and began to live apart from society in the room of the Hacı İlyas Mescidi behind the imaret. His room became a place of visits for scholars and notables. Having cut his interest in the world and in people and bound his heart to God, he passed to the other world on the fifth Wednesday of the month of Rebiülevvel 1221 [1806-07]. On Thursday the funeral prayer was performed with a great crowd at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, and he was buried in the Narlıbahçe Cemetery.
Akif Efendizâde Seyyid Abdürrahim Efendi says in his work "el-Mecmû": "He was a scholar who acted on his knowledge, a worshipper, mature, one who had fully withdrawn his hand from the world, contented, patient, God-fearing, of a countenance bearing signs of miracles. In his early days he practiced very severe discipline of the self and would go for days without eating or drinking. He avoided speaking and mixing with people."
Because the great Ürgüplü Hacı Ahmed Efendi would visit him from time to time and benefit from his company, he was very highly respected among the scholars. Scholars and notables would run to visit him, but he would get up and leave from beside them without saying anything. When he did speak, he said things full of wisdom and use.
When his teacher Hacı Evliya Halil Efendi sometimes came and insisted on making him talk, he would say things about Sufi states and the words of the scholars. He counted the visits of the elite and of the common people as a blessing, and especially on Fridays his happy cell was full of visitors.
In his cell his quilt was an aba cloak and his bedding a worthless sheepskin. Later, because of the multitude of visitors, the whole cell was furnished with sheepskins. Although he lit no fire on winter days, green grass grew in his hearth summer and winter. He never ate onion or garlic; his food was things like bread, pekmez, raisins, walnuts and dates. He would give these even at unexpected times to those he loved.
His servant Yeşil Ahmed Efendi marveled that every Friday he offered visitors fresh dates from his cupboard that never ran out. One day, while the sheikh had gone out to perform ablution, he checked the cupboard and found nothing in it.
When, on the sheikh's return, he saw him take fresh dates and walnut kernels out of the cupboard and give them to a visitor who came, his amazement grew. From the day he asked the sheikh about this he began to show behavior as if beside himself, and he never sat in his cell again.
At night too he would wander until morning visiting the graves of saints and good people, not sleeping, and by day he fasted. When alone he always wept. To everyone he appeared very cheerful, jesting and smiling. The fear of God prevailed in him.
He was not a gassal (washer of the dead). But when notables and scholars made it their will that he wash them and begged him greatly, he would wash some of them. He washed them gently, too, and lowered them into the grave himself. While washing one, he would squeeze his wrist and say, "What a fine and lofty place you have!" and the dead man would open his eyes, look at him, and close them again, smiling. Many people have seen this.
The late one lived in poverty and took neither a fee nor a single grain of alms or fitre from anyone. He knew the state of hearts and graves. Nevertheless he pretended not to know. His signs and hints were many; the things he hinted at and signaled came true. The Arabic prayer meaning "May God, the Mighty, sanctify his secret."
Of those who knew the said sheikh I met only one person. The late Çarşambalı Hacı Abdülkadir Efendi used to say: "Şeyh Ahmed Efendi was a respected man, tall, dark-skinned, with a sparse beard, slender, with a smiling face. His grave is north of the Narlıbahçe Cemetery, beside the Şehzade Tomb, and was a high and visited place."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mücâz: one with icazet, who has received permission to teach
- tevhid-hâne: lodge, a place where dhikr is performed
- ders-i âm: a müderris with authority to give general lectures
- ahz-ı tasavvuf: receiving training in Sufism
- mekteb-i sıbyân: children's school
- inâbe: attaching oneself to a path, turning toward it
- münzevî: one who withdraws from society and lives alone
- cemm-i gafîr: a great crowd
- riyâzât: the trials and hardships undertaken to discipline the self
- zâhid: one who keeps away from worldly pleasures
- kanû', sabûr, haşû: contented, patient, God-fearing
- meczûbâne: as if beside oneself
- gassâl: washer of the dead
- haşyetullah: fear of God
- mütecâhil: one who pretends not to know
- zâ'ir: visitor
Entry onto the Sufi Path
The entry tells step by step a scholar's entry onto the Sufi path. First come madrasa education and the title of ders-i âm, then attendance at the tevhidhane of Hasan Sinan Efendi. Then come the teaching at a sıbyan mektebi and, through Mehmed Efendi, sheikh of the İmaret, entry onto the Naqshbandi path, and finally living alone in the Hacı İlyas Mescidi behind the imaret. His teacher Fenercizâde Hacı Evliya Halil Efendi is also mentioned as a teacher in the entries numbered 720 and 728; he is the teacher of many scholars of Amasya of this period.
In the searches made, no separate and verifiable source was found on Çatal Hafız Ahmed Efendi, Yeşil Ahmed Efendi, İmaret sheikh Mehmed Efendi or the Hacı İlyas Mescidi; the information in the entry rests solely on Hüsameddin and the sources he transmits.
Between Hagiography and History
The middle part of the entry is hagiographic rather than historical fact: the grass sprouting in the hearth, the dates that never run out, the dead man opening his eyes and smiling. These accounts show how the respect around the sheikh was expressed; they should be read not as events but as an example of how a saint was remembered in that period. Hüsameddin says "many people have seen this," but does not state who these witnesses are.
There is also more concrete information: the year of death, 1221 [1806-07], the funeral prayer at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, the burial in the Narlıbahçe Cemetery, and his grave being beside the Şehzade Tomb. No source was found on whether the grave still stands today. The description in the last paragraph is taken from the only person Hüsameddin knew of those who had known him, Çarşambalı Hacı Abdülkadir Efendi; that is, the sheikh's appearance rests on a single person's memory even long after his death.
The author of the quoted work "el-Mecmû" is Akif Efendizâde Seyyid Abdürrahim Efendi. The work itself has not been examined in this study; the quotation is given through Hüsameddin's transmission.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 220–221. amasya.bel.tr
- Hasan Telli, "Meşihat Arşivi'ne Göre Amasya Müderrisleri", Kocatepe İslami İlimler Dergisi, 7/2 (2024), p. 732–758. https://doi.org/10.52637/kiid.1512049