After his second and final dismissal as judge of Medina in 1008, Ahmed Efendi did not return to Istanbul; he went to Egypt and taught there. He was the grandson of the military judge (kazasker) Sinan Efendi, called "Muhaşşî" for the gloss (hâşiye) he wrote on Beyzâvî's Qur'an commentary. Born in Amasya in 963 (1555-56), while his father Hüseyin Efendi was judge (kadı) of Amasya, he rose from madrasa professor to judge of Medina and died in the month of Zilkade 1030 (1621). Behind the epithets "âlim, fâzıl, edib, şâir", learned, virtuous, a man of letters, a poet, which Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar lists, there is not a single couplet; the entry is also concerned with correcting a confusion in the family's genealogy. The page Ahmed Efendi-Muhaşşî Sinan Efendizâde gives the entry in simplified modern Turkish, along with notes on Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi and Atâî's continuation of the Şakâik.

Hüsameddin's Record

Amasyalıdır. Kazasker Amasyalı Muhaşşî Sinânüddîn Yûsuf Efendi bin eş-Şeyh Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi bin İlyas bin Hasanzâde Amasya Kadısı Hüseyin Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Biraderi sudûr-ı ulemâdan Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi'dir.
Pederi Amasya'da kadı iken 963'de doğdu. Ceddî Sinan Efendi'nin hücre-i himâyesinde büyüdü. Meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan Kadızâde Şemseddîn Ahmed Efendi'den ahz-ı ulûm ederek ondan mülâzım ve 991'de Efdalzâde Medresesi Müderrisi oldu. Ba'dehû medâris-i mu'tâdeyi devredip 1005 senesi ramazânının gurresinde Medîne-i münevvere mollası oldu.
1006 senesi şa'bânında azledilmişken bir hafta sonra ibkâ edildi. 1008 senesi rebîülevvelinde azledildiğinden munfasıl olup Mısır'a gitdi. Orada ikâmet ederek tedrîs-i ulûma himmet etdi. Meşîhat-i İslamiyye tarafından vezâ'if-i mu'ayyene-i mevleviyyetle taltîf edilip 1030 senesi zilka'desinde vefât eyledi.
Âlim, fâzıl, edib, şâir, halûk, sahî, âbid, nezîh bir zât idi. "Zeyl-i Şakâyık-ı Atâyî"de biraderi kazasker Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi'nin mahdûmu gösterildiği halde yine aynı kitabın müte'addid yerlerinde biraderi olduğu yazılmıştır. Târîhen ve hakîkaten biraderidir. Mahdûmu Ahmed Efendi de başka bir zâtdır.

In translation: He is from Amasya. He is the son of Hüseyin Efendi, judge of Amasya, son of the kazasker Muhaşşî Sinâneddin Yûsuf Efendi of Amasya, son of Şeyh Hüsâmeddin Hüseyin Efendi, son of İlyas, son of Hasan. His brother is Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi, one of the leading members of the learned hierarchy. He was born in 963 while his father was judge in Amasya. He grew up under the protection of his grandfather Sinan Efendi. Having studied with the renowned scholar Kadızâde Şemseddin Ahmed Efendi, he became his candidate for a teaching post (mülâzım), and in 991 professor of the Efdalzâde Madrasa. Then, having passed through the usual madrasas, he became judge (molla) of Medina on the first day of Ramazan 1005. Dismissed in Şaban 1006, he was reinstated a week later. When he was dismissed in Rebîülevvel 1008 he was left without a post and went to Egypt. Settling there, he devoted himself to teaching the sciences. He was honoured by the office of the şeyhülislam with the fixed stipends belonging to the rank of mevleviyet and died in Zilkade 1030. He was a learned, virtuous man of letters and a poet, gentle, generous, devout and pure. Although in Atâî's continuation of the Şakâik he is shown as the son of his brother, the kazasker Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi, in many places of the same book it is written that he was his brother. Historically and in truth he is his brother. His son Ahmed Efendi is a different person.

Family

The first sentence of the entry adds the name "Hüseyin Efendi, judge of Amasya" at the end of a long chain of ancestors and is not easy to read. The chain is unravelled by Hüsameddin's entry Hüseyin Efendi-Muhaşşî Sinan Efendizâde in the ninth volume. According to it, Hüseyin Efendi was the son of Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi; born in Amasya and brought up by his father, he became judge of Amasya in 961 and professor at the Üç Şerefeli in Edirne in 964, retired after the judgeship of Diyarbekir and died in 992 (1584). Among scholars he was known as "Kara Hüseyin Efendi" and was a calligrapher skilled in the ta'lik hand. His sons are Şeyhî Mehmed, Ahmed, the kazasker Mustafa Efendi and Mahmûd Paşa, a governor-general (beylerbey). Hüseyin Efendi's judgeship of Amasya between 961 and 964 matches exactly the record that Ahmed was born "while his father was judge in Amasya, in 963". Accordingly, Ahmed was Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi's grandson, and the word "ceddî", his grandfather, in the entry confirms it.

Hüsameddin himself corrects the contradiction in Atâî's continuation: in one place it presents Ahmed as the son of his brother Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi, in many others as his brother. Hüsameddin finds the second correct, and the list of sons in Hüseyin Efendi's entry supports this decision. The last sentence of the entry is meant to forestall another confusion: one of Ahmed Efendi's sons also bore the name Ahmed and is a different person.

From Medina to Egypt

Ahmed Efendi's career passed through the familiar stages of the learned path of the time. After his candidacy he became professor at the Efdalzâde Madrasa in 991 (1583), went through the other madrasas in turn, and on 1 Ramazan 1005 (April 1597) rose to the judgeship of Medina, one of the great judgeships called "molla". His tenure there was unsettled: he was dismissed in Şaban 1006 (March 1598), left in his post a week later, and dismissed again, this time for good, in Rebîülevvel 1008 (September-October 1599). After this, instead of returning to Istanbul, he went to Egypt and taught there. That the office of the şeyhülislam granted him an income tied to the rank of mevleviyet shows that he kept his place among the ulema in these years without office. Hüsameddin does not state the place of his death; the flow of the entry suggests that he was still in Egypt when he died.

Poetry

Hüsameddin lists the epithet "şâir" in the same series as his other virtues, naming neither a work nor a couplet, and no example of his poetry is known today. The main source Hüsameddin used for his life and posts is Atâî's continuation Hadâiku'l-hakâik fî tekmileti'ş-Şakâik. This work could not be consulted during the present study, so whether his entry there contains an example of his poetry could not be checked.

Chronology

963 (1555-56): Born in Amasya while his father is judge there.

991 (1583): Becomes professor of the Efdalzâde Madrasa.

1 Ramazan 1005 (April 1597): Becomes judge of Medina.

Rebîülevvel 1008 (September-October 1599): Is dismissed and goes to Egypt.

Zilkade 1030 (September-October 1621): Dies.

Bibliography

Online sources