Amasya’nın cenûbunda kâin eskiden kazâ merkezi olan Varay Kasabasından Ali oğludur. “Varaylı Hacı Ahmed Efendi” demekle de meşhûr olmuşdur. Amasya’da Bahşîzâde [478] Fâzıl Yahyâ ve Amasya Müftüsü Tâceddîn Efendilerden tahsîl-i ulûm ederek ders-i âm oldu.
İçeri şehirde Hâtuniyye Câmii şerîfinde tedrîs-i ulûm ve Hatûniyye Mahallesi’nde ikâmet eylediğinden “Mâverâünnehirli” dendi. Çünkü Amasya ulemâsı arasında İçeri şehre ırmağın arka tarafında olduğu münasebetle mâverâünnehir denmişdi.⁵⁵
Bir müddet müderris ve kadı olarak kendisini tanıtdı. Sonra ber-vech-i te’bîd Halfet Gâzi Medresesiyle mütekâ’id olduğu halde 1021 sâline doğru vefât etdi. Âlim, fâzıl, ulûm-ı şer’iyye ve usûliyyede kâmil, Buhârî-sîret bir zât idi.
Hâtuniyye ve Enderûn Câmilerinde halka, va’az u nasîhat, selef-i sâlihîn mesleği üzere hareket ederdi. Kitaplarının zahrına yazdığı imzâlarında “Ebû Abdillah Ahmed bin Ali el-Varâyî” diye yazardı. Sâlih, dindâr, afîf idi. Mahdûmu Abdullah Efendi’dir.
In Modern English
He was the son of Ali, from the town of Varay, south of Amasya, formerly a kaza centre. He was also known as "Varaylı Hacı Ahmed Efendi." Having studied in Amasya under Bahşîzâde Fâzıl Yahyâ and the mufti of Amasya, Tâceddîn Efendi, he became a ders-i âm (a müderris with the authority to give general lessons).
He taught at the Hâtuniyye Mosque in the inner city (İçeri şehir), and because he lived in the Hatûniyye quarter he was called "Mâverâünnehirli." For among the scholars of Amasya the inner city had been called "mâverâünnehir" (beyond the river) because it lay on the far side of the river.
For a time he made himself known as müderris and judge. Then, retired for life from the Halfet Gâzi Madrasa, he died around 1021 [1612-13]. He was a scholar, a man of virtue, mature in the religious sciences and the sciences of method (usûl), a man whose conduct was like that of Bukhari (the hadith scholar).
At the Hâtuniyye and Enderûn mosques he gave sermons and counsel to the people and acted on the path of the pious predecessors (selef-i sâlihîn, the righteous Muslims of the first period). In the signatures he wrote on the spines of his books he wrote "Ebû Abdillah Ahmed bin Ali el-Varâyî." He was pious, devout, and chaste. His son is Abdullah Efendi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- tahsîl-i ulûm: studying the sciences
- ders-i âm: a müderris with the authority to give general lessons
- tedrîs-i ulûm: teaching the sciences
- mâverâünnehir: beyond the river; also the name of the historical Central Asian region
- ber-vech-i te'bîd: for life, continuously
- mütekâid: retired
- ulûm-ı şer'iyye ve usûliyye: the religious sciences and the sciences of method (usûl)
- Buhârî-sîret: attached to the science of hadith like Bukhari, following his path
- zahr: the spine or cover of a book
- selef-i sâlihîn: the pious Muslims of the first period
- afîf: chaste, pure
Varay and the Epithet Mâverâünnehir
Hüsameddin describes Varay in his book as the former kaza centre south of Amasya. According to some records, Varay is today the village of Gediksaray, attached to the Göynücek district of Amasya; the name of the village appears as Varay, of Greek origin, in the records of 1300 and 1876. The village is today about 12 kilometres from the centre of Göynücek and 34 kilometres from the centre of Amasya. The nisba "el-Varâyî" in Ahmed Efendi's signature refers to this settlement.
The explanation of the epithet is given in a footnote and in the text's own sentence: among the scholars of Amasya the "inner city" is called "mâverâünnehir" on the ground that it lies on the far side of the river. Because Ahmed Efendi lived in the Hatuniye quarter in this district, he was known by this name. The Hatuniye Mosque is on the north bank of the Yeşilırmak; it was built by Bülbül Hatun, one of the wives of Bayezid II, together with a boys' school and an imaret beside it. East of the mosque lies the Enderun Mosque of the Danishmendids; the two mosques where Ahmed Efendi preached stand side by side. The footnote says that the same epithet was later used also for Hacı Kadîrzâde Hacı Mehmed Nuri Efendi, the waqf clerk who lived in the same quarter. That is, the name was tied not to the person but to the quarter where he lived.
The Halfet Gazi Madrasa
The Halfet Gâzi (Hilfet Gazi) Madrasa, on which Ahmed Efendi retired, is on Torumtay street in the Şamice quarter of Amasya. According to its inscription it was built in 606 [1209-10]; the waqf deed of its founder, the Danishmendid emir Halîfet Gazi, drawn up in 622 [1225], has survived. After the end of the Danishmendids Halîfet Gazi entered the service of the Seljuks and was appointed governor of Amasya in the time of Alaeddin Keykubad I. The south wall and the eastern section of the madrasa are partly standing; the parts that collapsed after the earthquake of 1647 were rebuilt in timber, and in 1888 the mufti of Amasya, Hacı Osman Hilmi Efendi, had the building thoroughly repaired.
No separate information on Ahmed Efendi was found in other sources. No additional record was found for his son Abdullah Efendi either.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 152–152. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1 (section describing the kazas and nahiyes, Mecidözü and Varay).
Academic studies
Other sources