Amasya şu’arâsının meşâhîrinden ma’dûd olan Fettâhî [397] Yahyâ Çelebi bin Abdulfettâh Neysârî mahdûmudur. 844’de Amasya’da doğdu. Tokatîzâde Yûsuf, Cündîzâde Rükneddîn Ahmed Çelebilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib aklâm-ı ma’rûfeyi bi’z-zât kıbletü’l-hattâtîn Amasyalı Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi’den temeşşuk ve ahzetdi.
Bir tarafdan tedrîs-i ulûm, diğer tarafdan ta’lîm-i hutût ederek iştihâr edib Amasya vâlisi Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed’e mu’allim-i hatt ve Câmîzâde Kutbî Ahmed Efendi’nin irtihâlinde şehzâde-i müşârün-ileyhin nişancısı oldu.
Uzûbet-i lisânı, fazîlet-i beyânı sâyesinde şehzâdenin teveccüh ve i’timâdını kazanıp ikbâline ilticâ eden hayli Â’câma vâsıta-i nüfûz ü ikbâl oldu. 910’da kemâl-i huzûr ve sa’âdet içinde vefât etdi.
Âlim, kâmil, edîb, hattât-ı meşhûr idi. Mahdûmu Abdulfettâh Efendi kibâr-ı ulemâ ve kudâtdandır. Mustakîmzâde Süleyman Sa’deddîn Efendi “Tezkiretü’l-Hattâtîn”de diyor ki: “Hatt 908 muharreminde itmâm ve Sultân Bâyezîd’e hediye edildikde hazz u kabûl edib mukâbelesinde in’âm [398] eylediği mushaf-ı şerîf sultân-ı mezbûrun intikâlinde türbesine vaz’ olundu.”
In Modern English
He is counted among the famous poets of Amasya and was the son of Fettâhî Yahyâ Çelebi, son of Abdülfettâh Neysârî. He was born in Amasya in 844 [1440-41]. He completed his education under Tokatîzâde Yûsuf and Cündîzâde Rükneddîn Ahmed Çelebi; he also learned the known script styles by practicing in person under Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi of Amasya, the leader of calligraphers.
He won renown by teaching the sciences on the one hand and teaching fine writing on the other. He became the calligraphy teacher of Prince Sultan Ahmed, governor of Amasya; on the death of Câmîzâde Kutbî Ahmed Efendi he was appointed this prince's nişancı.
Through the sweetness of his language and the beauty of his speech he won the prince's favor and trust; he became a means by which many Persians who took refuge in the prince's patronage gained influence and standing. In 910 [1504-05] he died in great peace and happiness.
He was a scholar, mature, a man of letters, and a famous calligrapher. His son Abdülfettâh Efendi was one of the great scholars and kadıs. Müstakîmzâde Süleyman Sa'deddîn Efendi says in his work Tezkiretü'l-Hattâtîn: "When the mushaf he wrote was completed in Muharrem 908 [July 1502] and presented as a gift to Sultan Bayezid, the sultan liked it and accepted it and bestowed a gift in return; this noble mushaf was placed in the sultan's tomb at his death."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ma'dûd: counted
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's education
- aklâm-ı ma'rûfe: the known script styles (the six basic scripts such as sülüs and nesih)
- kıbletü'l-hattâtîn: the qibla of the calligraphers, the master toward whom they turn
- temeşşuk ve ahz: learning by practicing writing from the teacher's model; meşk
- tedrîs-i ulûm: teaching the sciences
- ta'lîm-i hutût: teaching writing
- mu'allim-i hatt: calligraphy teacher
- irtihâl: passing away, death
- uzûbet-i lisân: sweetness of language
- fazîlet-i beyân: beauty of speech
- teveccüh ve i'timâd: favor and trust
- ikbâline ilticâ eden: one who took refuge in his patronage
- Â'câm: Persians, Iranians
- vâsıta-i nüfûz ü ikbâl: a means of gaining influence and standing
- hazz u kabûl: liking and accepting
- in'âm: bounty, gift
- vaz' olunmak: to be placed
His Father Fettâhî
The nickname Sibekzâde comes from his father's nickname "Sîbek." The bearer of this nickname is the Persian poet and calligrapher Fettâhî, who lived in the first half of the fifteenth century. According to the information Tahsin Yazıcı gives in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, his real name was Muhammed b. Yahyâ Sîbek and he was born in Nishapur. The nickname sîbek, meaning "apple" in Persian, was turned into the pen name Fettâhî by rearranging the letters of its Arabic equivalent tüffâh; the poet at times also used the pen name Tüffâhî. He is said to have died in 852 [1448] or 853 [1449]. Fettâhî, who was trained at the court of the Timurid ruler Shahrukh, owes his real fame to Hüsn ü Dil, an allegorical work telling of the love of Heart and Beauty; this work was much loved in Ottoman literature too, its prose form was rendered into Turkish by Lâmiî Çelebi, and many imitations of it were written.
Fettâhî's tie with Amasya is established by Müstakîmzâde's Tuhfe-i Hattâtîn: according to it, the poet took refuge with the Ottomans in his last years and settled in Amasya, and died there around 852 while teaching. The information Hüsameddin gives agrees with this record. Considering that Sibekzâde Ahmed was born in Amasya in 844, it is understood that he was about eight years old at his father's death. On the other hand, Hüsameddin's giving the father's name as "Yahyâ Çelebi bin Abdülfettâh Neysârî" does not agree with the other sources. In these sources Yahyâ is the name of the poet's father, his own name is Muhammed; the nisba "Neysârî" must be a corrupted reading of the nisba "Nîşâbûrî," meaning from Nishapur.
The Student of Şeyh Hamdullah
Sibekzâde's teacher Şeyh Hamdullah is the calligrapher of Amasya regarded as the founder of Ottoman calligraphy. He learned the aklâm-ı sitte (six scripts) from Hayreddin Mar'aşî in Amasya, became calligraphy teacher to Prince Bayezid, went with him to Istanbul when Bayezid ascended the throne in 1481, and died in 926 [1520]. Among his forty-three students named in the tezkires are sultans, princes, and statesmen. Sibekzâde must have attended his lessons in Amasya, that is, before 1481.
The information Hüsameddin gives in another volume of the work completes this entry. In the biography of Hamdullah Çelebi, nephew of Şeyh Hamdullah, known in Amasya as "Hamdullah-ı Sânî," it is written that he was appointed calligraphy teacher to the prince on the death of Sibekzâde Ahmed Efendi, calligraphy teacher and nişancı of Prince Ahmed. There, however, this death is placed in 912 [1506-07]. In this entry and in the entry on Prince Ahmed, Sibekzâde's death is shown in 910; according to the entry on Prince Ahmed, Münîrî Mehmed Çelebi was put in his place as nişancı.
Coming to the Nişancılık
In this entry it is said that Sibekzâde came to the nişancılık on the death of Kutbî Ahmed Çelebi. In the entry on Prince Ahmed, however, it is related that Kutbî Ahmed Çelebi was dismissed in 905 [1499-1500] and Sibekzâde Ahmed Efendi, one of the kadıs, became nişancı in his place. This difference between the two records is not resolved within the work itself. The note that Sibekzâde was a means by which the Persians around the prince gained influence is also important; Hüsameddin records the prince's excessive inclination toward Persians as one of his weaknesses and describes with suspicion the Persian circle in Amasya in these years when Safavid propaganda was spreading in Anatolia.
The mushaf record Müstakîmzâde relates shows that Sibekzâde's calligraphy also won the admiration of Bayezid II. No information was found on where this mushaf is today. No information could be found in other sources about his son Abdülfettâh Efendi either.
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