Amasyalıdır. İstanbul kütüphânelerinde âsâr-ı nefîse tahrîrine me’mûr olduğum esnâda ele geçen mecmû’alardan birinde kendi el yazısıyla bulunduğu üzere Amasya fuzalâsından Mevlânâ Hayreddîn Hızır Çelebi bin el-Hâc Şâhabeddîn Ahmed bin Sunkur el-Amâsî mahdûmudur.
Adının İbrâhim olduğu, divânında muharrer ve aşağıda menkûl olan; “İşidin dir inne İbrâhim evvâhün münîb” mısraından da anlaşıldı. Ceddi el-Hâc Ahmed bin Sunkur [779] Sultân Ebû Sa’id Bahadır Hân’ın Mısır’a gönderdiği süferâdan idi. Kendisine “Hacı Ahmedoğlu” dendiğinden buna nispetle “Ahmedî” lakâbı ile meşhûr oldu.
Amasya’da takriben 735’de doğdu. Aksarayîzâde Mevlânâ Fahreddîn İlyas, Mevlanâ Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Osmân ez-Ziyârî, Mevlanâ Musliheddîn Mûsâ bin Mahmûd es-Sivasî gibi meşâhîr-i ulemâdan, sonra Mısır’a gidip eş-Şeyh Ekmeleddîn Muhammed bin Mahmûd el-Bâbertî’den ulûm-ı edebiyye, şer’iyye ve akliyyeyi, usûl-i fıkıh ve kelâmı ahz ü ikmâl ederek avdet etdi.
Bir müddet Amasya’da ders okutdu. Sonra Amasya emîr-i kebîri Şâdgeldi Paşa’ya intisâb ederek müşârün-ileyhin mu’allimi, kâtib-i dîvânı ve nişâncısı oldu. Fevkalâde nüfûz ve faziletle iştihâr etdi. 783 senesi rebîülevvelinde emîr-i müşârün-ileyhin Kadı Burhan harbinde maktûlen vefâtı üzerine Amasya’dan kaçıp, Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey’in nezdine gitdi. Buna da mu’allim olup pek ziyâde hürmetler gördü. Kütahya’da hayli müddet [780] oturdu.
Yıldırım Sultân Bâyezîd Han Germiyânoğullarını inkıyâd altına aldıkda Bursa’ya gidip Bâyezîd Hân’ın nâ’il-i iltifâtı oldu. ‘İlm ü kemâli ile ve şi’ir ü inşâsı ile kendisini fevkalâde sevdirdi. 804’de Yıldırım Bâyezîd’in esâreti zamanında yine Kütahya’ya avdet etdi.
Timurlenk sene-i mezbûrede Kütahya’ya geldikte fazl ü kemâline binâ’en büyük iltifâtlar, hürmetler gördü. 805’de vatanı olan Amasya’ya gelip Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân’ın erkân-ı saltanatından oldu.⁹¹ On yıl kadar Amasya’da pek muhterem bir halde yaşadı. 815 senesi evâhirinde seksen yaşında vefât etdi.
Ulûm-ı akliyye ve şer’iyyede hâssaten de fünûn-ı edebiyyede fâzıl, elsine-i selâsede şâir-i mâhir, asrında üstâd-ı edeb, gâyet zarîf, hazır-cevap, cesâret-i medeniyyesi mükemmel, muhâzarâta âşinâ, fasîh, belîğ, tevârihe vâkıf bir zât idi. Âsâr-ı edebiyyesi şunlardır: “İskender-nâme”, Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey nâmına te’lîf etdiği “Süleyman-nâme”, “Divân-ı [781] eş’âr”, “Mirkâtü’l-edeb”, “Şerh-i Kaside-i Sarsarî”.
Tabâkât-ı Hanefiyye’den Takiyüddîn Abdülkâdir et-Temîmî diyor ki: “Ahmedî Rûmî, bilâd-ı Rûmîyede şâir-i meşhûr olup hakkında İbn-i Arabşâh dedi ki, Ahmedî Anadolu’da yegâne Türk şâiridir. Bilâd-ı Rûmîyeden çıkan şâirlerin ve edîblerin en zarîfidir. Âsâr-ı edebiyyesinden “İskender-nâme”, “Divân-ı eş’âr”, “Mirkâtü’l-edeb” meşhûr olup her bir beytinden hurûf-ı hecâdan biri çıkan Sârsârî kasidesini gâyet müfîd bir suretde şerh edib bu şerhinde nice ulûm u sanayî’-i bedî’iyye tahkîk ve istihrâc etmişdir.
Ahmedî’nin kelâmı, udebâ-yı Araptan İbn-i Nebâta, Hacerî, İbn Nebîh gibi zevâtın kelâmına müsâvîdir. Erbâb-ı ilm ü faziletden bir zât idi. Çok yaşadı. 815 senesi evâhirinde Amasya’da vefât etdi.”
Ramazânzâde Mehmed Bey Târîhinde müşârün-ileyhin Amasyalı olduğunu ve Amasya’da seksen yaşında 815 senesi evâhirinde vefât etdiğini zikretdikten sonra diyor ki; “Timurlenk Kütahya’da bir gün Molla Ahmedî ile hamama [782] gidip erkânından her birine birer baha kestirirken “bana da bir baha kes” demekle Ahmedî seksen akçe demiş, Timurlenk de “Be molla seksen akçe şu peştamalimin bahasıdır” deyince Ahmedî, “Ben de peştemale baha kestim, kendiniz çarşıda bir mangır değmezsiniz!” demiş. Timur bu cevabdan be-gâyet mahzûz olup, ihsân vermişdir.”⁹²
“Şakâyık-ı Nu’mânîye”de Mecdî Efendi “Ahmedî” tercemesini yazarken “Aslı vilâyet-i Germiyandandır” diyor. Sicill-i ‘Osmânî’de Mehmed Süreyya Bey de “Ahmedî Sivaslı’dır” diyor. Halbuki, Ahmedî’nin kendisi 782’de Amasya’da bulunup Amasyalı Hayreddîn Hızır bin el-Hâc Ahmed bin Sunkur’un mahdûmu olduğunu kendi hattı ile tasrîh ediyor.
Ahmedî, Amasya’dan Germiyân iline gidip Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey’in yanında yıllarca kaldığından Germiyânlı zannedilmişdir. Ba’dehû Yıldırım Sultân Bâyezîd Hân’ın şehzâdesi Süleyman Bey’e nişâncı olup müşârün-ileyh ile ibtidâ Kütahya’da sonra Sivas’da bulunduğundan Sivaslı zannedilmişdir. [783]
Mecdî Efendi “Terceme-i Şakâyık”da diyor ki: “Mevlânâ Ahmedî diyâr-ı Mısır’dan vatan-ı asîl ü müvelled-i cezîline avdet eyledikde Germiyânoğluyla musâhabât edib ona hâce oldu. Mîr-i mezbûr eş’âr ü ebyâta râgıb olmağın Mevlânâ Ahmedî dahî ol semte hadden ziyâde rağbet eyledi.
Ba’dehû merhûm Sultân Bâyezîd Hân evlâd-ı emcâdından Süleyman Çelebi ile karîn olup şi’ire, hüsn-i iltifâtları dâ’iyesiyle nâm-ı şerîflerine “İskender-nâme” nâm mesnevî kitâbı nazmedib onun içinde ilm-i hendeseden ve ilm-i hikmet ve ilm-i tıbtan çok nesne derc eyledi. Hicret-i nebeviyyeden 815 senesinin evâhirinde seksen yaşından geçmiş iken Amasya’da vefât etdi.
Şu kayd-ı târîhiyyeden anlaşılır ki Mevlânâ Ahmedî, Germiyanzâde Süleyman Bey’den sonra Şehzâde Sultân Süleyman’ın ma’iyyetinde bulundu. Müşârün-ileyh ile Çubuk ova muhârebesinden evvel Sivas’a gitdi. Muhârebeden sonra Edirne’ye geldi. Sultân Süleyman’ın vefâtından sonra da Amasya’ya gelip Çelebi Sultân Mehmed Hân’a takarrüb etdi.” [784]
İskender-nâmesi Sultân Fatih kütübhanesinde mevcût olup eski Türk Lügât-ı müsta’melesiyle doludur. Eski edebiyatımız, eski lügâtlarımız hakkında mu’azzam bir hazinedir. Mecdî Efendi bu kitâbından Ahmedî’nin şu beytlerini naklediyor:
Fikr eyle mebde’in nereden neredir ma’âd
Hem geldügünden işbû makâma nedir murâd
Yine ondan;
Hâr-ı pestin hâr saklar cânını
Nermlik döker semûrun kânını
Fırsatında düşmene viren emân
Kayd-ı nâ gibi olıser bî-gümân
Nur-ı Osmânîye kütübhanesinde mevcut olan “Mecma’ü’n-Nezâ’ir” adlı eserde şâir-i müşârün-ileyhin şu gazelleri görülmekle buraya nakledildi:
Aşkının odına düşdüm hâlimi sor ey habîb
Derd-mendem derdime tîmâr eyle ey tabîb
Her gice senin cemâlin şevki ile tâ seher
İnlerim ben şöyle kim gül hasretinden andelîb
Senden ayru şem’ bigi⁹³ hûn-ı dilimdür yedüğüm [785]
Herkes anı yer ki olmışdır ezel ana nasîb
Tâpuna irem diyü kapında çok oldum mukîm
Dimedin bir gün ki neyler eşiğimde bu garîb
Ne aceb yansa yüzün şevki ile canum oda
Ola mı pervâneden şem’a düşüb yanmak acîb
Sen bana benden yahın ma’nîde senden ben sana
Gerçi sûretde ırağ etdi beni senden rakîb
‘Ud bigi yanar iken Ahmedînin nâlesi
İşidin dir inne İbrâhime evvâhün münîb
Bu gazel de onundur:
Gamzen gönüle belâdır ey dost
Can zülfüne mübtelâdır ey dost
Cevrin bana hoş vefâdır ey dost
Derdin dileği devâdır ey dost
Bağlandı gönül saçına ol bağ
Can diledügü hevâdır ey dost
Gözlerime nûr u rûşinâyı
Senden nazar-ı safâdır ey dost
Sen dürr içün ûş gözüm çü gavvâs
Deryâda hoş âşinâdır ey dost
Ne cevr ider isen it bana kim
Bînüm sana hoş du’âdır ey dost
Yüzün güline gül Ahmedînin
Ne bülbüş-i hoş edâdır ey dost
Bu da onundur: [786]
Eğerçi kim işin cevr ü sitemdir
Bana senden gelen lutf ü keremdir.
Gözün ger cân ala ve ger içe kân
Bana şâdîdir ol sanma ki gamdır
Yanarken şem’ gibi firkatünde
Gözüm kan yaşları-la nice nemdir.
Eğerçi ağzın nişânın kimse bilmez
Diyemezem ki ol nokta ademdir.
Saçın sevdâsına düşdü benefşe
Benim gibi anın-çün kaddi hamdır.
Eğer girse elüme sürmeyiçün
Ayağın tozu kim zî-hoş kademdir
Ne devlet bundan artuk Ahmediye
Ki aşkın ile âlemde alemdir ⁹⁴
Mevlânâ Ahmedî İbrâhim Çelebi âl-i Sunkur’dan olduğu münâsebetle sadr-ı esbak Amasyalı Bâyezîd Paşa bin Yahşî Bey’in ammizâdelerinden olur. Sunkur Bey’in tercemesi de aşağıda gelir. Âl-i Sunkur şudur:
Hamza Bey
Asayiş Bey
(804 fevtî)
Süleymân Bey İsa Bey Bâyezîd
Bâyezîd Paşa (826
YahşiBey
fevtî)
Sunkur Bey
Yunus Paşa (822
İsmâil Bey Yunus Bey Hızır Bey
fevtî)
Ahmedî İbrahim
Hızır Çelebi
Çelebi (815 fevtî)
el- hâc Ahmed
Şehabeddin
Hamza Çelebi
Fâzıl-ı müşârün-ileyhin mahdûmu Ekmeleddîn Mehmed Çelebi ve bunun mahdûmu da Tâceddîn İbrâhim Bey’dir. Her ikisi de meşâhîr-i ulemâ ve ümerâdandır. Bunun mahdûmu Şehabeddîn Ahmed Çelebi onuncu asr-ı hicrî ricâlindendir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. According to what he wrote in his own hand in one of the manuscript collections that came into my hands while I was charged with recording valuable works in the libraries of Istanbul, he was the son of Mevlânâ Hayreddîn Hızır Çelebi, one of the scholars of Amasya. Hızır Çelebi was a man of Amasya, son of Hacı Şâhabeddîn Ahmed, who was in turn the son of Sunkur.
That his name was İbrâhim is also understood from the line in his divan, quoted below, meaning "Hear, he says: truly İbrâhim is tender-hearted and turns to God." His grandfather Hacı Ahmed, son of Sunkur, was among the envoys that Sultan Ebû Saîd Bahadır Khan sent to Egypt. Because he was called "Hacı Ahmedoğlu" (son of Hacı Ahmed), he became famous by the epithet "Ahmedî," in reference to this.
He was born in Amasya in about 735 [1334-35]. He studied under renowned scholars such as Aksarayîzâde Mevlânâ Fahreddîn İlyas, Mevlânâ Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Osmân ez-Ziyârî, and Mevlânâ Musliheddîn Mûsâ bin Mahmûd es-Sivâsî, and then went to Egypt, where he learned and completed the literary, religious, and rational sciences, the methodology of jurisprudence, and theology under Sheikh Ekmeleddîn Muhammed bin Mahmûd el-Bâbertî, and returned.
He taught in Amasya for a time. Then he attached himself to Şâdgeldi Pasha, the great emir of Amasya, and became his teacher, secretary of the divan, and nişancı. He became famous for his extraordinary influence and merit. When the emir was killed in the war with Kadı Burhan in Rebîülevvel of 783 [1381], he fled Amasya and went to Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey. He became his teacher too and was held in great respect. He lived in Kütahya for quite a long time.
When Yıldırım Sultan Bâyezîd Khan brought the Germiyanids under his rule, he went to Bursa and won Bâyezîd Khan's favor. With his learning and maturity, and with his poetry and prose, he made himself exceedingly well loved. In 804 [1401-02], at the time of Yıldırım Bâyezîd's captivity, he returned to Kütahya again.
When Timur came to Kütahya the same year, he received great favor and respect from him because of his merit and maturity. In 805 [1402-03] he came to his homeland Amasya and became one of the notables of Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Khan's rule. For about ten years he lived in Amasya in a state of great honor. He died at the end of 815 [1412-13], at the age of eighty.
He was a man of merit in the rational and religious sciences and especially in the literary sciences, a master poet in three languages (Arabic, Persian, and Turkish), a master of letters in his age, exceedingly refined, quick-witted, fully possessed of the courage to speak his mind in public, at home in witty conversation, fluent and persuasive in speech, and learned in history. His literary works are these: the "İskender-nâme," the "Süleyman-nâme" which he wrote in the name of Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey, the "Divan," the "Mirkâtü'l-edeb," and the "Kasîde-i Sarsarî Şerhi."
Takiyüddîn Abdülkâdir et-Temîmî, among the writers on the Hanafi generations, says: "Ahmedî-i Rûmî is a famous poet in the lands of Rûm, and Ibn Arabshah said of him that Ahmedî is the only Turkish poet in Anatolia. He is the most refined of the poets and men of letters who came out of the land of Rûm. Among his literary works the 'İskender-nâme,' the 'Divan,' and the 'Mirkâtü'l-edeb' are famous. He wrote a very useful commentary on the Sarsarî ode, from each verse of which one letter of the alphabet emerges, and in this commentary he investigated and brought out many sciences and subtle arts.
Ahmedî's speech is equal to that of such Arab men of letters as Ibn Nubâta, Hacerî, and Ibn Nebîh. He was one of the people of learning and merit. He lived long. He died in Amasya at the end of 815."
After stating that the person in question was from Amasya and died in Amasya at the age of eighty at the end of 815, Ramazanzâde Mehmed Bey says in his History: "One day in Kütahya Timur had gone to the bath with Molla Ahmedî. While he was having a value set on each of his notables, he said, 'Set a value on me too,' and Ahmedî said, 'Eighty akçe.' Timur said, 'Oh Molla, eighty akçe is the worth of this waist-cloth of mine,' and Ahmedî replied, 'I set a value on the waist-cloth too; you yourself are not worth a mangır (copper coin) in the market!' Timur was extremely pleased with this answer and gave him a gift."
In the "Şakâyık-ı Nu'mâniyye," Mecdî Efendi, writing Ahmedî's biography, says: "His origin is from the province of Germiyan." In the "Sicill-i Osmânî," Mehmed Süreyya Bey says: "Ahmedî is from Sivas." Yet Ahmedî himself, in his own hand, states plainly that in 782 [1380-81] he was in Amasya and was the son of Hayreddîn Hızır bin Hacı Ahmed bin Sunkur of Amasya.
Because Ahmedî went from Amasya to the Germiyan country and stayed for years with Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey, he was thought to be from Germiyan. Later he became nişancı to Süleyman Bey, the prince (şehzade) of Yıldırım Sultan Bâyezîd Khan, and because he was with him first in Kütahya and then in Sivas, he was thought to be from Sivas.
Mecdî Efendi says in the "Terceme-i Şakâyık": "When Mevlânâ Ahmedî returned from the land of Egypt to his original homeland and noble birthplace, he conversed with the Germiyanid and became his teacher. Since the said emir was fond of poems and couplets, Mevlânâ Ahmedî too was drawn to that side beyond measure.
Afterward he became a companion of Süleyman Çelebi, one of the noble sons of the late Sultan Bâyezîd Khan, and in return for his interest in poetry and his kind favors, he composed in verse, in his name, the mesnevi book called "İskender-nâme." He put into it a great deal from geometry, philosophy, and medicine. At the end of the year 815 of the Hijra, past the age of eighty, he died in Amasya.
It is understood from this dated record that Mevlânâ Ahmedî, after Germiyânzâde Süleyman Bey, was in the service of Prince Sultan Süleyman. With him he went to Sivas before the battle of the Çubuk plain. After the battle he came to Edirne. After Sultan Süleyman's death he came to Amasya and drew close to Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Khan."
His İskender-nâme is preserved in the Sultan Fatih Library and is full of the used words of old Turkish. It is a very rich source for our old literature and our old dictionaries. Mecdî Efendi quotes the following couplets of Ahmedî from this book:
Fikr eyle mebde'in nereden neredir ma'âd
Hem geldügünden işbû makâma nedir murâd
Meaning: Think: where is your beginning from, and where is your return; and what is the purpose of your coming to this station.
Again from him:
Hâr-ı pestin hâr saklar cânını
Nermlik döker semûrun kânını
Fırsatında düşmene viren emân
Kayd-ı nâ gibi olısar bî-gümân
The meaning of these four lines could not be determined with certainty, because of old words no longer in use and corruptions in the text, so no prose rendering is given.
Since the following ghazals of the poet in question were seen in the work called "Mecma'ü'n-Nezâ'ir" in the Nur-ı Osmâniye Library, they are quoted here:
Aşkının odına düşdüm hâlimi sor ey habîb
Derd-mendem derdime tîmâr eyle ey tabîb
Her gice senin cemâlin şevki ile tâ seher
İnlerim ben şöyle kim gül hasretinden andelîb
Senden ayru şem' bigi hûn-ı dilimdür yedüğüm
Herkes anı yer ki olmışdır ezel ana nasîb
Tâpuna irem diyü kapında çok oldum mukîm
Dimedin bir gün ki neyler eşiğimde bu garîb
Ne aceb yansa yüzün şevki ile canum oda
Ola mı pervâneden şem'a düşüb yanmak acîb
Sen bana benden yahın ma'nîde senden ben sana
Gerçi sûretde ırağ etdi beni senden rakîb
'Ud bigi yanar iken Ahmedînin nâlesi
İşidin dir inne İbrâhime evvâhün münîb
Meaning: O beloved, I have fallen into the fire of your love; ask after my state. I am afflicted, O physician, be a cure for my affliction. Every night until dawn, longing for your beauty, I moan as the nightingale moans for the rose. Parted from you, what I eat is the blood of my heart, like a candle; everyone eats what was allotted to them from eternity. I stayed long at your door, thinking it a garden of paradise (İrem), but you never once said, "What is this stranger doing on my threshold?" What wonder if my soul burns in the fire of longing for your face; is it strange for the moth to fall on the candle and burn? You are closer to me in meaning than I am to myself, and I am closer to you than you are to yourself, even if in appearance the rival has put me far from you. As Ahmedî's lament burns like aloeswood, "Hear," he says: "truly İbrâhim is tender-hearted and turns to God."
This ghazal is also his:
Gamzen gönüle belâdır ey dost
Can zülfüne mübtelâdır ey dost
Cevrin bana hoş vefâdır ey dost
Derdin dileği devâdır ey dost
Bağlandı gönül saçına ol bağ
Can diledügü hevâdır ey dost
Gözlerime nûr u rûşinâyı
Senden nazar-ı safâdır ey dost
Sen dürr içün ûş gözüm çü gavvâs
Deryâda hoş âşinâdır ey dost
Ne cevr ider isen it bana kim
Bînüm sana hoş du'âdır ey dost
Yüzün güline gül Ahmedînin
Ne bülbüş-i hoş edâdır ey dost
Because some lines of this ghazal are written in a corrupt form, no line-by-line rendering is given. Its general meaning is this: the beloved's glance is a calamity for the heart and the beloved's tress a passion for the soul; even the cruelty coming from the beloved counts as a pleasant fidelity, and the beloved's pain, the beloved's wish, is a cure for pain. The eye seeks the beloved like a diver searching for pearls.
This too is his:
Eğerçi kim işin cevr ü sitemdir
Bana senden gelen lutf ü keremdir.
Gözün ger cân ala ve ger içe kân
Bana şâdîdir ol sanma ki gamdır
Yanarken şem' gibi firkatünde
Gözüm kan yaşları-la nice nemdir.
Eğerçi ağzın nişânın kimse bilmez
Diyemezem ki ol nokta ademdir.
Saçın sevdâsına düşdü benefşe
Benim gibi anın-çün kaddi hamdır.
Eğer girse elüme sürmeyiçün
Ayağın tozu kim zî-hoş kademdir
Ne devlet bundan artuk Ahmediye
Ki aşkın ile âlemde alemdir
Meaning: Although your business is cruelty and oppression, what comes to me from you is kindness and generosity. If your eye takes my life or drinks my blood, that is joy to me; do not think it grief. Burning like a candle in separation from you, how moist my eye is with tears of blood. Though no one knows the trace of your mouth, I cannot say that point is nothing. The violet has fallen in love with your tresses; like me, for that reason its stem is bent double. If the dust of your foot came into my hand to use as kohl, what a blessed step it is. What greater fortune could there be for Ahmedî than that, through your love, he has become renowned in the world.
Mevlânâ Ahmedî İbrâhim Çelebi, being of the house of Sunkur, is a cousin on the father's side of the former grand vizier Bâyezîd Pasha of Amasya, son of Yahşî Bey. The biography of Sunkur Bey comes below. The house of Sunkur is as follows (the genealogical table is misprinted in the book; the names are given in the order of the table):
- Hamza Bey
- Asayiş Bey (died 804)
- Süleymân Bey, İsa Bey, Bâyezîd
- Bâyezîd Pasha (died 826)
- Yahşi Bey
- Sunkur Bey
- Yunus Pasha (died 822)
- İsmâil Bey, Yunus Bey, Hızır Bey
- Ahmedî İbrahim Çelebi (died 815), Hızır Çelebi, Hacı Ahmed Şehabeddin, Hamza Çelebi
The son of the said man of merit was Ekmeleddîn Mehmed Çelebi, and his son was Tâceddîn İbrâhim Bey. Both were among the renowned scholars and beys. His son Şehabeddîn Ahmed Çelebi was among the notables of the tenth Hijri century.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- fuzalâ: men of merit, scholars
- süferâ: envoys
- nişancı: official who authenticated decrees and official documents with the tuğra
- kâtib-i dîvân: secretary of the divan, one who conducted official correspondence
- maktûlen vefât: dying by being killed
- inkıyâd: submission, being brought under rule
- nâ'il-i iltifât olmak: to win favor
- şi'ir ü inşâ: poetry and prose composition
- elsine-i selâse: the three languages: Arabic, Persian, Turkish
- muhâzarât: witty, learned conversation
- hurûf-ı hecâ: the letters of the alphabet
- mesnevî: a long poem in rhyming couplets
- hendese: geometry
- nazîre: a poem written in answer to, in imitation of, another poem
- sadr-ı esbak: former grand vizier
Who Ahmedî Was
Ahmedî is the divan poet who wrote the first İskendernâme in Turkish literature and added to the end of the work a history of the Ottoman dynasty. His real name was İbrâhim, his epithet Tâceddin, and his father's name Hızır. He was probably born in 735 (1334-35) and died in 815 (1412-13). The birth and death years Hüsameddin gives agree with this, as does the report that he lived past eighty. Information about Ahmedî's life is insufficient and inconsistent. The details given by the tezkire writers were taken from one another and are scattered and weak. Where he received his first education is not known. The one point on which the sources agree is that he went to Egypt to increase his knowledge. There he became a student of Sheikh Ekmeleddin el-Bâbertî. Hüsameddin names the same teacher.
From Amasya, Germiyan, or Sivas
In this entry Hüsameddin enters an important debate. He writes that the poet, whom Mecdî Efendi counted as a man of Germiyan and Mehmed Süreyya as a man of Sivas, was in fact from Amasya, and that he stated this in his own hand. The same split is seen in today's sources: Taşköprizâde and Mecdî call him a Germiyanid, while Latîfî and Âlî call him a man of Sivas. The encyclopedia entry also states plainly that there is no record giving Ahmedî's birthplace with certainty. In which manuscript collection seen in Istanbul the handwritten note on which Hüsameddin relies is found is not stated in the sources we read. For this reason the claim of an Amasya origin is presented here in the form in which Hüsameddin reports it.
His Patrons and His Milieu
It is known that Ahmedî was also close to the Aydınids. For Hamza, son of the Aydınid İsa Bey, he wrote two Persian textbooks on Arabic morphology and syntax and the "Mirkâtü'l-edeb," an Arabic-Persian dictionary in verse. When he joined the Germiyanids, and when he turned to the Ottomans, is not certain. His relationship with Emîr Süleyman, son of Bayezid, lasted until that prince's death (813, 1410-11), and he dedicated most of his works to him. The "Mevlid" section of the İskendernâme was written in Bursa in the time of Emîr Süleyman, in 810 (1407). After Emîr Süleyman's death Ahmedî, seeking a patron, tried to enter the circle of Mehmed I, who had come to Bursa. Mecdî records that he died in Amasya past the age of eighty. The service under Şâdgeldi Pasha, the war with Kadı Burhaneddin, and the respect Timur showed him in Kütahya, which Hüsameddin relates, do not appear in this encyclopedia entry; they rest only on the tezkire and chronicle records that Hüsameddin cites.
The Story of the Bath
According to Hüsameddin, the bath anecdote about Timur appears in Ramazanzâde Mehmed Bey's History and in Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi's tezkire. According to Hüsameddin's footnote, Kınalızâde writes that Ahmedî came to Amasya after Timur's ravaging of Anatolia. No document could be found showing whether this tale rests on a historical event or on a witticism told later. It should be read here as a tradition.
His Works
The İskendernâme is Ahmedî's best-known work and was written in 792 (1390). From the differences among its manuscripts it is understood that the poet made additions to the work until 813 (1410). The work was presented to Emîr Süleyman, son of Bayezid. Its closing section, the "Dâstân-ı Tevârîh-i Mülûk-i Âl-i Osmân," tells the history of the Ottoman dynasty and was decisive in the poet's fame. Of the work, about thirty-two manuscripts are known in Turkey and very many abroad, and a facsimile of the copy in the Istanbul University Library was published in 1983. He completed his mesnevi "Cemşîd ü Hurşîd" in 806 (1403), drawing on Selmân-ı Sâvecî's work of the same name. He also has a mesnevi on medicine called "Tervîhu'l-ervâh." His divan is voluminous and, apart from selections, has not been published in full.
Two of the works in Hüsameddin's list stand differently according to today's research. It has been established that the "Süleyman-nâme" was not written by Ahmedî. The "Kasîde-i Sarsarî Şerhi" has not come to light to this day apart from Kâtib Çelebi's record.
The Spread of His Poems
Ahmedî's poems were followed in later centuries by nazires written in answer. The ghazals Hüsameddin includes in his book were taken from a nazire collection called "Mecma'ü'n-Nezâ'ir." A footnote states that this work belongs to Sipahi Nazmî Çelebi, who died in 955, that it collects the nazires of Amasya poets, and that it contains many poems of Münîrî. Among the collections containing nazires written on Ahmedî's poems is also counted a "Mecmûatü'n-nezâir" compiled in 840 (1437) by Ömer b. Mezîd; this is a separate work from the collection Hüsameddin mentions. Münîrî of Amasya is also named among the poets influenced by Ahmedî.
The House of Sunkur
The Sunkur genealogical table Hüsameddin gives, and Ahmedî's kinship with Bâyezîd Pasha of Amasya, could not be verified in other sources.
Bibliography