Amasyalıdır. Amasya vâlisi Şehzâde Sultân Mustafa’nın mu’allimi iken Amasya’da vefât eden sâdât-ı Hüseynîyeden Kal’acıklı Mevlânâ Seyrek Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Pederi Amasya’da Mehmed Paşa Müderrisi iken 932 senesinde doğdu. Amasya’da mukaddemât-ı ulûmı Hakalalı es-Seyyid Muhyiddîn Mehmed Çelebi [46] den okudu. Seyrekzâdelikle meşhûr oldu.
951’de İstanbul’a gidip Zeyrek Câmii ittisâlinde kâin hücrelerde ikâmetle Çelebi İbrâhim, Arab Şemseddîn Ahmed, Celâlzâde Sâlih, Taşköprülüzâde İsâmeddîn Ahmed Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âm ve 963’de Bursa’da Veliyüddînzâde ve 970’de Kapluca Medreselerine müderris oldu.
974’de âzim-i Hicâz olup Nev’izâde Atâyî Efendi “Zeyl-i Şakâyık”da zabtına göre 975 senesi muharreminde Mekke-i Mükerreme’de vefât etdi. Cebel-i Mu’allâ kabristânında medfûndur. Kâfzâde Feyzî Mustafa Efendi tezkiresinde 977’de vefâtı kaydedilmiş, târîh-i irtihâli hakkında “Dükendi ömr-i Ânî merdüm içinde fenâ buldı” mısra’ı yazılmıştır ki Nev’izâde’nin zabtını te’yîd etmekdedir. Mahdûmu kudâtdan es-Seyyid Mehmed Efendi’dir.
Merhûm âlim, fâzıl, zekî, şâir bir zât olup ibtidâ Ânî mahlasıyla iştihâr etmişdi. Sonra Zeyrek Câmii civârında ikâmeti hasebiyle Zeyrekî mahlasını kabûl etmişdir. Amasya’da tevellüd ve üstâdı kendi kalemiyle kaydeylediği kitabda görüldü. Birâderi Emrullah Efendi gibi âteşî zebân olduğu[47] mervîdir. Kâfzâde tezkiresinde şu beytleri yazılıdır:
Gözlerim ey lâle-ruh hicründe kânlar dökdiler
Meclis-i derd ü belâya erguvânlar dökdüler
Bu da onundur,
Miyânından haber sorarsun iklîm-i melâhatde
Ötesi kûh-i billûre aşar bir ince beldir bu
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Kalacıklı Mevlânâ Seyrek Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi, one of the Husaynid sayyids, who was the tutor of Prince Sultan Mustafa, governor of Amasya, and died in Amasya. He was born in the year 932 [1525-26], when his father was müderris (madrasa professor) of the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa in Amasya. In Amasya he read the basic sciences with Hakalalı es-Seyyid Muhyiddin Mehmed Çelebi. He became known by the name Seyrekzâde.
In 951 [1544-45] he went to Istanbul and, staying in the madrasa rooms adjoining the Zeyrek Mosque, completed his studies with Çelebi İbrahim, Arab Şemseddin Ahmed, Celâlzâde Sâlih and Taşköprülüzâde İsâmeddin Ahmed Efendi; he received the authorization to give lessons open to all. In 963 [1555-56] he became müderris of the Veliyüddînzâde Madrasa in Bursa, and in 970 [1562-63] of the Kaplıca Madrasa.
In 974 [1566-67] he set out for the Hejaz. According to the record in Nev'îzâde Atâyî Efendi's "Şakâyık Zeyli," he died in Mecca in the month of Muharram of the year 975 [1567]; he is buried in the Jannat al-Mu'alla cemetery. In the poets' biographical dictionary (tezkire) of Kâfzâde Feyzî Mustafa Efendi, his death is recorded as 977 [1569-70], and a line meaning "Ânî's life has run out, he is gone from among people" is written as the chronogram of his death; this line supports Nev'îzâde's record. His son is the judge es-Seyyid Mehmed Efendi.
The deceased was a scholar, learned, intelligent and a poet. He was first known by the pen name Ânî. Later, because he lived around the Zeyrek Mosque, he took the pen name Zeyrekî. That he was born in Amasya and the name of his teacher were seen in a book written in his own hand. Like his brother Emrullah Efendi, his tongue is said to have been fiery (sharp). In Kâfzâde's tezkire the following couplets of his are written:
Gözlerim ey lâle-ruh hicründe kânlar dökdiler
Meclis-i derd ü belâya erguvânlar dökdüler
O tulip-faced one, my eyes shed blood in your separation; they scattered Judas-tree blossoms over the assembly of pain and affliction.
This too is his:
Miyânından haber sorarsun iklîm-i melâhatde
Ötesi kûh-i billûre aşar bir ince beldir bu
In the realm of beauty you ask about her waist; beyond it, this is a slender waist that crosses the crystal mountain.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mu'allim: the prince's tutor, teacher
- sâdât-ı Hüseynîye: sayyids descended from Imam Husayn
- mahdûm: son
- mukaddemât-ı ulûm: the basic courses regarded as an introduction to the sciences
- ders-i âm: giving lessons open to all, the authority to teach as a müderris
- kudât: judges (kadıs)
- mahlas: the pen name a poet uses in his poems
- âteşî zebân: sharp-tongued, speaking fierily
- erguvân: purplish red, the blossom of the Judas tree; in poetry used for redness and for the blood of tears
Two Poets May Have Been Confused
The information Hüsameddin gives differs at important points from the Zeyrekî/Ânî entry in dictionaries of Turkish literature. The poet known in the dictionary by the same pen names is named Mehmed and is from Bursa; his father is Zeyrek-zâde Paşa Çelebi and his grandfather is Mehmed Zeyrek Efendi. He served as müderris in the Emîr Seyyid and Balıkesrî madrasas in Bursa, then became a judge, and when dismissed from the judgeship of Kütahya he withdrew to Bursa and died there in 977 [1569-70]; his grave is in the cemetery of the Yıldırım Mosque. The sources remember him as a mediocre poet and a learned scholar. The order of the pen names also differs: according to the dictionary he used Zeyrekî first and then Ânî, whereas Hüsameddin says Ânî first, then Zeyrekî.
The striking point is that the death chronogram appears in both accounts: "Dükendi ömr-i Ânî ... fenâ buldı". The dictionary gives this line as the death date of Zeyrekî, who died in Bursa, and makes the date 977. The Seyrekzâde of Amasya, whom Hüsameddin says died in Mecca in 975, and this poet of Bursa may be the same person, or they may be two different people who have been confused. With the sources at hand this distinction could not be settled. That Hüsameddin cites Atâyî and Kâfzâde together also shows that the records themselves differ between 975 and 977.
The Zeyrek Madrasa
The Zeyrek Mosque mentioned in the couplet and in the text came into being when the Pantokrator Monastery was converted into a madrasa after the conquest, and was regarded as one of the first Ottoman teaching institutions of Istanbul. The mosque takes its name from Molla Mehmed Efendi, who taught there and bore the pen name "Zeyrek." Hüsameddin's explanation "he took the pen name Zeyrekî because he lived in Zeyrek" agrees with this setting, but the information in the dictionary regards the pen name as a name that came from the grandfather.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 24–25. amasya.bel.tr
Other sources