Ca'fer Efendi was a madrasa professor (müderris), judge and poet who came from the village of Zara near Amasya and, in the middle of the sixteenth century, taught for more than twenty-five years at the city's Torumtay madrasa. Because he kept teaching the Quran commentary of Beyzâvî he was called "müfessir", the commentator. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar compiled the information on his life in Amasya Tarihi largely from documents he saw himself, from the notes at the end of books Ca'fer copied in his own hand, and from endowment deeds bearing his signature. Of his poems, four couplets from a kaside (qasida) presented to a judge newly arrived in Amasya and a single couplet bearing his name remain. Hüsameddin's entry is on the site as Ca'fer Efendi-Zaralı.

Hüsameddin's Record

Hüsameddin begins the entry by naming the poet's village and his teachers:

Ca'fer Efendi-Zaralı Amasya civârında Zâra, Zara köyünden İvaz bin Mehmed Kethüdâ mahdûmudur. Amasya'da Sultân Bâyezîd müderrisi ve müftü olan Mevlânâ Musliheddîn Mûsa Çelebi'den, Yörgüç Paşa müderrisi Kal'acıklı Seyrek es-Seyyid Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi'den ve Amasya kâdısı Mü'eyyedzâde Abdulhayy Efendi'den ulûm-ı edebiyye ve şer'iyye ve akliyyeyi ahz ederek mücâz ve ders-i âm oldu. Ba'dehû Torumtay medresesi müderrisi olup yirmi beş yıldan ziyâde tedrîs-i ulûma ve neşr-i ma'ârife hasr-ı evkât ederek fevka'l-âde iştihâr etdi. Tefsîr-i Beyzâvî tedrîsine muvâzabet etdiğinden dolayı kendisine "müfessir" unvânı verildi.

In English: Ca'fer Efendi of Zara is the son of İvaz bin Mehmed Kethüda of the village of Zâra, or Zara, near Amasya. He learned the literary, legal and rational sciences from Mevlânâ Muslihuddin Musa Çelebi, professor at the Sultan Bayezid madrasa in Amasya and mufti, from Seyrek Seyyid Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi of Kalacık, professor at the Yörgüç Pasha madrasa, and from Müeyyedzâde Abdülhay Efendi, judge of Amasya, received his licence and began to give public lessons. Then he became professor at the Torumtay madrasa; for more than twenty-five years he gave his time to teaching the sciences and spreading learning and became extraordinarily famous. Because he kept teaching the Quran commentary of Beyzâvî, the title "müfessir" was given to him.

Life

According to Hüsameddin, Ca'fer wrote the ta'lik script and copied most of his books himself. Hüsameddin saw some of these books and quotes the notes at their ends. At the end of the medical Şerh-i Nefîsî, Ca'fer introduces himself in Arabic as "Ca'fer bin İvaz bin Muhammed, Hanafi, preacher, of the village of Zara of Amasya", says that he is professor at the Torumtay madrasa in Amasya, and states that he wrote the book in 948 (1541-42). In other books the signature "Ca'fer bin İvaz el-müfessir" and a signature dated 969 are found. According to these notes Ca'fer was professor at Torumtay at the beginning of the 1540s and stayed there into the 1560s.

In these years he was twice deputy judge (naib) of Amasya and once trustee of the Sultan Bayezid endowments. In 971 (1563-64) he became professor at the Yörgüç Pasha madrasa with a daily fifty akçe, in 973 at the Hüseyin Ağa madrasa with sixty akçe; in 974 he became judge of Tokat, in 978 (1570-71) judge of Sivas, and, as inspector of the endowments of the province of Rûm, travelled round the whole province. Hüsameddin writes that on endowment deeds from this period he saw the signature "Ca'fer bin İvaz el-Mehmedî el-müfettiş bi'l-evkâfi'r-Rûmiyye", and that from these signatures it appears Ca'fer was also called "Mehmed Kethüdâzâde". In 987 (1579) he is professor of the Mehmed Pasha madrasa in retirement; no date of death is given.

Hüsameddin describes him as "meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan kâmil, şâir, edîb, ulûm-ı akliyye ve nakliyyede mâhir", accomplished, a poet and man of letters among the famous learned, skilled in the rational and transmitted sciences. His son Fahreddin Mehmed Efendi was a judge known as "Ca'ferzâde". Among his pupils he names Bahşîzâde Fâzıl Yahya and Müeyyedzâde Pîrî Ahmed Efendi.

The State of the Sources

Ca'fer Efendi's name could not be found in the sixteenth-century biographical anthologies of poets (tezkire) searched for this study, namely Sehî, Latîfî, Âşık Çelebi, Kınalızâde and Beyânî. All the information about him rests on Hüsameddin; most of the dates Hüsameddin gives, however, are of the kind he says rest on Ca'fer's own signatures and official records. Where the manuscripts Hüsameddin says he saw are kept today is not stated. Nor does the entry explain the present name and location of the village of Zara.

His Poetry

There is no record that Ca'fer had a divan. Hüsameddin quotes two pieces, both of which are given separate pages in this category. The first is four couplets from the kaside he presented to Muzaffer Efendi, who came to the city as judge of Amasya in 961 (1554). In these couplets Ca'fer plays his own name against the names of two historical figures: he presents himself as a servant more loyal than Ca'fer-i Sâdık, and likens his heart, longing to fly to the judge's threshold, to Ca'fer-i Tayyâr, who is believed to have been given wings in paradise. The second is a couplet bearing his name that ends with the line "Çekmeğe bu derdi Ca'fer ömr-i bî-pâyân gerek" and is evidently the last couplet of a ghazal. Both pieces show that the poet used his own name as his pen name (mahlas).

Chronology

948 (1541-42): As professor of the Torumtay madrasa he writes out the Şerh-i Nefîsî.

961 (1554): He presents his kaside to the judge Muzaffer Efendi, newly arrived in Amasya.

971 (1563-64): He becomes professor of the Yörgüç Pasha madrasa.

974 (1566-67): He becomes judge of Tokat.

978 (1570-71): He becomes judge of Sivas and inspector of the endowments of the province of Rûm.

987 (1579): He is professor of the Mehmed Pasha madrasa in retirement.

Bibliography

Online sources