Among the best-loved hymns sung in the dervish lodges of Amasya in the early sixteenth century were the words of İzzeddîn Hasan Çelebi, son of the Khalwati sheikh Habîb-i Karamânî. Writing first under the pen name "İzzî" and later as "Dâî", Hasan Çelebi completed his spiritual training under his father's deputy Seydî Ali Çelebi, became sheikh of the Khalwati lodge by the Mehmed Pasha Mosque after his master's death, and died in 947 (1540-41). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi contains two separate entries on him; one presents him under his pen name, the other under his sheikh's name, and they differ by two years on his death. Not one of his hymns has come down to us.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Amasyalıdır. Yukarıda tercemesi geçen eş-Şeyh Habîb Karamanî Hazretlerinin mehâdîm-i kirâmından eş-Şeyh İzzedin Hasan Çelebi'dir. Amasya'da tahsîl-i ulûm ve pederinin hülefâsından eş-Şeyh Seydi Ali Çelebi'den tekmîl-i sülûk ederek müşârün-ileyhin irtihâlinde Mehmed Paşa Zâviyesi şeyhi oldu. İlm ü kemâliyle, zühd ü takvâsıyla ulemâ ve halkın muhabbet ve hüsn-i i'tikâdını celb edib teveccühât-ı ammeye mazhar olarak iştihâr etdi. Amasya vâlîsi Şehzâde Sultân Mustafa kendisine fevkalâde teveccüh edib 947'de dâr-ı kudse intikâl eyledi. Mehmed Paşa türbesi bağçesinde pederinin yanında medfûndur. Âlim tasavvufda kâmil, ulûm-ı şer'iyye ve sûfiyyede fâzıl, gâyet müteşerri', şâir, zâhid bir zât-ı sütûde-simât idi. İlâhiyât'ı zamanında pek meşhûr olup tekkelerde okunurdu. Mahlâsı ibtidâ "İzzî" idi sonra "Dâî" diye iştihâr etdi. Mahdûmu eş-Şeyh İmâdeddîn Ömer Efendi kibâr-ı meşâyihdendir.

In English: A man of Amasya, he is Sheikh İzzeddîn Hasan Çelebi, one of the noble sons of the Sheikh Habîb-i Karamânî whose life was told above. He studied in Amasya and completed the spiritual path under Sheikh Seydî Ali Çelebi, one of his father's deputies, and on that sheikh's death became sheikh of the Mehmed Pasha Lodge. Through his learning and maturity, his asceticism and piety, he won the love and trust of scholars and people alike and became famous, enjoying the favour of all. Şehzade Sultan Mustafa, governor of Amasya, showed him exceptional favour. He passed away in 947 (1540-41). He is buried beside his father in the garden of the Mehmed Pasha tomb. He was a scholar accomplished in Sufism, learned in the religious and mystical sciences, strictly observant, a poet and an ascetic, a man worthy of praise. His hymns were very famous in his time and were sung in the lodges. His pen name was at first "İzzî"; later he became known as "Dâî". His son Sheikh İmâdeddîn Ömer Efendi was among the great sheikhs.

Son of Habîb-i Karamânî

His father Habîb-i Karamânî was a Khalwati sheikh from Ortaköy near Niğde who received his authorisation in Shirvan in the service of Seyyid Yahyâ-yı Şirvânî, spent many years in İskilip, and after 881 (1476), at the invitation of Prince Bayezid, governor of Amasya and later Sultan Bayezid II, came to Amasya with his family and disciples. He died in Amasya in 902 (1497) and was buried in the garden of the Mehmed Pasha tomb. Hüsameddin lists his sons as Muhyiddîn Mehmed, Bedreddîn Mahmûd, Şemseddîn Ahmed, İzzeddîn Hasan and Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Çelebi, adding that some were born in İskilip and some in Amasya. Which of the two was Hasan Çelebi's birthplace is not stated; given his date of death, birth during his father's Amasya years, in the last quarter of the fifteenth century, seems more likely.

The family's Amasya branches long remained on the path of learning and the sheikhly office. Câmî Ahmed Efendi, grandson of his elder brother Şemseddîn Ahmed, became known as a judge and poet, while Hasan Çelebi's own descendants, according to the endowment records Hüsameddin lists, served as sheikhs and trustees of their forefather's lodge into the early nineteenth century.

Deputy of Seydî Ali Çelebi

Hasan Çelebi completed the Sufi path under Seydî Ali Çelebi, one of his father's first deputies, whom Hüsameddin also calls "Mevlânâ Alâeddîn-i Halvetî". When the Dirâğiye Mosque beside the Mehmed Pasha Mosque was turned into a madrasa, Seydî Ali became its first teacher; he then gave up teaching to attach himself to Habîb, and after Habîb's death served for nearly forty years as sheikh of the lodge and preacher of the Mehmed Pasha Mosque before dying in 940 (1533-34). Habîb-i Karamânî's entry confirms the link: "His other son, Sheikh İzzeddîn Hasan Efendi, is the deputy of Sheikh Seydî Alî Çelebi, his father's deputy." The son, in other words, received his father's path from his father's disciple, and the sheikhly office returned to the family after passing through another generation.

Who became sheikh after Seydî Ali is a question Hüsameddin's entries do not answer in a single way. According to the Dâî entry, Hasan Çelebi became "sheikh of the Mehmed Pasha Lodge" on Seydî Ali's death. The entry for his brother Ebu'l-Vefâ Ahmed Efendi, however, gives the sheikhship of the Mehmed Pasha Lodge to Ebu'l-Vefâ after the same death and says he died around 948. Seydî Ali's son Habîb Efendi is also named, first as preacher of the Mehmed Pasha Mosque and then as "sheikh of the Habîb-i Karamânî lodge", and he presented his works to Süleyman the Magnificent when the sultan came to Amasya in 961 (1554). It is possible that closely related posts in the same mosque complex, such as the lodge, the dervish house and the pulpit sheikhship, were confused here or changed hands at short intervals; the source does not draw the distinction.

Two Entries, Two Dates

Hüsameddin describes the same man a second time in the eighth volume of his book, under the heading "Hasan Efendi-Habîb-i Karamanîzâde eş-Şeyh". There too he is Habîb-i Karamânî's son, trained in the company of Seydî Çelebi, with a son named İmâdeddîn Ömer. The second entry adds a few details: Hasan Efendi completed his first studies in the classes of Bahşî Halîfe, one of the great scholars of Amasya, taught for a while, became first pulpit sheikh of the Mehmed Pasha Mosque and, on Seydî Çelebi's death, sheikh of the Habîb-i Karamânî lodge. This entry also names a second son, Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi.

The two entries part ways on his death: the Dâî entry gives 947 (1540-41), the Hasan Efendi entry 945 (1538-39). The difference affects the sentence about Şehzade Mustafa as well. Şehzade Mustafa's appointment to Amasya is dated to 1538 in studies based on Hüsameddin and to Safar 948 (June 1541) in other sources. If the second date is right, Hasan Çelebi died before the prince reached Amasya by either of his death dates, and the "exceptional favour" Mustafa showed him could only fit a short span or an acquaintance made outside Amasya. In Hüsameddin's own chronology, the prince's first years in Amasya and the sheikh's last years overlap.

His Poetry

Not one of his hymns survives. They were famous in their day and sung in the lodges, yet Hüsameddin did not record even a single quatrain of them. Hymns of this kind, sung at Khalwati remembrance gatherings, often passed into manuscript songbooks and miscellanies; whether hymns bearing the pen name Dâî survive in such collections has not been investigated, and since other poets used the same pen name, showing that such a text is his would require further evidence. What the change of pen name meant can be read from the names themselves: "İzzî" comes from the first part of İzzeddîn, while "Dâî" means one who prays or one who calls others, a name well suited to a preacher and the sheikh of an order.

His father Habîb-i Karamânî's works and surviving couplets are gathered under Habib-i Karamânî: Writer and Works. The original texts of Hüsameddin's two entries can be read as Dâî Hasan Çelebi-Habîbzâde eş-Şeyh and Hasan Efendi-Habîb-i Karamanîzâde eş-Şeyh; the record of his master Seydî Ali stands under Seydî Ali Halîfe-Mevlânâ Alâ'eddîn-i Halvetî.

Chronology

After 881 (1476): His father Habîb-i Karamânî moves from İskilip to Amasya.

902 (1497): Habîb-i Karamânî dies in Amasya.

940 (1533-34): His master Seydî Ali Çelebi dies; Hasan Çelebi becomes sheikh of the lodge.

945 (1538-39) or 947 (1540-41): Dâî Hasan Çelebi dies and is buried beside his father in the garden of the Mehmed Pasha tomb.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources