In describing Derûnî Mehmed Efendi, Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar uses the phrase most often given in praise of a preacher: "nefesi müessir", a man whose words reached the hearts of those who heard him. The son of the Khalwati dervish Hüseyin Dede and a descendant of Sheikh Osman Efendi of one of Amasya's old sheikh families, Mehmed Efendi served in the second half of the seventeenth century as sheikh first of the Kağnılı Ali Ağa Lodge and then of the Osman Efendi Lodge that bore his ancestor's name, preached at the İbâdullah Mosque, and died around 1114 (1702-03). Hüsameddin adds that he "sometimes composed hymns"; he very probably used the pen name Derûnî in these hymns, but none of them has come down to us.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Amasyalıdır. Dervişân-ı Halvetiyyeden ve Şeyh Osmân Efendi evlâdından Hüseyin Dede'nin mahdûmudur. Hâtunîye câmii vâizi ve Mahmûd Çelebi Tekkesi şeyhi es-Şeyh Hızır Efendi'nin halka-i zikr ü ifâdesinde tahsîl-i ilm ve tekmîl-i sülûk ederek şeyh-i müşârün-ileyhden hilâfet aldı. İbtidâ Kağnılı Ali Ağa Tekkesi şeyhi ve İbadullah Câmii vâizi olup ilm ü takvasıyla iştihâr etdi. Ba'dehû Osmân Efendi Tekkesi şeyhi ve Saz Malikânesi ve Sultân Bâyezîd dersiyyesi mutasarrıfı olup yıllarca orada zikr ve ibâdetle iştigâl ve 1114 hudûdunda dâr-ı naîme irtihâl etdi. Âlim, zâhid, vâiz, nefesi müessir ve şâir idi. Bazen ilâhiyât söylerdi. Mahdûmu Ahmed Efendi'dir.

In today's words: An Amasya man, whose father Hüseyin Dede was one of the Khalwati dervishes and a descendant of Sheikh Osman Efendi. He studied and completed the spiritual path in the remembrance and teaching circle of Sheikh Hızır Efendi, preacher of the Hatuniye Mosque and sheikh of the Mahmud Çelebi Lodge, and received his authorisation from that sheikh. He first became sheikh of the Kağnılı Ali Ağa Lodge and preacher of the İbâdullah Mosque, and won fame for his learning and piety. Later he became sheikh of the Osman Efendi Lodge, and the revenues of the Saz estate and of the teaching post at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque were also assigned to him. He spent many years there in remembrance and worship and died around 1114 (1702-03). He was a scholar, an ascetic, a preacher whose words moved his hearers, and a poet. He sometimes composed hymns. His son is Ahmed Efendi.

From a Khalwati Family

Derûnî's family belonged to the Khalwati path: his father Hüseyin Dede is counted among "the Khalwati dervishes", and their line went back to Sheikh Osman Efendi, who gave his name to the lodge. In this entry Hüsameddin does not say who that Osman Efendi was or where the lodge stood. The man from whom Mehmed Efendi took the hand, however, was not his father; he attached himself to one of the city's well-known sheikhs. The Hızır Efendi named as his master is, according to Hüsameddin, preacher of the Hatuniye Mosque and sheikh of the Mahmud Çelebi Lodge in the inner city. In another of Hüsameddin's entries under the same name, Hızır Efendi-Şeyhzâde, grandson of the Khalwati sheikh Îcâdî Hızır Efendi and also known as "Hayreddîn Hızır Efendi", served about forty years as sheikh of the Mahmud Çelebi Lodge and died in Rabi' al-awwal 1063 (January-February 1653). There his preaching post is given as the Enderun Mosque rather than the Hatuniye; even so, on grounds of date and office it is very likely that he was Derûnî's sheikh. If the identification is right, Derûnî completed his training before the middle of the seventeenth century and must have been well advanced in years when he died.

Lodge and Pulpit

His first post after his authorisation was the sheikhship of the Kağnılı Ali Ağa Lodge. The lodge's name recalls Kağnılı el-Hâc Ali Ağa, who served as deputy governor of Amasya in the first half of the seventeenth century; the entry is silent on whether the lodge was a dervish house built by this Ali Ağa. In the same years Derûnî preached at the İbâdullah Mosque in the Bozahâne quarter. The mosque was founded by İbâdullah Çelebi, one of the wealthy merchants of Amasya in the time of Şehzade Ahmed's governorship; it burned in 1011 (1602-03) and was rebuilt in 1017 (1608-09) by Şükrullah Efendi, a descendant of its founder. Derûnî's sermons must have been given in this rebuilt mosque.

His next post was the sheikhship of the Osman Efendi Lodge, to which his family traced its line. Hüsameddin adds two sources of income: the Saz estate and the teaching stipend of Sultan Bayezid. The Saz estate appears in other entries as a revenue source in Amasya farmed out separately, while the teaching stipend was the share of revenue attached to the teaching post at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque. The assignment of these revenues to a lodge sheikh shows that Derûnî was recognised in the city as a respected preacher and scholar. Hüsameddin says he spent "many years there", that is at the Osman Efendi Lodge, in remembrance and worship. His death is dated only approximately, "around 1114"; whether his son Ahmed Efendi succeeded him at the lodge is not recorded.

His Poetry

The hymns themselves are lost. "He sometimes composed hymns" is all Hüsameddin says of him as a poet, and no quatrain follows. "Derûnî" is a word of Persian origin describing what belongs to the inner self, the heart; it is a fitting pen name for a Khalwati sheikh who composed hymns to be sung at remembrance gatherings. Derûnî-i Sânî, the tanbur master from Manisa known by the same pen name who was in the circles of Şehzade Mustafa and Şehzade Selim, lived in the sixteenth century and is a different person from this Amasya sheikh. The full text of the record, with notes on its older vocabulary, appears as Derûnî Mehmed Efendi-Osmân Tekkesi Şeyhi; the life of the sheikh thought to have been his master is told in Hızır Efendi-Şeyhzâde el-Hâc.

Chronology

1017 (1608-09): The İbâdullah Mosque, where Derûnî would later preach, is rebuilt.

Rabi' al-awwal 1063 (January-February 1653): Hızır Efendi, sheikh of the Mahmud Çelebi Lodge and probably Derûnî's master, dies.

Around 1114 (1702-03): Dies while sheikh of the Osman Efendi Lodge.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources