Amasya dâhilinde Gümüş kazasından Ali oğludur. İstanbul’da “Gümüşlü Mürekkebci” demekle meşhûrdur. Küçük yaşında oraya gidip hattât-ı meşhûr Mîrâhûr Câmii İmâmı es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi’ye hizmet ederek ondan temeşşuk ve hutût-ı mütenevvi’ayı ahzetdi.
Divânyolun’da Sünbül Ağa Sebîli ittisâlinde Mehmed Ağa medresesinde ikâmet ve tahsîl-i ulûma da himmet ederek her iki tarafdan me’zûn oldu. Hastalara nusha yazar, talebe-i ulûma ta’lîm-i hatt eder, mürekkep yapıp satar, bu sûretle idâre-i ma’îşet eylerken Şeyhülislâm es-Seyyid Mustafa Efendi’ye yazdığı nüshanın te’sîriyle 1150 senesi şevvâlinde müderrislik ru’usuna nâ’il ve diğer Şeyhülislâm Sâhibzâde Osmân Sâhip Efendi’nin himmetiyle 1184 senesi şevvâlinde Galata mollası oldu.
Mustakîmzâde Süleyman Sa’deddîn Efendi’nin “Tuhfetü’l-Hattâtîn” adlı eserinde yazdığına göre âhir ömründe bir gözü a’mâ olup istirâhat-ı hüsn 1188 sâlinde vefât etdi. Süreyya Bey’in Sicill-i Osmânî’sinde 1191’de vefâtı muharrerdir. Âlim, hattât-ı meşhûr, [242] nesih ve sülusda mâhir, rukye-hân idi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Ali, from the kaza of Gümüş attached to Amasya. In Istanbul he is known as "Gümüşlü Mürekkepçi" (the Ink-Maker of Gümüş). At a young age he went to Istanbul, served the famous calligrapher es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi, imam of the Mîrâhur Mosque, practiced writing (meşk) under him, and learned the various types of script.
Staying at the Mehmed Ağa Madrasa on Divanyolu, adjoining the Sünbül Ağa Fountain (sebil), he also strove to study the sciences, and received an icazet in both fields. While earning his living by writing healing prayers for the sick, giving calligraphy lessons to students of the sciences, and making and selling ink, through the effect of a prayer he wrote for the Şeyhülislam es-Seyyid Mustafa Efendi he reached the rank of professor in the month of Shawwal 1150 [January-February 1738]. With the help of another şeyhülislam, Sâhibzâde Osman Sâhib Efendi, he also became mulla of Galata in the month of Shawwal 1184 [January-February 1771].
According to what Müstakimzâde Süleyman Sâdeddin Efendi writes in his work Tuhfetü'l-hattâtîn, at the end of his life he went blind in one eye, and he died in 1188 [1774-75], corresponding to the phrase "istirâhat-ı hüsn" (good rest), which shows the date of death. In Süreyya Bey's Sicill-i Osmânî, however, his death is written as 1191 [1777-78]. He was a scholar, a famous calligrapher, a master of the pen in naskh and thuluth; he also recited rukya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- temeşşuk: learning writing by practicing meşk under a teacher
- hutût-ı mütenevvi'a: various types of script
- me'zûn: one who has received an icazet
- nüsha: here, a prayer or amulet written for the sick
- ta'lîm-i hatt: giving writing lessons
- idâre-i ma'îşet: earning one's living
- ru'ûs: the document showing the rank of professor
- molla: a high-ranking judge of the great cities
- a'mâ: blind
- muharrer: written
- rukye-hân: one who recites and blows prayers over the sick
His Teacher Yedikuleli Seyyid Abdullah Efendi
"Es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi, imam of the Mîrâhur Mosque," in whose service Hasan Efendi learned writing, is known among calligraphers, after the quarter in which he lived, as Yedikuleli Seyyid Abdullah Efendi (d. 1144/1731). His father was Seyyid Hasan Hâşimî, imam of the İmrahor Mosque; after finishing his memorization of the Qur'an and his education he became imam of the mosque where his father served and continued this duty until the end of his life. He took his calligraphy lessons first from his father and then from the famous calligrapher Hâfız Osman, and, according to Müstakimzâde's note, completing in the short span of forty months the meşk he began in 1098, he received the icazet. He reached mastery in the aklâm-ı sitte, that is, the six classical scripts, and became famous for his rapid hand. Having earned the favor of Ahmed III, he was appointed calligraphy teacher of the Sarây-ı Cedîd, and wrote twenty-four Qur'ans, Osmanzâde Ahmed Tâib's Meşârik-i şerif tercümesi for the sultan, and about a thousand en'âm, evrâd, kıta and hilye pieces. Most of his works were endowed to the Nuruosmaniye Library. He was attached to the Halveti order and was buried in the cemetery opposite the Şah Sultan Mosque in Eyüp, beside his parents.
A story that Müstakimzâde tells about Seyyid Abdullah Efendi's ink is interesting when considered together with his student's epithet "Mürekkepçi." According to the account, the purity of the calligrapher's ink came up in the presence of Ahmed III, and the sultan sent a teberdar (halberdier) and had his inkwell taken while he was teaching a student, and then sent the inkwell back with its mouth plated with gold and together with gifts of various fabrics. It is possible that Hasan Efendi learned the making of ink from this teacher; but this is a conjecture, and no explicit record in this direction was found in the sources.
Date of Death
Hüsameddin quotes the phrase "istirâhat-ı hüsn" from Müstakimzâde's Tuhfetü'l-hattâtîn. This phrase is a chronogram by abjad reckoning: the letters of the word "istirâhat" come to 1070, and those of the word "hüsn" to 118, and the total gives 1188. That the date is tied to a phrase strengthens the record of 1188; what record the date 1191 in the Sicill-i Osmânî rests on is not known. No document resolving the difference between the two dates was found.
Considering that his teacher Seyyid Abdullah Efendi died in 1731, Gümüşlü Hasan Efendi must have come to him at a very young age, in the 1720s at the latest. This agrees with Hüsameddin's phrase "going there at a young age." No information was found in other sources about Hasan Efendi himself, his madrasa on Divanyolu, or his mulla-ship of Galata.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 82–82. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books