Amasyalıdır. Sultân Bâyezîd Hân-ı Sânî Amasya‘da vâlî iken muallimi olup Sultân-ı müşârün-ileyhin Amasya’da binâ etdiği medresesi müderrisi iken vefât eden es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi bin es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Sadreddîn Mehmed el-Horasânî mahdûmudur.
870’de pederi Amasya‘da muallim-i Sultânî iken tevellüd etdi. Pederinin vefâtında amcası Koca Emîr İbrâhim Efendi’nin yanında kalıp mukaddimât-ı ulûmu ondan gördü. Ba’dehû Şehzâde Sultân Ahmed muallimi Birgivîzâde Musliheddîn Mustafa Efendi’ye ittisâl edib onunla İstanbul’a gitdi.
Mustafa Efendi’nin Semâniye Müderrisliğinde ma’iyyet ve mülâzım olup sonra medreselere müderris oldu. 810’da lüzûmuna binâen Devlet-i Osmâniyye’de resmî bir nekâbet-i eşrâf mesnedi ihdâs edildikte ilk defa resmen nakîbü’l-Eşrâf ve hâkim-i sadât-ı kirâm oldu.
Otuzüç yıl mesned-i nekâbetde bilâ-azl ve fâsıla icrâ-i ahkâm edib 943 senesi zilka’desinde dâr-ı kudse irtihâl etdi. Alîm, fâzıl, müdebbir, [299] kerîm, sâkin, me’mûnü’l-gâile, müstakîm, şâir bir seyyid-i zîşân-ı Hüseynî idi.
Edirneli Mecdî Mehmed Efendi “Şakâyık-ı Nu’mâniye Tercümesi”nde bu zâtın tercemesi zeylinde diyor ki:
“Mûmâ-ileyhin zât-ı mahmedet-simât ve mekremet-sıfatı ziver siyer-i şâyeste ve pîrâye-i hulk-ı hamîd-i bâyeste ile hâlî olup cemî’-i umûrunda tarîka-i mahmûde-i mes’ûdeye ve sîret-i marziyye-i radiyyeye sâlik idi.
Şiir:
فى بابه شرف الإلقبال والدولفى شانه اية األخالق و السير ¹⁷¹
Hüsn-i akîde ve sıhhat-i i’tikâda mâlik olup Selîmü’t-tab’ halîmü’n-nefs mütevâzı’ ve müteşerri’ ve müteverri’ kimse idi. Nîrû-yı bâzû-yı cûd ve sehâ ile izhâr-ı yed-i beyzâ edib dest-i lütuf ve ihsânla fukarâ ve zuafânın gönlünü ele alır idi.”
Mevlana Latîfî Çelebi “Tezkire-i Şu’arâ”sında bu zâtın terceme-i edîbânesini şöyle yazıyor:
“Kudvetü’l-eşrâf Mevlânâ Emîrî rahmetullahi aleyh sâdât-ı siyâdet-meâbdan ve eşrâf-ı sahîhü’l-ensâbdandır. İsm-i şerîfleri [300] Seyyîd Mahmûd ve kendileri erbâb-ı fazl ve kemâlden mahsûb ve ma’dûddur. Sultân Bâyezîd ve Sultân Selîm Hân zamanlarında Nakîbü’l-Eşrâf olup pâdişâhımız Sultân Süleyman saâdet-bahtla tahta geçdikte diyâr-ı fenâdan dâr-ı bekâya nakletdi.
Âlim ve zâhid ve murtaz ve mücâhid-i azîz idi. Sâir maârifinden zâid fenn-i şiirde hisân-ı sânî ve tarz-ı kasîdede mânend-i zahîr ve hâkânî idi. Bu birkaç ebyât-ı belâgat-simât Sultân Bâyezîd-i Bâyezîd-hilkate dediği kasîdedendir:
İki cihânı iki Bâyezide kıldı tufeyl
Hudâ kılub nazar-ı lutfa herbirin manzûr
Birisi âlem-i ma’nide şöhre-i âfâk
Birisi sûret ü ma’nide gün gibi meşhûr
Birisi mehbit-i envâr-ı feyz-i rahmânî
Birisi rehber-i ecnâd-ı gâziyân-ı gayûr
Anın fezâil-i Hak fazlı gibi nâ-ma’dûd
Bunun hasâ’ili Hak vasfı gibi nâ-mahsûr
Bu verdi şer’ esâsına sıdk ile ahkâm [30l]
O kıldı zühd diyârını aşk ile ma’mûr
Şemâ’ili mütenâhî degil çü her birinin
Gerek birisine sarf ola mahirü’l-makdûr
Zihî merâsim-i cûdun mürebbiyyü’l-fuzalâ
Levâyih-i himemin feyz-bahş-ı ehl-i huzûr
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi, who had been the teacher of Bayezid II [Sultân Bâyezîd Hân-ı Sânî] while Bayezid was governor of Amasya, and who died while serving as müderris of the madrasa that the same sultan built in Amasya. Abdullah Efendi was himself the son of es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Sadreddîn Mehmed el-Horasânî.
He was born in 870 [1465-66], while his father was the sultan's teacher in Amasya. When his father died he stayed with his uncle Koca Emîr İbrâhim Efendi and received from him the introductory lessons in the sciences. Later he attached himself to Birgivîzâde Musliheddîn Mustafa Efendi, the teacher of Prince Sultan Ahmed, and went with him to Istanbul.
He stayed with Mustafa Efendi during the latter's service as müderris at a Semâniye madrasa and became a candidate for the teaching ranks [mülâzım], and afterwards became a müderris at madrasas. In 810, when an official post of nakîbüleşraf became necessary in the Ottoman State and was formally created, he became the first officially appointed nakîbüleşraf and judge of the sayyids.
For thirty-three years he carried out the duties of the office without ever being dismissed and without interruption, and in the month of Zilkade of the year 943 [1537] he passed to the next world. He was a learned, virtuous, prudent, generous, calm, upright man from whom no harm was feared, a poet, and an honoured Hüseynî sayyid.
Mecdî Mehmed Efendi of Edirne says as follows in his "Şakâyık-ı Nu'mâniye Tercümesi", following the biography of this man:
"The praiseworthy person of the above-mentioned man and his generous character were equipped with exemplary conduct fitting to his way of life and with the adornment of a fine character worthy of approval, and in all his affairs he followed the fortunate and praised path and a pleasing, approved manner.
Poem:
An Arabic couplet meaning: at his door the honour of good fortune and lasting generosity; in his conduct a model of character and of good behaviour.
He was a man of sound belief and firm conviction, of pure nature, gentle temper, humble, bound to the sharia and careful to avoid what is forbidden. With the strong arm of generosity and giving he showed a superior munificence, and with the hand of kindness and bounty he won the hearts of the poor and the weak."
Mevlânâ Latîfî Çelebi writes the biography of this man in a literary manner in his "Tezkire-i Şu'arâ":
"The leader of the ashraf, Mevlânâ Emîrî, may God have mercy on him, was one of the sayyids who hold the rank of sayyidhood and one of the ashraf of sound descent. His honoured name was Seyyid Mahmud, and he himself was counted among the people of virtue and perfection. He was Nakîbüleşraf in the times of Sultan Bayezid and Sultan Selim Khan, and when our sovereign Sultan Süleyman ascended the throne with good fortune, he moved from the world of perishing to the abode of eternity.
He was a scholar, an ascetic, a man who had won approval, a dear mujahid. Beyond his other branches of knowledge, he was a second Hassân in the science of poetry, and in the manner of the qasida he was like Zahîr and Hâkânî. These few couplets, marked by eloquence, are from the qasida he addressed to Sultan Bayezid, Bayezid by nature:
He granted the two worlds as a gift to two Bayezids
God looked on each of them with a glance of favour
One is the fame of the horizons in the world of meaning
One is famed like the sun both in form and in meaning
One is the place where the lights of the Merciful's bounty descend
One is the guide of the armies of zealous ghazis
His virtues are countless like the grace of God
This one's qualities are limitless like the attributes of God
This one, with sincerity, laid down rulings on the foundation of the sharia
That one, with love, made the land of asceticism flourish
Their characters are endless, for of each one
Even if a capable master were to spend his strength on only one
How fine are the customs of your generosity, which bring up men of merit
The gleams of your lofty aspiration bestow bounty on the people of presence
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- muallim: teacher
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the introductory lessons in the sciences
- ittisâl: attaching oneself to, joining
- mülâzım: a candidate for a professorship who waits in the service of a müderris
- nekâbet-i eşrâf: the duty of looking after the affairs of sayyids and sharifs
- hâkim-i sadât-ı kirâm: the official at the head of the honoured sayyids
- bilâ-azl ve fâsıla: without dismissal and without a break
- dâr-ı kudse irtihâl: death
- me'mûnü'l-gâile: one from whom no harm is feared
- seyyid-i zîşân-ı Hüseynî: an honoured sayyid of the line of Hz. Hüseyin
- müteşerri' ve müteverri': one who follows the sharia and avoids what is forbidden
- tufeyl: one who benefits through another's gift; here "given as a gift"
- ebyât: couplets
The Office of Nakîbüleşraf and Seyyid Mahmud
The first traces of an Ottoman office to look after sayyids and sharifs go back to the time of Yıldırım Bayezid; the first man appointed to this post, created in Ramazan 802 [May 1400], was Seyyid Muhammed Nattâ' Hüseynî, the postnişin of the İshâkıyye zaviye in Bursa. The turning point in the institutionalisation of the office was Bayezid II's appointment, in 900 [1494], of Seyyid Mahmud, the son of his teacher Seyyid Abdullah, to the post with a salary. Until then the office-holders received no regular pay from the state and were known by the title "nâzır". With the new appointment the title "nakîbüleşraf", used by the holder of the same function in Mamluk Egypt and Syria, was also adopted by the Ottomans, and Seyyid Mahmud became the first person to use it. The encyclopedia gives his death as 944 [1537] and puts a question mark beside the date.
The dates Hüsameddin gives do not fully agree with this. In the text the office is created in 810, the death falls in 943, and the term of service is thirty-three years. Counting thirty-three years back from 943 gives 910 [1504-05]. This suggests that 810 may have been written in place of 910 (inference). If the TDV date of 900 [1494] is taken as the basis, the term of service would be close to forty-three years. In the quotation from Latîfî, Seyyid Mahmud is described in a way that suggests he died when Süleyman ascended the throne; since Hüsameddin and the TDV place his death around 1537, this sentence does not agree with them directly. The sources read do not explain this difference.
His Father Seyyid Abdullah
The text presents Seyyid Abdullah as Bayezid II's teacher in Amasya and as müderris of the madrasa Bayezid built. In the entry on Tâcîzâde Câfer Çelebi it is written that Câfer Çelebi received his first lessons in Amasya from Şeyhîzâde Abdi, Muîdzâde Muhyiddin Mehmed and Horasânîzâde Seyyid Abdullah Çelebi. This Horasânîzâde Seyyid Abdullah is probably the same man whom Hüsameddin calls "el-Horasânî", but the sources read do not say so explicitly (inference). What the text says about the madrasa is also unclear: Hüsameddin describes it as built by Bayezid while he was governor. The madrasa of the Bayezid II Complex in Amasya, however, is part of a complex completed in 1486, when Bayezid was already sultan. Which madrasa the text means could not be determined from the sources read.
The Couplets Quoted from Latîfî
The main subject of the qasida is two Bayezids. In the second half of the couplets, one is described as laying down rulings on the foundations of the sharia and the other as making the land of asceticism flourish with love. That one is called famed "in the world of meaning" and the other "in form and in meaning" suggests that one of the two may be a great figure of Sufism and the other the sultan; but this reading is drawn only from the couplets themselves and is not confirmed by a source. The quotations from Mecdî and Latîfî could not be compared with the texts of the tezkires themselves; they are translated on the basis of Hüsameddin's transmission.
No information was found in the sources read on Birgivîzâde Musliheddîn Mustafa Efendi, on the Semâniye professorship or on Koca Emîr İbrâhim Efendi.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 354–355. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies