[238] Merzifonludur. Oranın ulemâsından Mustafa Efendi bin Mehmed Efendi bin Abdî Efendi’nin mahdûmu ve şâir-i meşhûr Nedim Ahmed Efendi’nin pederi akrâbasından olup Merzifon’da Gelgiras hatîbi İbrâhim Efendi’den mukaddimât-ı ulûmu görüp Amasya‘ya geldi.
Amasya Müftüsü Çorumlu Ahmed, İnallı Mehmed, Eyraklı Yûsuf Efendizâde es-Seyyid Mehmed, Merzifonî el-Hâc Mustafa, Müderriszâde es-Seyyid Mehmed, Lâdik’de Şeyhülislâm Medresesi müderrisi Ayıntâbî Yûsuf Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib İstanbul’a gitdi.
Orada rüûs imtihânını kazanıp müderris olarak avdet ve Merzifon’da bir müddet ders-i âm oldu. Ba’dehû Sultâniye-i Merzifon müderrisi, 1136’da Merzifon Müftüsü olup 1143’de İstanbul’a gitdi. Bu esnâda Sahn’a kadar devre-i medâris-i mu’tâdeyi ikmâl etdiğinden Kıbrıs mevleviyyeti verildi.
Yine Merzifon’a avdet edib 1151’de dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl etdi. Âlim, fâzıl, şâir, kâmil, edîb bir zât idi. “Mir’âtü’s-Safâ”, “Tezkiretü’l-Hikem”, “Uyûnü’l-Ulûm”, [239] “Şerh-i Risâle-i Muammâ-yı Câmî”, “Dîvân-ı Eş’âr” gibi müellefât-ı adîdesi fazl ve kemâline şâhid-i beliğdir.
Şu birkaç beyit eş’âr-ı latîfesindendir:
Ne dest-âvîzini gördük bu dehrin bağbânından
Bahârından ne memnûnuz, ne efsürde hazânından
Hadeng-i nâvek-i âzarı lütf it der kemân etme
Meded dil murgunu eyler remîde âşiyânından
Merhûmun tezkiresi Şemsî-i Sivasî’nin “Manzûme-i Menâkıb-ı A’zam”ı kenârında matbû’dur. Bu tezkirenin zeylinde kendisinden tahsîl-i ulûm etdiği zevât-ı sabıkanın vesâir-i ba’zı ulemânın terâcim-i ahvâli yazılıdır. Bunlar da matbû’dur.
Mahdûmları Mustafa, Mehmed Efendilere Ammizâde dendi. Çünkü Iydî Bayram Efendizâde el-Hâc Akif Mustafa Efendi’nin ammizâdesi idi. Mehmed Efendizâde Mustafa Adil Efendi de şuarâ-yı kudâtdandır. Mustafa Efendizâde Kazım Abdurrahman Efendi ve Kamil İsmâil Efendi meşhûrdur. Bunların ahvâli aşağıda gelir. Amasya‘da Ammizâdeler vardır. [240]
In Modern English
He is from Merzifon. He is the son of Mustafa Efendi, one of the scholars of that place, who was the son of Mehmed Efendi, who was the son of Abdî Efendi; he is a relative of the father of the famous poet Nedim Ahmed Efendi. In Merzifon he learned the introductory studies of the sciences from İbrahim Efendi, the preacher of Gelgiras, and came to Amasya.
He completed his studies under the following and went to Istanbul: the mufti of Amasya Ahmed of Çorum, Mehmed of İnallı, Seyyid Mehmed the son of Yusuf Efendi of Eyrak, Hacı Mustafa of Merzifon, Seyyid Mehmed the son of the professor, and Yusuf Efendi of Ayıntâb (Antep), professor of the Şeyhülislam Madrasa in Lâdik.
There he passed the rüûs examination (the examination for a madrasa professorship) and returned as a madrasa professor, and for a time gave public lessons in Merzifon. Afterwards he was professor of the Sultâniye Madrasa of Merzifon, became mufti of Merzifon in 1136 [1723-24], and went to Istanbul in 1143 [1730-31]. Since by this time he had completed the customary ladder of madrasas up to the Sahn, he was given the Cyprus mevleviyet (kadı post).
He returned again to Merzifon and passed away in 1151 [1738-39]. He was a scholar, a man of virtue, a poet, a mature man and a man of letters. His many works, such as "Mir'âtü's-Safâ," "Tezkiretü'l-Hikem," "Uyûnü'l-Ulûm," "Şerh-i Risâle-i Muammâ-yı Câmî" and "Dîvân-ı Eş'âr," are clear witnesses to his learning and maturity.
These few couplets are from his fine poems:
Ne dest-âvîzini gördük bu dehrin bağbânından
Bahârından ne memnûnuz, ne efsürde hazânından
Hadeng-i nâvek-i âzarı lütf it der kemân etme
Meded dil murgunu eyler remîde âşiyânından
The rough meaning of the couplets is as follows: from the gardener of this world we saw nothing to hold on to; we are pleased neither with its spring nor with its withered autumn. Grant us the arrow of torment as a favor, do not set it in the bow. Help, for that arrow frightens the bird of the heart away from its nest.
The deceased's biographical dictionary has been printed in the margin of Şemsî-i Sivasî's "Manzûme-i Menâkıb-ı A'zam." In the supplement to this dictionary are written the biographies of the persons mentioned above from whom he studied and of some other scholars. These too have been printed.
His sons Mustafa and Mehmed Efendi were called Ammizâde. This was because they were cousins of Hacı Akif Mustafa Efendi, son of Iydî Bayram Efendi. Mustafa Adil Efendi, son of Mehmed Efendi, is also among the kadı poets. Kazım Abdurrahman Efendi and Kâmil İsmail Efendi, sons of Mustafa Efendi, are famous. Their circumstances come below. There are Ammizâdes in Amasya.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the introductory lessons of the sciences
- ders-i âm: a teacher giving public lessons
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
- rüûs imtihânı: the examination held for a professorship
- devre-i medâris-i mu'tâde: the customary ladder of madrasas
- Sahn: the Sahn-ı Semân madrasas founded in the time of Mehmed the Conqueror
- mevleviyet: the kadı post of a major city, the rank of mollah
- dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl: to die
- müellefât-ı adîde: many works
- şâhid-i beliğ: a strong witness
- tezkire: a work collecting the biographies of poets and scholars
- zeyl: supplement
- ammizâde: cousin on the father's side
Abdurrahman Eşref, the "Mollah of Cyprus"
The Abdurrahman Eşref Efendi of the entry is the Ottoman author Abdurrahman Eşref, also known in the sources as the "Mollah of Cyprus." His year of death is 1151 (1738-39), which matches the date Hüsameddin gives exactly. Several of the works Hüsameddin lists are also attributed to him by the sources. "Mir'âtü's-Safâ" was written in 1710 and presented to the grand vizier of the time, Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha. The work consists of four chapters and a conclusion; it deals with the virtues of Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem and Hebron, and at the end with the graves of prophets, saints and companions. "Tezkiretü'l-Hikem fî Tabakati'l-Ümem," in turn, was written in Turkish in 1728 and is an encyclopedic book made up of an introduction, thirty-six biographical sections and a conclusion. It speaks of various peoples, of the poets of the early Islamic period, of the subtleties of the Arabic language, of the imams of recitation, of lexicographers, and of Qur'an commentators and hadith scholars. "Uyûnü'l-Ulûm" and "Şerh-i Muammâ-yı Sagîr li-Mevlânâ Câmî" are also mentioned as encyclopedic works of the same kind. It is also noted that he had a divan and a treatise containing moral stories.
Hüsameddin's information that "his biographical dictionary is printed in the margin of Şemsî-i Sivasî's Manzûme-i Menâkıb-ı A'zam" is also confirmed by the sources: Tezkiretü'l-Hikem was printed in 1252 (1836-37) in Egypt as a single volume, and in 1291 (1874) in Istanbul in the margin of Şemseddin Sivâsî's versified work Menâkıb-ı İmâm-ı A'zam.
Where Hüsameddin Differs
The information in the sources and Hüsameddin's information differ on two points. The first is the father's name. Hüsameddin presents him as the son of Mustafa Efendi son of Mehmed Efendi son of Abdî Efendi; the encyclopedia entry writes that he was the son of Şerefeddin Ali of Merzifon. The second is the relation with the poet Nedim. Hüsameddin counts Abdurrahman Eşref as a relative of the father of Nedim Ahmed Efendi; the encyclopedia entry reports that in some sources he is wrongly shown as Nedim's uncle, whereas he had no kinship with Nedim at all. Which of these two differences is correct could not be settled conclusively among the sources read in this work. The encyclopedia entry writes that little information is available about his life and that he entered the kadı profession after completing his madrasa education; it does not include the details Hüsameddin gives of his Merzifon professorship, his muftiship and the Cyprus mevleviyet.
Teachers and Merzifon Connections
No information was found in other sources on the teachers Hüsameddin names: the mufti of Amasya Ahmed of Çorum, Mehmed of İnallı, Seyyid Mehmed son of Yusuf Efendi of Eyrak, Hacı Mustafa of Merzifon, Seyyid Mehmed son of the professor, and Yusuf Efendi of Ayıntâb, professor of the Şeyhülislam Madrasa in Lâdik. The same is true of İbrahim Efendi, the preacher of Gelgiras. The records of the sons and grandsons bearing the name "Ammizâde" appear in separate entries of Hüsameddin's book.
A noteworthy detail in this entry is that the author of the book also bears the name "Abdîzâde." Whether there is a link between the Abdî Efendi of the entry and the author is not stated in the sources and could not be verified.
Bibliography