Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi's life traces a path that leads out of the Ya'kûb Paşa lodge and, after his years on the bench, back into it. He came from the family of Halveti sheikhs who ran the lodge for generations, and in Amasya he was known as "Hâfız Celâl Efendi". On the death of his father in 1034 (1624-25) he became imam of the Ya'kûb Paşa mosque and sheikh of its soup kitchen, taught for a while, and then served as deputy judge and judge in several small towns. He spent the end of his life leading prayer and the dhikr, and died in 1071 (1660-61). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar calls him "scholar" and "writer of ta'lik" and adds the word "poet", yet no poem of his is known, nor any pen name he used.

Life

In a single paragraph of his eighth volume, Hüsameddin tells of the son's succession to his father and the course of his later life:

Amasyalıdır. Ya’kûb Paşa zâviyesi şeyhi ve vakfının mütevellîsi olan eş-Şeyh Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi bin eş-Şeyh Abdurrahmân Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Ulemâ-yı asrından tahsîl-i ulûm ve hıfz-ı Kur’ân ederek 1034’de pederinin irtihâlinde yerine Ya’kûb Paşa mescidi imâmı ve imâreti şeyhi oldu. Bir müddet ders okutup iştihâr etdi. Ba’dehû niyâbete sülûk ederek ba’zı kasabâta nâib ve ba’dehû kâdı oldu. Sonra kazâ ve niyâbeti terk ederek imâmet ve meşîhat vazîfelerini îfâya ve zikr u ibâdete hasr-ı meşâğil edib 1071’de vefât eyledi. “Hâfız Celâl Efendi” demekle meşhûr âlim, şâir, ta’lîk-nüvîs, müttakî, âbid bir zât idi. Mahdûmu Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi kibâr-ı ulemâdandır.

In English: He is from Amasya, the son of Şeyh Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi, son of Şeyh Abdurrahmân Efendi, sheikh of the Ya'kûb Paşa lodge and trustee of its endowment. He studied with the scholars of his time and learned the Qur'an by heart; when his father died in 1034 he succeeded him as imam of the Ya'kûb Paşa mosque and sheikh of its soup kitchen. He taught for a time and became well known. Then he entered the path of deputy judgeship, serving as deputy judge in some small towns and afterwards as judge. Later he gave up judging and deputy judging, devoted himself to his duties as imam and sheikh, to the dhikr and to worship, and died in 1071. Known as "Hâfız Celâl Efendi", he was a scholar, a poet, a master of the ta'lik script, a God-fearing and devout man. His son Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi was one of the great ulema.

His life falls into three stages: the first years as imam and teacher at the lodge, the years as deputy judge and judge in provincial towns, and the return to the lodge. In which towns he served and when he gave up judging are not known. The "Hâfız" in his byname comes from his having memorized the Qur'an, and "Celâl" from the first part of his name, Celâleddîn. The word "ta'lîk-nüvîs" shows that he was a calligrapher who wrote the ta'lik script well; no piece of writing or inscription by his hand is mentioned in the sources.

The Ya'kûb Paşa Lodge and the Family

The Ya'kûb Paşa lodge is the Halveti lodge known today as the Çilehane Mosque. Hüsameddin wrote a separate entry for his father, Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi. According to it, Hüseyin Efendi was the son of Şeyh Abdurrahmân Efendi bin Mehmed Çelebi, sheikh and trustee of the lodge; he completed his spiritual training in the circle of Şeyh Abdullah-ı Halvetî and became sheikh and trustee of the lodge in 1016 (1607-08), when his elder brother Şeyh İzzeddîn Hasan Efendi died. For about eighteen years he preached and led the dhikr in the Ya'kûb Paşa mosque, and he died in the middle of the year 1034. This date agrees with the 1034 in his son's entry.

The father's entry names six sons: Mehmed, Abdülkâdir, Abdülcebbâr, Ahmed, Abdurrahmân and Abdüsselâm Efendi. Of these, Abdurrahmân is Hâfız Celâl Efendi. The same entry records that among his brothers' sons Hâfız Mehmed Efendizâde Abdülcelîl Efendi died as molla of Medina in 1076, and Abdülkâdir Efendizâde Abdülazîz Efendi at the end of 1080. Hâfız Celâl Efendi's son Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi appears there as "Abdurrahmân Efendizâde" and died in 1089 (1678-79). Whether Şeyhî was a pen name or a byname meaning "the sheikh's son" cannot be learned from the source.

The later history of the building and its chain of sheikhs is followed in the article Çilehane Mosque (Yâkub Paşa Lodge), while his father's entry in Hüsameddin can be read in full under the title Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi-Şeyhzâde eş-Şeyh.

His Poetry

Unlike the neighbouring entries in the same volume that open with names such as Câbî, Celâlî and Cemâlî, this one carries no pen name in its heading. Hüsameddin counts him among the poets, yet gives no pen name and quotes not a single line. None of Hâfız Celâl Efendi's poems has been found. His death in 1071 falls within the range of Abdî Efendi's anthology, which gathered the poets of Amasya down to 1081; the information may well come from there, but the entry cites no source. His name also stands among the poets in Metin Hakverdioğlu's list for the eighth volume.

Chronology

1016 (1607-08): His uncle Şeyh İzzeddîn Hasan Efendi dies; his father Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi becomes sheikh and trustee of the Ya'kûb Paşa lodge.

1034 (1624-25): His father dies; Celâleddîn Abdurrahmân Çelebi becomes imam of the Ya'kûb Paşa mosque and sheikh of its soup kitchen.

1071 (1660-61): Hâfız Celâl Efendi dies.

1089 (1678-79): His son Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources