Preacher, poet and singer (hânende): these are the three epithets with which Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar introduces Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi, preacher (hatib) of the Sultan Bayezid mosque in Amasya in the middle of the eighteenth century, in the only line of his year-by-year chronicle of the city that mentions him. That line, recording his death in Rebiülevvel 1177 (September-October 1763), is the basis of everything known about him. Not one of his poems has survived.

The Record in the Source

In the part of Amasya Tarihi printed as a continuation of the fourth volume, the following line appears among the events of the period of Hüseyin Paşa, governor of Amasya:

1177 muharreminde mahkeme başkâtibi Fazlıoğlu Hacı İsmâ'il Efendi, rebî'ulevvelde Sultân Bâyezîd hatîbi, şâ'ir ve hânende olan Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi vefât etdi.

In plain terms the line reads: In Muharrem of the year 1177 the chief clerk of the court, Fazlıoğlu Hacı İsmâil Efendi, died, and in Rebiülevvel Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi, preacher of the Sultan Bayezid mosque, poet and singer.

"Hâfız" is the title given to one who knows the Qur'an by heart. "Hânende" means one who sings songs and hymns, a man known for his voice. Whether Kâmil was a name or a pen name he used in his poems cannot be told from the source; Hüsameddin describes him only as a poet and names no pen name. Metin Hakverdioğlu, surveying the poets of Amasya Tarihi, shows this man as "Mehmed Kâmil Efendi" among the ten poets named in the continuation of the fourth volume, and notes that there are no biographies for the poets in this part.

The Preachers of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque

At the Sultan Bayezid mosque, the imperial mosque of Amasya, the office of preacher was given to hâfızes with fine voices. In Hüsameddin's records the preachers of this mosque are often remembered for their voices: of Dervîş Mehmed Efendi, who became preacher in 984 (1576-77), he says "a man with a very beautiful voice"; Hocazâde Halîl Efendi, who served as preacher in the second half of the eighteenth century, is likewise introduced as having "a beautiful voice". Mehmed Kâmil Efendi's being a singer takes on meaning within this tradition: he must have been thought worthy of the preacher's office for his voice as well. This is an interpretation drawn from Hüsameddin's epithets.

Among the preachers of the same mosque there is another man of the same name. According to the entry on Hatîbzâde Emîn Mehmed Efendi in Hüsameddin's seventh volume, Emîn Mehmed's father was "Sultân Bâyezîd Câmii Hatîbi Hâfız es-Seyyid Mehmed Kâmil Efendi bin Hâfız Mehmed Efendi bin Ahmed" and had died in 1222 (1807-08). This man cannot be the Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi who died in 1177. Whether there was any family tie between the two preachers, or whether the second Kâmil was named after the first, cannot be learned from the sources.

The Year of His Death

In the chronicle Kâmil's death comes among events that occupied the learned circles of the city. A few months earlier Hacı Ahmed Efendi, the "Emîr Müderris" of the Mehmed Paşa madrasa, had completed his teaching of Beyzâvî's Qur'an commentary, and the ceremony held for the diplomas of some hundred of his students, too large for the Sultan Bayezid mosque, had been moved to the open-air prayer ground at Ok Meydanı. At this ceremony, attended also by the governor Hüseyin Paşa, the diploma was read out by Laz İbrâhim Efendi. Whether the preacher Kâmil Efendi had any part in this ceremony is not recorded.

His Poetry

Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi's poetry is lost. Whether the word "şâ'ir" in the chronicle stands for a divan or for a handful of scattered ghazals cannot be known; Hüsameddin gives no example and does not touch on what became of the poems. Nothing is known either of the compositions or hymns he sang as a singer.

Chronology

984 (1576-77): Dervîş Mehmed Efendi becomes preacher of the Sultan Bayezid mosque; Hüsameddin records the beauty of his voice.

Rebiülevvel 1177 (September-October 1763): Hâfız Mehmed Kâmil Efendi, preacher of the Sultan Bayezid mosque, dies.

1222 (1807-08): His namesake Hâfız es-Seyyid Mehmed Kâmil Efendi, preacher of the same mosque, dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources