The pen name "Hâmî" was given to İbrâhim Efendi by his teacher, and it was derived from his family's nickname. His father was Korucuoğlu Hasan, one of the Janissaries of Amasya; the teacher who rendered the Turkish word "korucu" (guard) with the Arabic hâmî, "protector", was Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi, professor at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and mufti of Amasya. The real story of the short entry is how a Janissary's son came out of the mufti's study circle and rose to the judiciary. İbrâhim Efendi died in 1188 (1774-75), and not a single poem signed with the name his teacher gave him has come down to us.

Life

The entry in the eighth volume of Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi reads:

Amasyalıdır. Amasya yeniçerilerinden Korucuoğlu Hasan’ın mahdûmudur. Sultân Bâyezîd müderrisi ve Amasya müftüsü fâzıl-ı meşhûr Iydîzâde el-Hâc Âkif Mustafa Efendi’nin halka-i tedrîsinde ikmâl-i tahsîl edib “Hâmî” lakâbını aldı. Bir müddet ders okutup neşr-i ma’ârife hizmet etdi. Üstâdının irtihâlinden sonra kazâ niyâbetlerinde fazl ü iffetle iştihâr edib kasabât u bilâda kâdı oldu. 1188’de vefât etdi. Ulemâ-yı kudâttan edîb, şâir bir zât idi.

Hüsameddin explains the origin of the nickname in a footnote:

Bu lakâbı kendisine üstâdı vermişti. “Korucu” kelimesinden almıştır.

Rendered in English: He came from Amasya, where his father Korucuoğlu Hasan was one of the Janissaries. He completed his studies in the circle of the famous scholar Îdîzâde Hacı Âkif Mustafa Efendi, professor at Sultan Bayezid and mufti of Amasya, and received the nickname "Hâmî". For a time he taught and served the spread of learning. After his master's death he became known for his learning and integrity as a deputy judge, and served as kadi in towns and cities. He died in 1188. He was one of the scholar-judges, a man of letters and a poet. Footnote: His master had given him this nickname; he took it from the word "korucu".

The life that emerges from the entry falls into two periods. The first is the years spent with his teacher: İbrâhim studied there and then taught for a while himself. The second begins with the teacher's death. Since Âkif Mustafa Efendi died on 24 Receb 1173 (March 1760), İbrâhim's second period, from deputy judgeships to the post of kadi, covers some fifteen years between 1760 and 1774-75. His year of birth, the towns and cities where he judged and the place of his death all go unrecorded.

His Teacher and His Pen Name

Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi taught in Amasya for forty-five years as professor and mufti; he was also a poet whose kasides, gazels and chronograms have survived. That the man who gave his pupil a pen name was himself a poet suggests that İbrâhim's interest in poetry began in this circle; Hüsameddin says nothing on the matter. Âkif's own entry can be read under the title Âkif Mustafa Efendi-Iydîzâde Hacı.

The making of the pen name also shows the teacher's taste. The father's Turkish nickname "korucu" has been turned into an Arabic word of the same meaning, so that a Janissary family's name becomes the dignified pen name of a poet. When the footnote says that "his master had given him" the name, it states plainly that the translation was the teacher's idea, not İbrâhim's.

Poetry

Hüsameddin is content to call this poet, who received his pen name from his teacher, "a man of letters and a poet", and names no couplet or work; no poems by Hâmî İbrâhim Efendi have been found. Metin Hakverdioğlu, in the survey he published in 2024, can give him no more than the heading "Hâmî İbrâhim Efendi-Korucuzâde".

Chronology

24 Receb 1173 (March 1760): His teacher Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi dies; İbrâhim begins serving as a deputy judge.

1188 (1774-75): Hâmî İbrâhim Efendi dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources