Born in the village of Sehmüddevle near Merzifon and educated in Amasya, Ebûbekir Efendi returned home once his studies were complete; after teaching for more than twenty years he died in 1068 (1657-58) as professor (müderris) of the Merzifon Sultâniye madrasa and mufti of Merzifon. People called him "Hayâtî Ebûbekir Efendi". In Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi he bears the epithets "âlim, fâzıl, şâir, kâmil", learned, virtuous, a poet, accomplished, but no sample of his verse is given. He should not be confused with Hayâtî Çelebi, the sixteenth-century poet who bore the same pen name (mahlas) and is also counted as a native of Merzifon; nearly a century separates them. Notes on the village of Sehmüddevle and the Merzifon Sultâniye are gathered, with the entry put into present-day Turkish, on the page Ebûbekir Efendi-Hayâtî.

Hüsameddin's Record

Merzifonludur. Merzifon'un civârında Sehmü'd-devle köyünden Abdülhayy oğludur. Amasya'da fâzıl-ı meşhûr Kadızâde Küçük Mehmed Ali Efendi'den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek Merzifon'a avdetle ders-i âm oldu. Yirmi yıldan ziyâde tedrîs-i ulûm edib Sultâniyye-i Merzifon müderrisi ve oranın müftüsü olduğu hâlde 1068'de vefât etdi. Âlim, fâzıl, şâir, kâmil bir zât idi. Buna "Hayâtî Ebûbekir Efendi" denirdi. Pek çok şâkirdân-ı softı vardır. Bunlardan biri Şeyh Ali Efendizâde mevâlîden eş-Şeyh Ahmed Efendi'dir. Mahdûmu Mehmed Efendi ma'rûfdur.

In plain English: He is from Merzifon, the son of Abdülhayy from the village of Sehmüddevle near Merzifon. Having completed his studies in Amasya with the famous scholar Kadızâde Küçük Mehmed Ali Efendi, he returned to Merzifon and became a ders-i âm. He taught the sciences for more than twenty years and died in 1068 while professor of the Merzifon Sultâniye and mufti of the town. He was a learned, virtuous, accomplished man and a poet. He was called "Hayâtî Ebûbekir Efendi". He had many madrasa students; one of them is Şeyh Ahmed Efendi, son of Şeyh Ali Efendi, of the rank of mevâlî. His son Mehmed Efendi is well known.

Life

Ebûbekir Efendi's life is entirely that of a provincial scholar. Nothing is known of his father Abdülhayy beyond his name. The teacher with whom he studied in Amasya is Kadızâde Küçük Mehmed Ali Efendi, who is also mentioned under other names in Hüsameddin's book. After completing his studies he returned to Merzifon and left no record of ever leaving the town again. The rank of ders-i âm was the authority to teach publicly in a mosque and to grant licences (icazet); with this authority Ebûbekir Efendi taught for over twenty years and finally rose to the professorship of the madrasa built in Merzifon by Sultan Mehmed I, which the townspeople called the "Sultâniye", and to the office of mufti of the town. For his place in Merzifon's madrasa tradition, see the article Education and Learning in Merzifon.

Hüsameddin names only one of his students: Şeyh Ahmed Efendi, son of Şeyh Ali Efendi, who rose to the rank of mevâlî, the upper tier of the great judgeships and professorships. He calls his son Mehmed Efendi "ma'rûf", well known, but does not explain what he was known for.

The Name "Hayâtî" and His Poetry

Hüsameddin usually arranges the entries for poets with the pen name first. Ebûbekir Efendi's main entry stands among the personal names under the heading "Ebûbekir Efendi-Hayâtî"; in the ninth volume, under the letter "he" where pen names are listed, there is a one-sentence cross-reference titled "Hayâtî Ebû Bekir Efendi": "Merzifonludur. Tercemesi yukarıda Ebû Bekir Efendi Hayâtî diye yazıldı" (He is from Merzifon. His biography was written above as Ebû Bekir Efendi Hayâtî). This cross-reference suggests that Hüsameddin saw Hayâtî as a poetic pen name rather than a nickname; the sentence "Buna Hayâtî Ebûbekir Efendi denirdi" in the main entry shows that the name also lived on in common speech.

Hüsameddin is content to say that he was a "şâir"; not even a single couplet of Ebûbekir Efendi's has come down to us. The "Hayâtî" in the third-volume list of Amasya's famous poets appears in a list belonging to the period before the Celâlî disturbances, and is therefore most probably Hayâtî İsa Çelebi of Merzifon, who lived before him.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources