The hymns of Hüdâyî Ahmed Efendi, according to Hüsameddin's record, were sung "for a long time" in the dervish lodges of Amasya. The son of a mufti and grandson of a freed slave, Ahmed Efendi taught in the madrasas for many years before entering the Halveti path; in 1061 (1650-51) he became preacher of the Yörgüç Paşa Mosque, was then appointed sheikh of the Müftüzâde lodge, and died in 1089 (1678-79). He was known for his Sufi and literary conversations with the sheikhs of the city, above all with Kudsî Hasan Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge. Of the hymns sung in the lodges, not one text has reached us.

His Life

Hüsameddin's record stands in the entry Hüdâyî Ahmed Efendi-Müftüzâde eş-Şeyh in the ninth volume, in these words:

Amasya ulemâsından Hurrem Ağazâde el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Pederinden ve Kâdızâde Hoca Mehmed İlmî Efendi'den ikmâl-i tahsîl edib hayli müddet tedrîs-i ulûm etdi. Ba'dehû kibâr-ı Halvetiyye'den eş-Şeyh Hüsameddîn Efendi'ye intisâb edib riyâzet-hânesinde tekmîl-i sülûk ederek hulefâsından oldu. 1061'de Yörgüç Paşa Câmii vâ'izi ba'dehû Müftüzâde Tekkesi şeyhi olup Amasya Mevlevî-hânesi şeyhi Kudsî Hasan Dede ve sâir meşâyîh-i kirâm ile sûfîyâne ve edebî sohbetler ederek 1089'da dâr-ı naîme rihlet etdi. Kâmil, elsine-i selâseye vâkıf, şâir, ulemâ-yı Rabbânîyeden bir zât idi. Tekkelerde ilâhiyâtı hayli zamânlar okundu.

In English: He was the son of Hurrem Ağazâde Hacı Mehmed Efendi, one of the scholars of Amasya. He completed his studies under his father and Kâdızâde Hoca Mehmed İlmî Efendi and taught the sciences for a long while. Then he attached himself to Sheikh Hüsameddîn Efendi, one of the great Halveti sheikhs, completed the spiritual path in his retreat house and became one of his deputies. In 1061 he became preacher of the Yörgüç Paşa Mosque, then sheikh of the Müftüzâde lodge; holding Sufi and literary conversations with Kudsî Hasan Dede, sheikh of the Amasya Mevlevî lodge, and other honoured sheikhs, he passed to the abode of bliss in 1089. He was an accomplished man, versed in three languages, a poet and one of the scholars devoted to God. His hymns were sung in the lodges for a long time.

His Family

Ahmed Efendi's grandfather is described separately in the ninth volume under the heading "Hürrem Ağa-Koca". According to this entry, Hürrem Ağa was a slave of Şücâ Bey, district governor (mirliva) and one of the lords of Amasya. After his manumission he joined the imperial messengers (dergâh-ı âlî çavuşları) with his former master's support, became known in Amasya as superintendent of tax farms, collector of the poll tax and deputy governor (mütesellim), and died after 1006 (1597-98). In the same entry Hüsameddin also mentions his son, "former mufti of Amasya Mehmed Efendi, of the senior scholars", and his grandson, "Hüdâyî Ahmed Efendi, of the sheikh-scholars". Thus across three generations a family line emerges, running from a freed imperial messenger to a mufti and from the mufti to a lodge sheikh.

The nickname "Müftüzâde" (son of the mufti) must have come to Ahmed Efendi from his father's having been mufti of Amasya. The Müftüzâde lodge of which he was sheikh, however, was the work of another mufti family: it had been built in 1012 (1603-04) by Müftüzâde Ahmed Efendi of the Tâceddîn Efendizâde, one of the muftis of Amasya. This overlap of names lends itself to confusing the two families; the source gives no information that Hüdâyî was related to the founder of the lodge.

Halveti Sheikh and Preacher

Who Sheikh Hüsameddîn Efendi, "one of the great Halvetis" to whom Ahmed Efendi attached himself, was is not explained in the entry. In the roll of scholars and sheikhs Hüsameddin gives for the year 1017 (1608), an "eş-Şeyh Hüsâmeddîn Efendi" appears as sheikh of the Yakub Paşa lodge and trustee of the endowment of Pîr İlyas; it is possible that Ahmed Efendi's sheikh was this man, but there is no record linking the two.

The Müftüzâde lodge belonged to the Halvetis, and its first sheikh was Sheikh Ali Efendi, one of the deputies of Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî. Ahmed Efendi's pen name is also Hüdâyî. One is led to think that he chose it as a sign of devotion to the great sheikh of the lineage to which the lodge belonged; Hüsameddin does not say where the pen name came from. The records of the lodge's sheikhs do not agree. The list of lodges in the first volume names Mustafa, Ramazan and Yakub efendis after Sheikh Ali and does not mention Hüdâyî. In the 1017 list the lodge's sheikh is Lâdikli Muharrem Efendi. And according to an entry in the sixth volume, Sheikh Ahmed Efendi of Bafra died in Ramadan 1071 (April-May 1661) while sheikh of the Müftüzâde lodge and preacher of the Saraçhane Mosque. It may therefore be thought that Hüdâyî moved to the sheikhship some time after his preachership of 1061, most probably after the death of Ahmed Efendi of Bafra. Ahmed of Bafra was likewise one of the students of Kâdızâde Küçük Mehmed Efendi.

The lodge burned in the fire of 1099 (1687-88) and its site was forgotten. Hüdâyî had died a few years before this fire. The Yörgüç Paşa Mosque, where he preached, still stands today.

His Poetry

Most of the hymns bearing the pen name Hüdâyî belong to Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî, and this is what makes the Amasya sheikh so hard to trace from the outset. Hüsameddin presents him as a poet who knew three languages and writes that his hymns were sung in the lodges for a long time; yet he gives neither the text nor the first line of any hymn. No poems by Hüdâyî Ahmed Efendi have come down to us. These hymns were probably copied into lodge songbooks (cönk) and anthologies; even so, if a hymn with the pen name Hüdâyî turned up in an anthology, attributing it to Ahmed Efendi of Amasya would not be possible without further evidence. His "literary conversations" with Kudsî Hasan Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge, were not written down either.

Of the poets trained in the teaching circle of his teacher Kâdızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi, the judge Hâkî Ali Efendi (d. 1061) and the pulpit sheikh Hayretî İbrâhim Efendi (d. 1076) had gone before him; Hüdâyî was the last of that generation to die. In Metin Hakverdioğlu's survey, too, his name appears among the poets of the ninth volume.

Chronology

After 1006 (1597-98): His grandfather Hürrem Ağa dies.

1012 (1603-04): The Müftüzâde lodge is built.

1061 (1650-51): He becomes preacher of the Yörgüç Paşa Mosque.

Ramadan 1071 (April-May 1661): Ahmed Efendi of Bafra, sheikh of the Müftüzâde lodge, dies.

1089 (1678-79): He dies.

1099 (1687-88): The Müftüzâde lodge is destroyed by fire.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources