İlhâmî Hasan Çelebi's exchanges of verse and conversations with Hasan Kudsî Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge, were the talk of Amasya. He began as a poll-tax (cizye) clerk at his father's side, rose to be a divan secretary, and died in Zilkade 1078 (April-May 1668). His family name "Cizyedârzâde" comes from his father Mustafa Ağa's office as the collector of the poll tax in Amasya. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar describes the beauty of his face and character on the authority of the müderris Abdî Efendi's tezkire, which no longer survives. Of the poetry of this seventeenth-century poet nothing remains.

Hüsameddin's Record

The entry in the seventh volume of Amasya Tarihi is a single paragraph:

Amasyalıdır. Amasya cizyedârı olan Mustafa Ağa'nın mahdûmudur. Meşâhir-i fuzalâdan "Küçük Hâce" demekle meşhûr Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi'den tahsîl-i maârif edib pederinin maiyyetinde cizye kâtibi, sonra dîvân kâtibi olduğu halde 1078 senesi zilka'desinde vefât etdi. Sûret ve sîreti gâyet güzel, hat ve hâli mükemmel, şâir, maârif-âşinâ bir kâtip olduğunu Müderris "Abdî Efendi Tezkiresi"nde yazıyor. Mevlevîhâne şeyhi Hasan Kudsî Dede ile müşâare ve musâhabesi meşhûr idi.

In English: He is from Amasya, the son of Mustafa Ağa, poll-tax collector of Amasya. He studied with Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi, a renowned scholar known as "Küçük Hâce"; he became poll-tax clerk under his father, then divan secretary, and died in that post in the month of Zilkade 1078. The müderris Abdî Efendi writes in his tezkire that he was a secretary very handsome in face and in character, perfect in handwriting and bearing, a poet and a friend of learning. His exchanges of verse and his conversations with Hasan Kudsî Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge, were well known. Notes on the old vocabulary of the entry and on Hüsameddin's sources are on the encyclopedia page İlhâmî Hasan Çelebi-Cizyedârzâde.

His Teacher Küçük Hâce

İlhâmî's teacher Kadızâde Mehmed İlmî Efendi was a müderris known in Amasya in the first half of the seventeenth century by the nickname "Küçük Hâce", the Little Master. Hüsameddin names among his students Zileli İslâm Efendi, Emîr Hamzazâde Eşref Ali Çelebi and Şeyh Ya'kûbzâde Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Efendi; his sons Ahmed Efendi, who wrote under the pen name Rahmî, and Abdullah Efendi, who wrote as Remzî, were also among the poets of the city. The genealogy of this family and the confusions in Hüsameddin's records are discussed in The Hâcezâdes. When and for how long İlhâmî studied with him is unknown; the only sequence the entry gives is study first, then clerical work under his father.

His Exchanges of Verse with Hasan Kudsî Dede

The last sentence of the entry links İlhâmî to the sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge of Amasya. According to the chronicle in Hüsameddin's fourth volume, Hasan Kudsî Dede, one of the Mevlevî deputies (halife), became sheikh of the lodge in mid-Zilkade 1070 (July 1660) on the death of Sheikh Mahmûd Adnî Dede, and died in Şaban 1091 (August-September 1680). An entry in the eighth volume names Kudsî Dede as the brother of Hacı Mehmed Çelebi, who restored the lodge of Şeyh Cû'î. Hüsameddin recalls his company in other entries as well: the banter of the preacher and poet Memi Dedezâde Burhâneddîn İbrâhim Efendi with him and with the mufti Hızır Efendi was well known; the muezzin Bilâl Efendi was formed in his company and later became sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge himself; and the chief chanter (zâkirbaşı) Tab'î Ahmed Dede was a senior member of the lodge in his time.

A müşaere is an exchange in which two poets answer each other in verse; Hüsameddin quotes not a single line of these exchanges, nor does he say whether he took the information from Abdî Efendi's tezkire or from a story still current in the city. Eight years separate Kudsî Dede's appointment as sheikh from İlhâmî's death. Whether the conversations belong to those years, or to an earlier time when Kudsî Dede was still a Mevlevî deputy, cannot be drawn from the source.

His Poetry

İlhâmî Hasan Çelebi's poems have not survived. His only known source, Abdî Efendi's tezkire, burned along with the copy that Hüsameddin owned. The subject of the tezkire, the period it covered and the few stanzas and ghazals that survive from it are described in Abdî Efendi: The Lost Tezkire of Amasya's Poets and Its Poems; İlhâmî is counted there among the poets named in the tezkire. Metin Hakverdioğlu, who compiled the poets mentioned in Hüsameddin's work, also lists him among the poets of the seventh volume.

The same pen name appears in another poet, born in Amasya a century earlier. The sheikh whom Hüsameddin records under the heading "Bâlî İlhâmî Efendi-Serhûş", born in Amasya in 915 (1509-10) and died in İstanbul in 980 (1573), used the pen name Cevherî in his youth and took the pen name İlhâmî after entering the Sufi path. His life and couplets are on the page Cevherî (Serhoş Bâlî Efendi). Hüsameddin draws no connection between the two İlhâmîs.

Chronology

Zilkade 1070 (July 1660): Hasan Kudsî Dede becomes sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge of Amasya.

Zilkade 1078 (April-May 1668): İlhâmî Hasan Çelebi dies while serving as divan secretary.

Şaban 1091 (August-September 1680): Hasan Kudsî Dede dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources