The lost biographical anthology of Amasya's poets (tezkire) compiled by Müderris Abdî Efendi was carried down to a later generation by his grandson, Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi, whose continuation (zeyl) recorded the poets and events of his own time. In the first half of the eighteenth century he served in Amasya as a Qur'an reciter (cüzhan), endowment secretary, head of a dervish lodge and preacher, and he died on 18 Safer 1159 (March 1746). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, author of Amasya Tarihi, does not forget to call him a poet, yet no line of Rüşdü's verse appears in his pages; the continuation stayed in Hüsameddin's hands for a time and then burned. Almost everything known about him comes from the short entry in Amasya Tarihi and from a few references in the same work to his continuation. Hüsameddin's entry is also reproduced in full under the title Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi-Şeyh Alizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc.

Hüsameddin's Entry

In the tenth volume, among the Amasyans whose names begin with the letter "ra", two entries bearing the same name follow one another. The poet is the first:

Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi-Şeyh Alizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Amasyalıdır. Nakîbü'l-eşrâf kâ'im-makâmı ve esnâf şeyhi es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Ali Efendi bin mü'ellif-i Tezkire-i Abdî Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Ulemâdan tahsîl-i ulûm ederek mücâz olup 1112'de pederinin kasr-ı yediyle Abdullah Paşa cüz-hânı ve ba'dehû Hüseyin Ağa vakfı kâtibi oldu. 1127'de pederinin irtihâlinde Ahî Darb-hâneci tekkesi şeyhi ve Pervâne Bey Câmii vâ'izi olup mükerreren meclis-i hâciyâna ve a'yâna a'zâ olduğu hâlde 1159 senesi saferinin on sekizinde vefât etdi. Âlim, vâ'iz, halûk, nâzik-tabi'at, şâir, sâhib-i temkîn idi. Ceddinin tezkire-i şu'arâsını tezyîl ederek asrının şu'arâsını ve havâdisini cem' ü tahrîr etdi. Bu eseri kütüb ve evrâk-ı metrûkesi arasında bulundu.

Rendered into English: A native of Amasya, born to Seyyid Şeyh Ali Efendi, deputy of the marshal of the descendants of the Prophet (nakîbüleşraf) and sheikh of the guilds; Ali Efendi was himself a son of Abdî Efendi, author of the tezkire. He studied under scholars and received a licence (icazet). In 1112 (1700-01), when his father withdrew in his favour, he became Qur'an reciter of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque and then secretary of the Hüseyin Ağa endowment. On his father's death in 1127 (1715) he became sheikh of the Ahî Darbhâneci lodge and preacher of the Pervâne Bey Mosque; he was several times a member of the councils of the hâciyân and the notables (âyan), and he died on the eighteenth of Safer 1159. He was learned, a preacher, good-natured, refined in temperament, a poet and a man of composure. He wrote a continuation to his grandfather's anthology of poets, collecting the poets and events of his age. This work was found among the books and papers he left behind.

The rest of the entry lists his sons and grandsons: Hâfız Seyyid Abdurrahman Efendi (d. 1197), imam of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque; Seyyid Abdullah Abdî Efendi (d. 1210), imam and preacher of the Bâlî Bey Mosque; and Hâfız Seyyid Ahmed Efendi (d. 1213), imam of the Hasan Efendi Mosque. The year 1197, which appears in the master list as the poet's date of death, is in fact the year his eldest son died. In the sixth volume Hüsameddin also directs the reader to this entry with a short cross-reference headed "Ahmed Rüşdü Efendi".

His Grandson of the Same Name

The second entry headed "Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi-Şeyh Alizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc", which immediately follows, belongs to another person, the poet's grandson. This second Rüşdü Ahmed was the son of Abdullah Abdî Efendi; he was imam and preacher of the Bâlî Bey Mosque, secretary and rent collector of the Hüseyin Ağa endowment, secretary of the asylum (Timarhane) endowment and a member of the hâciyân council, and he died in 1233 (1817-18). Hüsameddin calls him "a secretary, of a noble house" and says nothing of poetry. Because grandfather and grandson bear the same name, the same family name and the same titles, the two entries are easily confused; the author of the continuation is the grandfather who died in 1159.

The Continuation of the Tezkire

The family's literary story spans three generations. Abdî Efendi, professor at the Abdullah Paşa Madrasa, gathered the poets of Amasya in an anthology, and his grandson Rüşdü Ahmed brought the list down to his own time with a continuation. Hüsameddin saw and used the text of the continuation. He says that he learned "from the record of Şeyh Alizâde Ahmed Rüşdü Efendi" that Zanbak Dedezâde Rûhî Îsâ Çelebi was "a secretary, a poet, a pleasant companion, fond of learned and literary conversation". He also took from the same record the name of the father and the village of Sâmî Mehmed Efendi, a Nakşbendî sheikh from Bender. These two references suggest that the continuation did more than add new poets; it also added notes on the lives of the people in the grandfather's book.

The continuation no longer exists. Hüsameddin used it for many years, but like the grandfather's anthology it was lost in a fire while in his possession. For Abdî Efendi's anthology and the poems that survive from it, see the article on Abdî Efendi and his lost anthology.

His Offices in Amasya

Rüşdü Ahmed's whole life passed in Amasya, among the posts his family held. His father was deputy to the nakîbüleşraf, the official who looked after the affairs of the city's seyyids, and was also sheikh of the guilds. The son took over the reciter's post his father had relinquished while still alive, and after his death he assumed the headship of the lodge and the post of preacher as well. His repeated election to the councils of the hâciyân and the notables shows that he was among the townsmen who had a say in the city's government. Hüsameddin's phrase "sâhib-i temkîn" describes a grave and measured man.

His Poetry

For all the poets he added to his grandfather's book, Rüşdü Ahmed left no line of his own that has reached us. Behind Hüsameddin's word "poet" there is neither a quoted couplet nor the name of a collection of poems (divan). If he wrote poems, they were most likely in the continuation or among the family papers and were lost with them; this is a conjecture. Whether the name "Rüşdü" was used as a pen name (mahlas) is not stated in the entry.

Chronology

1112 (1700-01): On his father's withdrawal becomes Qur'an reciter of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque; then secretary of the Hüseyin Ağa endowment.

1127 (1715): On his father's death becomes sheikh of the Ahî Darbhâneci lodge and preacher of the Pervâne Bey Mosque.

18 Safer 1159 (March 1746): Dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources