The event that cut Sabrî Mehmed Efendi's life in two was the Patrona Halil revolt that shook Istanbul in the autumn of 1730. Counted among the friends of Nedîm, the poet of the Tulip Era, this madrasa teacher and judge from Amasya fled home in fear for his life during the revolt, lived for a while in seclusion, then returned to the bench and rose as far as the judgeship of Tokat. He died in Amasya in 1158 (1745-46). His standing as a poet is known from a supplement to a tezkire of Amasya poets; no example of his verse has survived.

Life

Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar introduces him in Amasya Tarihi as follows:

Amasya eşrâfından el-Hâc Abdulbâki Efendi'nin oğludur. Amasya ve İstanbul ulemâsından okudu. Amasya'ya gelip ders-i âm ve müderris-i be-nâm oldu. 1121'de pederinin irtihâlinden sonra İstanbul'a gidip bi'l-imtihân müderris ve mucîz ba'dehû elviye kadısı oldu. 1143 vak'asında Merzifonîzâde Ahmed Nedîm Efendi'nin refiklerinden olduğu münâsebetle korkusundan kaçıp Amasya'ya geldi. Bir müddet münzevî olup sonra Trabzon kadısı oldu. Ba'dehû mevlevîyetle Tokat kadısı olarak temâyüz edib 1158'de Amasya'da vefât etdi. Âlim, edîb, şâir, târih ve muhâzarâta vâkıf olduğu Şehzâde Hâfız Ahmed Rüşdî Efendi'nin "Tezkire Zeyli"nden anlaşıldı.

Its sense in English: He was a child of the Amasya notable Hacı Abdülbâki Efendi. He studied with the scholars of Amasya and Istanbul. Coming back to Amasya he took up public teaching as a ders-i âm and was a well-known madrasa teacher. In 1121, after his father's death, he went to Istanbul, became by examination a madrasa teacher licensed to grant diplomas, and then a judge of sanjak towns. In the incident of 1143, being one of the companions of Merzifonîzâde Ahmed Nedîm Efendi, he fled in fear to Amasya. After living in seclusion for a while he became judge of Trabzon. Later, distinguishing himself as judge of Tokat with the rank of mevleviyet, he died in Amasya in 1158. That he was learned, cultivated, a poet and versed in history and the lore of conversation is known from the "Tezkire Zeyli" of Hâfız Ahmed Rüşdî Efendi.

The dates in the entry give the skeleton of a career. Sabrî's journey to Istanbul after his father died in 1121 (1709-10) was the usual road for a provincial scholar who wished to move from madrasa teaching into the judiciary: to sit an examination in the capital, obtain a teaching grade and wait for appointment to the "elviye", the judgeships of sanjak centres. Mevleviyet was the higher rank needed for appointment as judge of the great cities; his going to Tokat with this rank shows how far he had advanced in the profession.

In Nedîm's Circle

The "incident of 1143" is the revolt that broke out under Patrona Halil in Rebiülevvel 1143 (September 1730) and ended with the deposition of Ahmed III and the killing of the grand vizier Nevşehirli İbrâhim Paşa. Many who were thought close to the pleasure gardens and poetry gatherings of the Tulip Era feared for their lives in those days. Ahmed Nedîm himself lost his life in Istanbul during the revolt.

Hüsameddin's calling Nedîm "Merzifonîzâde" rests on a family tradition, disputed in its details, that links the poet's lineage to Merzifon. That Sabrî was one of Nedîm's "refik", his friends or companions, is one of the rare records showing how close a man of Amasya came to the literary circle of Tulip Era Istanbul. Where and on what occasion the two met, and whether Sabrî attended Nedîm's gatherings, is not known; the entry says only that this closeness turned into a danger in 1730.

His seclusion after returning to Amasya did not last long. His appointment to Trabzon and then to Tokat suggests that he faced no prosecution under the new order established after the revolt.

Poetry and Its Source

None of Sabrî Mehmed Efendi's poems have been found. Hüsameddin writes that he learned of his poetry from "the Tezkire Zeyli of Şehzâde Hâfız Ahmed Rüşdî Efendi". The word "Şehzâde" here is most probably a misprint: elsewhere Hüsameddin refers to the same supplement as "the Zeyl-i Tezkîre of Şeyh Alizâde Hâfız Ahmed Rüştü Efendi". Its author is Şeyh Alizâde Ahmed Rüşdî Efendi, who continued Abdî Efendi's tezkire of the poets of Amasya and who died in 1159. Sabrî's notice must therefore have been written within a year or two of his death, by a fellow townsman who knew him. The supplement is no longer extant, and Hüsameddin quotes no couplet from it.

Other poets in Amasya used the pen name "Sabrî". On the same pages Hüsameddin describes two Sabris of the early twentieth century, Mecdîzâde Sabri Mehmed Efendi and Balcızâde Sabri Mustafa Efendi, while Sabrî Eyüb of Merzifon is a different poet again. Sarı Ahmedzâde Sabrî is the earliest of them. The name "Sarı Ahmedzâde" recurs in Amasya in later generations; whether any kinship can be traced between Sabrî and Sarı Ahmedzâde Hâfız Mehmed Efendi, mufti of Amasya in 1212 (1797-98), Hüsameddin does not say.

Chronology

1121 (1709-10): His father Hacı Abdülbâki Efendi dies; Sabrî goes to Istanbul.

Rebiülevvel 1143 (September 1730): The Patrona Halil revolt; as a friend of Nedîm he flees to Amasya.

1158 (1745-46): After the judgeship of Tokat, he dies in Amasya.

1159 (1746): Şeyh Alizâde Ahmed Rüşdî Efendi, author of the supplement recording his poetry, dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources