From the house of a standard-bearer, İbrâhim Ağa "Alemdâr", Sâfî Hüseyin Çelebi passed into the Amasya Mevlevî lodge: first as a dervish, then, during the sheikhdom of Sâlih Ulvî Dede of Aleppo, the "Arab Sheikh", as its Mesnevî reciter. He also wrote poetry, and he died in 1143 (1730-31). The record of his poetry comes from Şeyh Alizâde Ahmed Rüşdü Efendi, grandson of Abdî Efendi, who wrote a continuation of his grandfather's tezkire of Amasya poets; Rüşdü remembered him as "şâir, sâlih, halûk", a poet, a good man and of a cheerful nature. That continuation later burned, and Sâfî's poems were lost with it.

His Record in Amasya Tarihi

Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's entry Sâfî Hüseyin Çelebi-Yeniçerioğlu combines what he knew himself with the verdict he took from the continuation:

Amasyalı Alemdâr İbrâhim Ağa'nın oğludur. Mevlevîhâne dervişlerinden olup Şeyh Alâeddîn Dede'den terbiye gördü. Sonra "Arap Şeyh" demekle meşhûr Sâlih Ulvî Dede zamanında Mesnevîhân olup 1143'de vefât etdi. Şeyh Alizâde Hâfız Ahmed Rüştü Efendi'nin "Zeyl-i Tezkîre"sinde şâir, sâlih, halûk olduğu kaydedilmiş ve erkân-ı Mevleviyye'dendir.

Put simply: the Amasya standard-bearer İbrâhim Ağa was his father. A dervish of the Mevlevî lodge, he was trained by Sheikh Alâeddîn Dede. Later, in the time of Sâlih Ulvî Dede, known as the "Arab Sheikh", he became Mesnevî reciter, and he died in 1143. The continuation of the tezkire by Şeyh Alizâde Hâfız Ahmed Rüşdü Efendi records that he was a poet, a good man and cheerful; he counted among the leading figures of the Mevlevî order.

Life

Alemdâr, standard-bearer, was a rank in the companies of the Janissaries; both İbrâhim Ağa's title and the family name "Yeniçerioğlu", son of the Janissary, suggest a military origin. Hüsameddin records two other İbrâhim Ağas with the title alemdâr, Deli Alemdâr and Kaya Alemdâr; both died in the years 1198-1200 (1783-86) and cannot have been the father of a man who died in 1143. Hüsameddin has nothing more on Sâfî's father.

In his youth Sâfî entered the Mevlevî lodge as a dervish and received his training from Seyyid Alâeddîn Dede. Alâeddîn Dede had become sheikh of the lodge on the death of Kudsî Hasan Dede in Shaban 1091 (August-September 1680) and died in 1112 (1700-01); Sâfî's years as a dervish fall within this period. After Alâeddîn Dede the sheikhdom passed first to Bilâl Efendi and in 1118 to Ebûbekir Dede; in these years discord had broken out among the senior figures of the lodge. When Sheikh Ebûbekir Dede died in 1131 (1718-19), Sâlih Ulvî Dede of Aleppo was sent from the lodge of Mevlânâ in Konya to put an end to the quarrel. Sâlih Dede served as sheikh for twenty years, took over the trusteeship and supervision of the lodge's endowment as well in 1143, and died on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah 1151 (21 March 1739). Hüsameddin describes him too as "âlim, edîb, şâir, sûfî-meşreb", learned, a man of letters, a poet, of Sufi temperament. In this sheikh's time Sâfî Hüseyin Çelebi became Mesnevî reciter and took on the teaching of the Mesnevî in the lodge. His death in 1143 coincides with the year in which Sâlih Dede took over the endowment.

The Yeniçerioğlu Family and Rüşdü's Continuation

The family name "Yeniçerioğlu" or "Yeniçerizâde" occurs with several poets in Hüsameddin's Amasya. Berkî Hasan Çelebi was the son of Yeniçerioğlu Osmân Bey; he studied literature with Abdî Efendi, became divan efendi of the sanjak of Amasya and died in the disturbances of 1099 (1687-88). Şerîf Hasan Efendi, for his part, was a son of Yeniçerioğlu Serdâr Hüseyin Ağa; he too became divan efendi of the sanjak and died in 1131 (1718-19). The source does not state any kinship between Sâfî and these two poets. The shared name calls to mind branches of one family, known for generations by Janissary ranks; the source is silent on the point.

Şerîf Hasan Efendi and Sâfî have something else in common: the way their identity as poets reached Hüsameddin. In both cases it is known from the record of Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi. Abdî Efendi's grandson, Rüşdü continued his grandfather's tezkire of Amasya poets with the poets of his own age and died on 18 Safar 1159 (12 March 1746). The continuation was found among his books and papers after his death. Hüsameddin used it for many years, but the work was lost in a fire while in his hands. Rüşdü was a contemporary of Sâfî, who died in 1143, and very probably knew him; the words "şâir, sâlih, halûk" are the brief but personal judgement a city's tezkire passes on a well-known fellow townsman.

Poetry

A few of Sâfî's couplets may have stood in Rüşdü's continuation, since Abdî Efendi's tezkire collected the poets' verses together with their lives, and the continuation is thought to have followed the same course. Hüsameddin, however, put no couplet into the entry, and the continuation burned; no poem by Sâfî Hüseyin Çelebi can be reached today. The pen name Sâfî, meaning "purified, clear", befits a Mevlevî dervish. In Amasya it had two earlier bearers: in the fifteenth century Cezerî Kâsım Paşa, and in the sixteenth the calligrapher Sâfî Ahmed Çelebi of the Muîdzâde, in the service of Prince Mustafa.

Chronology

Shaban 1091 (August-September 1680): His teacher Alâeddîn Dede becomes sheikh of the Mevlevî lodge.

1112 (1700-01): Alâeddîn Dede dies.

1131 (1718-19): Sâlih Ulvî Dede comes from Konya to the Amasya Mevlevî lodge as sheikh.

1143 (1730-31): Sâfî Hüseyin Çelebi dies.

18 Safar 1159 (12 March 1746): Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi, author of the record about him, dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources