A struggle of nearly twenty years over the sheikhship of the Amasya Mevlevî lodge (Mevlevîhâne) and the trusteeship (tevliyet) of its endowment shaped the life of Hacı Osman Sâkıb Efendi from beginning to end. He was drawn into it when his father Alâaddîn Dede died in 1112 (1700-01); at times he sat on the sheikh's sheepskin, at times he had to yield it to a sheikh sent from Konya, and he died in 1131 (1718-19). He was the great-grandson of Şeyh Ârif Mehmed Dede, who in 1047 (1637-38) had the lodge rebuilt with the help of Bayram Paşa. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar describes him as "âlim, şâir, edîb, müteharrik": learned, a poet, a man of letters and a restless man who could not stay still. Not one line of his poetry survives.

The Text of the Entry

Amasyalıdır. Amasya mevlevîhânesi şeyhi Alâaddîn Dede Efendi bin Abdülbâkî Dede bin eş-Şeyh Ârif Mehmed Dede'nin mahdûmudur. Mevlevîhâne şeyhi fâzıl-ı meşhûr Kudsî Hasan Dede Efendi'den ve Amasya müftî-i meşhuru Allâme Hızır Efendi'den ulûm-ı edebiyye ve şer'iyyeyi ahz edib mesnevî-hân oldu. 1112'de pederinin vefâtında Bilâl Efendi şeyh olduysa da 1113'de bunun ref'inden mevlevî-hâne şeyhi oldu. 1118'de mütevellî Bilâl Efendi'nin vefâtıyla mevlevî-hâne evkâfına da mütevellî olmuştu. Ancak, Konya'dan Ebûbekir Dede Efendi şeyh olduğu hâlde geldiğinden 1120'de meşîhat u tevliyetten azl edildi. 1126'da mütevellî Mustafa Efendi'nin vefâtıyla mevlevîhâne mütevellîsi oldu. 1131'de eş-Şeyh Ebûbekir Efendi'nin vefâtından az sonra vefât etdi. Âlim, şâir, edîb, müteharrik bir zât idi. Birâderi Abdulbâkî Efendi de urefâdandır.

In translation: He was from Amasya, the son of Alâaddîn Dede Efendi, sheikh of the Amasya Mevlevî lodge; Alâaddîn was the son of Abdülbâkî Dede, and he of Şeyh Ârif Mehmed Dede. He learned the literary and religious sciences from Kudsî Hasan Dede Efendi, sheikh of the lodge and a famous scholar, and from Allâme Hızır Efendi, the celebrated mufti of Amasya, and became Mesnevî reader (mesnevîhân). When his father died in 1112 Bilâl Efendi became sheikh, but in 1113, on Bilâl's removal, he became sheikh of the lodge. In 1118, on the death of the trustee Bilâl Efendi, he also became trustee of the lodge's endowments. But since Ebûbekir Dede Efendi came from Konya as sheikh, he was dismissed from both sheikhship and trusteeship in 1120 (1708-09). In 1126 (1714), on the death of the trustee Mustafa Efendi, he again became trustee of the lodge. He died in 1131, shortly after the death of Şeyh Ebûbekir Efendi. He was learned, a poet, a man of letters and a restless man. His brother Abdülbâkî Efendi was also one of the men of spiritual knowledge.

The pen name "Sâkıb" means "piercing, shining" in Arabic and is used above all of a bright star that pierces the darkness. In the heading Sâkıb Osmân Efendi-Ârif Dedezâde the pen name comes first and the given name after it; "Ârif Dedezâde" shows that the family was known by the name of Ârif Mehmed Dede, who had revived the lodge.

The Descendants of Ârif Mehmed Dede

According to the section on the Mevlevî lodge in Hüsameddin's first volume, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, during the bandit raid of 1011 (1602-03), the lodge burned and its sheikh vanished. His son Şeyh Mehmed Ârif Dede laid the matter before the former grand vizier Bayram Paşa, who in 1047 rebuilt the building and enlarged its endowments. After Ârif Dede the sheikhship passed to his son-in-law Şeyh Mahmûd Dede, then to Abdülkâdir Dede and to Şeyh Alâeddîn Dede. Sâkıb's grandfather Abdülbâkî Dede, according to his entry in the eleventh volume, went to Istanbul with his father Ârif Dede, lived in the Galata Mevlevî lodge, later became sheikh of the Mürre Hüseyin Paşa Mevlevî lodge in Beşiktaş and died in 1086 (1675-76); Hüsameddin records in the same place that his son was Alâaddîn Dede. According to the entry for Ebû Saîd Ahmed Dede, the sheikhship of the Amasya lodge was taken from him in 1099 (1687-88) and given to Alâeddîn Dede.

Sâkıb thus enters the story as the fourth generation seeking to lead the lodge after his father had been sheikh for some thirteen years. Senâyî İbrâhim Efendi, preacher and Mesnevî teacher in the lodge in the same years and made trustee of the endowment in 1112, came from the son-in-law's side of the family: he was the son of Mahmûd Dede, Ârif Dede's son-in-law. Hüsameddin counts Sâkıb's brother Abdülbâkî Efendi among the men of spiritual knowledge, but gives him no entry of his own.

The Mevlevî Lodge between 1112 and 1131

The events after his father's death are told in four different places in Hüsameddin's book, and the accounts do not agree. According to Sâkıb's own entry, Bilâl Efendi became sheikh in 1112; when he was removed in 1113 Sâkıb became sheikh, took over the trusteeship when Bilâl died in 1118, and lost both posts when Ebûbekir Dede came from Konya in 1120. The entry "Bilâl Efendi-Müezzin el-Hâc" in the seventh volume, however, says that Bilâl, muezzin of the Kocacık Mosque who had been formed in the company of Kudsî Hasan Dede, became sheikh in 1112, became trustee of the endowment when Ebûbekir Dede came from Konya as sheikh in 1113, and died in 1118; Sâkıb's name does not appear in this account. The entry for Ebûbekir Dede in the sixth volume also writes that Ebûbekir came in 1112, on the death of Alâeddîn Dede, served as sheikh for about twenty years and died in 1131.

A fourth sequence emerges from the section on the lodge in the first volume: in 1112 İbrâhim Çelebi becomes trustee and Bilâl Efendi sheikh; in 1113 Bilâl takes the trusteeship as well; when he dies in 1118 both posts are given to "Mehmed Ârif Dede evlâdından el-Hâc Osmân Sâkıb Efendi" (Hacı Osmân Sâkıb Efendi, of the descendants of Mehmed Ârif Dede), but in the same year Sâkıb is removed and Ebûbekir Dede becomes sheikh. In this list Sâkıb becomes trustee in 1126, and when Ebûbekir Dede dies in 1131 the sheikhship passes to Arab Sâlih Dede; the reason Sâlih Dede took over the trusteeship is given not as Sâkıb's death but as "Hacı Osmân Efendi'nin ref'i", that is, his removal from office. For Ebûbekir Dede's arrival in Amasya the dates 1112, 1113, 1118 and 1120 emerge, and for Sâkıb's sheikhship two different spans, 1113-1120 or 1118 alone. What the accounts share is that Sâkıb entered a long struggle for the trusteeship and the sheikhship, could not hold his place against the sheikh appointed from the order's centre in Konya, and died around 1131. Hüsameddin's description of him as "müteharrik" can be read together with this restless life.

The list of tombs in the first volume records, on the basis of the Islamic court registers, that "Osmân Sâkıb Dede" is buried in the tomb chamber inside the Mevlevî lodge together with Ârif Mehmed Dede, Alâeddîn Ali Dede, Arab Sâlih Dede and other sheikhs.

His Poetry

Poetry was no stranger to the circle in which Sâkıb grew up. From the company of his teacher Kudsî Hasan Dede had also come the muezzin Bilâl Efendi, whom Hüsameddin calls "şi'ire heveskâr" (fond of poetry), and in the same years the lodge had preacher-poets such as Senâyî. Sâkıb's poetry can be thought of within this small Mevlevî circle. Hüsameddin plainly counts him a poet, yet quotes no couplet of his and mentions no divan. The poems of Sâkıb Osman Efendi are lost. In Metin Hakverdioğlu's list of the poets of Amasya Tarihi his name stands among those drawn from the eighth volume.

Chronology

1047 (1637-38): At Ârif Mehmed Dede's request Bayram Paşa rebuilds the Amasya Mevlevî lodge.

1086 (1675-76): His grandfather Abdülbâkî Dede dies in Istanbul.

1099 (1687-88): His father Alâeddîn Dede becomes sheikh of the lodge.

1112 (1700-01): Alâeddîn Dede dies; Bilâl Efendi becomes sheikh.

1113-1120 (1701-1709): According to his own entry he is sheikh of the lodge; from 1118 he is also trustee.

1126 (1714): He becomes trustee of the endowment again.

1131 (1718-19): He dies shortly after the death of Şeyh Ebûbekir Dede.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources