Remembered for the beauty of his voice, Hâfız Ahmed Efendi served for more than half a century in Amasya as prayer leader (imam) of the Islamic law court and of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque, and wrote poetry under the pen name Sâmî. His family went back to Abdî Efendi, compiler of the lost biographical anthology (tezkire) of Amasya's poets: Sâmî was the great-great-grandson of the anthologist. At his death in 1234 (1818-19) the imamate passed to his son; of his poems not a single line has survived.

Hüsameddin's Entry

In Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi the record that directly follows Arpaeminizâde Sâmi Mustafa Bey, who shared his pen name, introduces Sâmî Ahmed Efendi with the byname "Court Imam":

Şeyh Alizâde es-Seyyid Abdurrahmân Efendi bin es-Seyyid Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi bin es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Ali Efendi mahdûmudur. Hıfz-ı Kur'ân ve tahsîl-i ilm ü irfân etdikten sonra 1179 muharreminde mahkeme imâmı ve 1189'da pederinin vefâtıyla Abdullah Paşa Câmii imâmı olduğu hâlde 1234'de vefât etdi. Hıfz u sadâsı güzel, sâhib-i irfân, şâir, latîf idi. Mahdûmu Hâfız Mehmed Efendi imâm oldu.

Translated: His father was Şeyh Alizâde Seyyid Abdurrahman Efendi, whose own father was Seyyid Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi, son in turn of Seyyid Şeyh Ali Efendi. After memorizing the Qur'an and acquiring learning and culture, he became imam of the court in Muharrem 1179 (June-July 1765) and, on his father's death in 1189, imam of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque; he died in that office in 1234 (1818-19). His recitation and his voice were beautiful; he was a man of culture, a poet and of gentle temper. His son Hâfız Mehmed Efendi also became imam.

In the entry he is named only "Sâmî Ahmed Efendi"; the byname "Court Imam", which Hüsameddin adds to tell him apart from the father named at the start of the record, sums up his life in a single word.

The Line of Abdî Efendi

Sâmî's grandfather, Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi, holds a place of his own in Amasya's literary history. His father, Şeyh Ali Efendi, was a son of Müderris Abdî Efendi, author of the anthology of Amasya's poets. Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi wrote a continuation (zeyl) to his grandfather's tezkire, collecting the poets and events of his own day, and died in 1159 (1746). This continuation later burned along with the books in Hüsameddin's possession.

Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi's entry also introduces Sâmî's father: Hâfız Seyyid Abdurrahman Efendi was imam of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque; his son Hâfız Seyyid Ahmed Efendi succeeded him as imam and died in 1234, and Ahmed's son Hâfız Seyyid Mehmed Efendi carried on the imamate. Since the year of death and the son's name match those in Sâmî's entry, this Ahmed Efendi is clearly Sâmî. The family's bond with the mosque reaches further back: in 1112 (1700-01) Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi had become Qur'an reciter (cüzhan) of the same mosque when his father resigned the post to him. For four generations, then, the voice of a Şeyh Alizâde was heard in the Abdullah Paşa Mosque.

The Abdullah Paşa Mosque is the mosque and hadith school known today as the Sofular Mosque, built by Hacısinanbeyzâde Abdullah Paşa, one of the governors-general of the reign of Bayezid II. A building in which worship and the teaching of hadith went on under one roof was a fitting post for an imam known for his memory and his voice, and it suited the family's learned tradition.

Where the Sources Differ

The grandson's entry and the grandfather's part company over a single date. Sâmî's own entry dates his father's death to 1189 (1775-76), the year the imamate passed to him. Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi's entry, however, places Abdurrahman Efendi's death in 1197 (1782-83). Hüsameddin does not reconcile the two. A misreading of the figures or a typesetting error is possible, and so is the use of two different documents by the author; which date is correct is unknown.

A likeness of names can also cause confusion. Immediately after Sâmî Ahmed Efendi the book records Sâmî Mehmed Efendi, a Nakşibendî sheikh from Bender. This sheikh, who died in 1201 (1786-87), is another person, and Hüsameddin does not call him a poet. He gives the sheikh's father's name and village and says he learned them "from the notes of Şeyh Alizâde es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed Rüşdü Efendi". Two men bore those titles: Sâmî's grandfather and Ahmed Rüşdü, son of Sâmî's uncle Abdullah Abdî Efendi. Since the grandfather died in 1159 and Sâmî Mehmed Efendi began his sheikhdom in Amasya only in 1169, the author of the note was most probably Sâmî's cousin. If so, the habit of keeping records lasted one more generation in the family.

His Poetry

No poem by Sâmî Ahmed Efendi has been found. The word "poet" stands alone in Hüsameddin's entry, with no couplet to follow it. Had his grandfather's continuation and the family's other records survived, a place might well have been found in them for this imam-poet of the same house; the loss of both very probably took Sâmî's verse with them. His pen name comes from the Arabic word for "lofty" and was common among Ottoman poets, so without further evidence no poem signed "Sâmî" in a manuscript anthology can be assigned to him.

Chronology

1112 (1700-01): His grandfather Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi becomes Qur'an reciter of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque.

1159 (1746): His grandfather Rüşdü Ahmed Efendi dies.

Muharrem 1179 (June-July 1765): Sâmî Ahmed Efendi becomes imam of the Amasya court.

1189 (1775-76) or 1197 (1782-83): On his father's death he takes over as imam of the Abdullah Paşa Mosque.

1234 (1818-19): He dies; the imamate passes to his son Hâfız Mehmed Efendi.

Bibliography

Online sources