Trained as a calligrapher, Şâmî Mustafa Çelebi joined the council scribes of Prince Bayezid in Amasya, followed him to Istanbul when he took the throne, and rose from the finance bureau to the government of a sanjak. He was a fifteenth-century man of Amasya and the grandson of Sheikh Şemseddîn Ahmed Şâmî, the holy man from Damascus whom the people of Amasya called "Alagöz Baba" and who had settled in the Şamlar quarter. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar describes him as "hattât, edîb, şâir", calligrapher, man of letters and poet, and records that he died around 910 (1504-05). Of this man known for his pen, however, not one poem remains.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Hüsameddin placed the grandson directly behind the grandfather: in the eleventh volume, the short entry on Alagöz Baba is followed by Şâmî Mustafa Çelebi-Şâmîzâde.

Amasyalıdır. Eş-Şeyh Şâmî Ahmed Halvetîzâde Halil Çelebi mahdûmudur. Amasya'da tahsîl-i ilim ve hat ederek hutût-ı mütenevviada mahâret ve edebiyyata intisâbıyla iştihâr ve Amasya vâlisi iken Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî divânı ketebesi zümresine iltihâk etdi. 886'da Sultân-ı müşârün-ileyhin cülûsunda İstanbul'a gidip mâliye kaleminde istihdâm edilerek Anadolu kethüdâsı ve buradan Sancak mutasarrıfı oldu. 910 hudûdunda vefât etdi. 891'de "Kâtib-i Hazine-i Âmire Mustafa Çelebi" diye görülen bu zât olacaktır. Hattât, edîb, şâir idi.

What the entry says, rendered into modern English: a native of Amasya, he was a grandson of Sheikh Şâmî Ahmed Halvetî through his father Halil Çelebi. He studied learning and calligraphy in Amasya, became known for his skill in the various scripts and his attachment to letters, and joined the scribes of the council of Bayezid II while the latter was governor of Amasya. In 886 (1481), on the sultan's accession, he went to Istanbul and was employed in the finance bureau, becoming kethüdâ of Anatolia and from there governor of a sanjak. He died around 910 (1504-05). He must be the man who appears in 891 (1486) as "Mustafa Çelebi, scribe of the Imperial Treasury". He was a calligrapher, man of letters and poet.

Life

Mustafa Çelebi studied in Amasya and made his name there as a calligrapher; when he was born is not known. Hüsameddin says he was skilled in "hutût-ı mütenevvia", the various scripts. Prince Bayezid resided in Amasya as governor of the sanjak from 1454 to 1481; a young man of the town known for his fine hand must have been taken among the scribes of the prince's council during these years.

When Bayezid came to the throne in 886 (1481), Mustafa Çelebi also went to Istanbul and began working in the finance bureau. Hüsameddin writes that he later became "kethüdâ of Anatolia"; whether this means the steward of the governor-general of Anatolia or some other post attached to the treasury cannot be told from the entry. He then moved to the government of a sanjak; which sanjak is not recorded.

The last sentence, which Hüsameddin frames with the cautious "must be", shows that he identified this man of Amasya with a Mustafa Çelebi who appears in a document of 891 (1486) as "scribe of the Imperial Treasury". The date fits his service in the finance bureau, but the identification is the author's opinion and cannot be regarded as certain, given how common the name was. For his death, too, only an approximate year is given: around 910, that is, 1504-05.

Family

Mustafa Çelebi's grandfather, Alagöz Baba Şemseddîn Ahmed Şâmî, was a holy man who had studied in Damascus, migrated to Amasya together with people from Damascus, and served for some thirty years as sheikh of the lodge he built in the Şamlar quarter. According to Hüsameddin's biographical entry he died in 829 (1425-26) and left three sons, İbrâhim, Halîl and Ali Çelebi; Mustafa Çelebi's father Halil Çelebi was one of them. In the same author's list of tombs, however, Alagöz Baba is said to have been buried in 807 (1404-05) in the old tomb at the edge of the Şamlar cemetery. The two dates lie twenty-two years apart, and the book does not allow one to decide between them.

In a second short entry on Şâmî Ahmed, Hüsameddin writes that he stood at the head of the newcomers from Damascus in the Şamlar quarter, that his descendants were known as "Şâmîzâde", and that among them Tâceddîn İbrâhim, Kadı Necmeddîn Ömer Çelebi and Mustafa Bey were well known. Whether the "Mustafa Bey" of this list is Mustafa Çelebi or the sanjak governor mentioned below is not stated.

Distinguishing Him from Namesakes

The name "Şâmî" and the family name "Şâmîzâde" are attached to more than one family and person in Amasya. Mustafa Çelebi must be kept apart from the man he is most easily confused with: Mustafa Bey, who came to Amasya as sanjak governor in 993 (1585) under Murad III, was also a poet known as "Şâmî". According to Hüsameddin, this Mustafa Bey, who had risen from the post of chief taster of Selim II, drew the Amasya poets Kelâmî, Turâbî and Sükûtî Çelebi into his gatherings for poetic contests and assembled the scholars for learned discussion. The two Şâmî Mustafas, some eighty years apart, are different men. The book also contains another Şâmîzâde line bearing the same name, descended from Nûreddîn Hamza-i Şâmî.

Poetry

Şâmî Mustafa Çelebi's poetry is lost. Hüsameddin's entry describes his calligraphy in some detail but merely notes his attachment to letters and his standing as a poet, with no sample couplet. The pen name complicates matters further: Mustafa Bey, sanjak governor of Amasya at the end of the sixteenth century, signed himself "Şâmî" too, and deciding which of the two namesakes wrote a poem bearing that signature is harder still.

Chronology

807 (1404-05) or 829 (1425-26): His grandfather Alagöz Baba Şemseddîn Ahmed Şâmî dies.

1454-1481: Prince Bayezid governs Amasya; Mustafa Çelebi joins the scribes of his council.

886 (1481): On Bayezid's accession he goes to Istanbul and enters the finance bureau.

891 (1486): "Mustafa Çelebi, scribe of the Imperial Treasury", whom Hüsameddin takes to be him, appears in the records.

Around 910 (1504-05): He dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources