Kadı Hüseyin Efendi, who received the pen name "Şevkî" from his teacher, was the first student to be granted a licence by Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi, the scholar known in eighteenth-century Amasya as the "Koca Müftü", the Great Mufti. After teaching for a while he took the judicial path, serving as deputy judge in Merzifon, Zile and Tokat and as judge in small towns such as Osmancık, Köprü and Lâdik, and he died in 1174 (1760-61), a year after his teacher. He is remembered as a scholar and poet versed in Arabic and Persian literature, yet nothing of his own verse is at hand.

Hüsameddin's Record

In the section of his work devoted to the letter "şın", Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar lists one after another the people of Amasya who bore this pen name. Kadı Hüseyin Efendi's entry reads:

Şevkî Hüseyin Efendi-Kadı Amasyalıdır. Pederinin adı Ali'dir. Iydîzâde Allâme Âkif Mustafa Efendi'nin ilk icâzet verdiği talebesinden olup "Şevkî" lâkâbını üstâdı vermişdi. Bir müddet ders-i âm olup sonra niyâbete sülûk etdi. Iydîzâde es-Seyyid Abdurrahim Efendi'nin nâibi oldu. Merzifon, Zile, ba'dehû Tokat kazâlarına nâib ba'dehû Osmancık, Köprü, Lâdîk gibi kasabâta kadı oldu. Üstadının vefâtından bir yıl sonra 1174 senesinde vefât etdi. Edebiyât-ı Arabîyye ve Farisiyye'ye aşinâ, âlim, kâmil, şâir bir zât idi. Mahdûmu Mehmed Naîm Efendi ricâlden ve hafîdi Mehmed Saîd Efendi mevâlîdendir.

Put into English: Amasya was his home, and his father's name was Ali. He was among the first students to whom Îdîzâde Allâme Âkif Mustafa Efendi granted a licence, and it was his teacher who gave him the name "Şevkî". After teaching publicly for a while he entered the deputy judgeship and became deputy to Îdîzâde Seyyid Abdurrahim Efendi. He served as deputy judge in the districts of Merzifon, Zile and then Tokat, and afterwards as judge in towns such as Osmancık, Köprü and Lâdik. He died in 1174, a year after his teacher's death. He was a learned, accomplished man and a poet, familiar with Arabic and Persian literature. His son Mehmed Naîm Efendi was among the statesmen, and his grandson Mehmed Saîd Efendi among the judges of high rank.

His Teacher and His Pen Name

The most prominent name in Şevkî's life is that of his teacher, Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi. Born in 1097 or 1098 (1686-87), Âkif Efendi twice served as mufti of Amasya, then devoted the rest of his life to teaching in the city, and died on the twenty-fourth of Receb 1173 (March 1760). Hüsameddin writes that through Âkif Efendi's lessons Amasya was turned into "a kind of university". He gave his morning lesson in the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and his noon and afternoon lessons in the Câmi-i Kebîr opposite his house in İçerişehir.

Âkif Efendi seems to have liked giving his students pen names. Hüsameddin records that the pen name of Rüsûhî Hasan Efendi, from the same circle, was also his gift; the mufti Servahdî Mustafa Efendi likewise received his pen name from the same teacher. Şevkî derives from "şevk", longing or eagerness, and is a common pen name in divan poetry; indeed Hüsameddin lists six people of Amasya bearing it in the same volume. That Kadı Hüseyin Efendi did not choose this name himself but received it from his teacher suggests that, as the first licensed student, he held a special place in his teacher's regard.

Hüsameddin dates Şevkî's death by tying it to his teacher's: "a year after the death of his master". Since Âkif Efendi died in 1173, the phrase agrees with the date 1174.

From Deputy to Judge

After his years of public teaching Şevkî turned to the deputy judgeship rather than advancing along the professorial path. His first post was as deputy to his teacher's brother, Îdîzâde Seyyid Abdurrahim Efendi. According to Hüsameddin, Abdurrahim Efendi became a professor, served as judge of Niksar, Zile, Merzifon and Çorum, as deputy head of the descendants of the Prophet and as deputy judge in Amasya, became judge of Erzurum with the rank of molla, and died in Amasya in 1161 (1748). The entry does not reveal in which town Şevkî began as his deputy.

He later served as deputy judge in Merzifon, Zile and Tokat, and was then himself appointed judge in towns around Amasya such as Osmancık, Köprü and Lâdik. All these places lie in Amasya's immediate surroundings; Şevkî's whole career seems to have been spent in the districts neighbouring his home town. Hüsameddin gives no dates for these posts.

Family

Şevkî's father was a man named Ali, to whom Hüsameddin adds no title or epithet. He counts his son Mehmed Naîm Efendi among the "ricâl", the statesmen, and his grandson Mehmed Saîd Efendi among the "mevâlî", members of the learned hierarchy who had reached the higher judgeships. Within two generations the line of this judge, whose father bore not even a title, had reached the upper ranks of the state. Hüsameddin gives no further information about the son's and grandson's posts.

His Poetry

None of Şevkî's poems has been found. The entry that calls him a "şâir" "familiar with Arabic and Persian literature" shows nothing of what that poetry produced. Hüsameddin's remark that he had seen a note in Âkif Efendi's own hand, which also burned, is a reminder of the losses suffered by the papers of Amasya's scholars. In Hakverdioğlu's list of the poets' names found in Hüsameddin, the heading "Şevkî Hüseyin Efendi-Kadı" stands between the Şevkîs of the Muslihîzâde and Hâcezâde families.

Chronology

1161 (1748): Îdîzâde Seyyid Abdurrahim Efendi, whose deputy he had been, dies.

24 Receb 1173 (March 1760): His teacher Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi dies.

1174 (1760-61): Şevkî Hüseyin Efendi dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources