For more than forty years Seyyid Abdullah Efendi led the circle of remembrance (zikr) at Çilehane, one of the oldest Halveti lodges of Amasya; he had first made his name by his voice as the lodge's chief chanter (zâkirbaşı) in his father's time, and later became sheikh himself. This Haydarzâde seyyid, who knew music and had the Qur'an by heart, signed the hymns (ilahi) he wrote with the pen name Sezâyî. Hüsameddin says that had the anthology of Amasya's poets not burned, he would have included some of these hymns in his book. When he died late in 1214 (1800) he left no son, and the running of the lodge passed to his daughter and to a professor.

Hüsameddin's Entry

In the record that follows the entry on Sırrî Mehmed Efendi, Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar introduces Sezâyî Abdullah Efendi as a seyyid and sheikh of Amasya:

Sezâyî Abdullah Efendi-Haydarzâde, es-Seyyid, eş-Şeyh Amasyalıdır. Çile-hâne şeyhi ve mütevellîsi es-Seyyid Hâfız Mehmed Efendi bin es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh İbrâhim Efendi bin es-Seyyid Mahmûd bin es-Seyyid Hasan bin es-Seyyid Haydar Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Tahsîl-i ma'âriften sonra pederinin zamân-ı meşîhatinde zâkir-bâşı oldu. Hıfz ü sadâsı güzel olduğundan tekkeyi şenletdi. 1168'de pederinin irtihâlinde Çile-hâne medrese i'tibârıyla ulemâdan Hâfız es-Seyyid Mahmûd Efendi müderris olduysa da 1172'de ref' edilip yine tekke i'tibâr edilerek şeyhi ve mütevellîsi oldu. Ba'dehû kısmen medrese ve kısmen tekke i'tibârıyla meşîhat ü tevliyet uhdesinde kaldı. Müderrisliği de Süleyman Efendi'ye tevcîh edildi. Çile-hânede kırk yıldan ziyâde icrâ-yı meşîhat ve îfâ-yı va'z ü nasîhat ederek zikr ü ibâdetle iştigâl edib 1214 senesi evâhirinde dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl etdi. Âlim, hâfız-ı Kur'ân, mûsikîye âşinâ, sadâsı güzel, şâir, mu'âşereti lezîz bir seyyid-i kerîm idi. Bilâ-veled-i zükûr olup tevliyet kerîmesi Şerîfe Hâtun'a verilmiş, meşîhat de zamîme-i tedrîs olmuşdur. Amasya şu'arâsının mecmû'a-i eş'ârı yanmasaydı, ilâhiyât-ı latîfesinden bir kısmı yazılırdı.

Rendered into English: He came from Amasya. His father was Seyyid Hâfız Mehmed Efendi, sheikh and trustee of Çilehane; the line runs back through Seyyid Sheikh İbrâhim Efendi, Seyyid Mahmûd and Seyyid Hasan to Seyyid Haydar Efendi. After completing his education he became chief chanter of the lodge during his father's sheikhdom. Because his recitation and voice were beautiful, he brought the lodge to life. When his father died in 1168 (1754-55), Çilehane was treated as a madrasa and the scholar Hâfız Seyyid Mahmûd Efendi was made its professor, but in 1172 (1758-59) this was revoked; the building was again treated as a lodge, and Abdullah Efendi became its sheikh and trustee. Thereafter, the building being regarded partly as a madrasa and partly as a lodge, the sheikhdom and trusteeship remained with him, while the professorship was given to Süleyman Efendi. For more than forty years he served as sheikh at Çilehane, preaching and giving counsel and occupying himself with remembrance and worship, and he died late in 1214 (1800). He was a scholar, a hafız of the Qur'an, versed in music, with a beautiful voice, a poet, delightful company and a noble seyyid. As he had no male child, the trusteeship was given to his daughter Şerîfe Hâtun, and the sheikhdom was joined to the professorship. Had the anthology of Amasya's poets not burned, some of his graceful hymns would have been written down here.

Çilehane and the Haydarzâdes

Sezâyî's life was spent inside Çilehane in the Pirler district, the Halveti lodge founded by Yâkub Paşa in 815 (1412-13) near the tomb of Pîr İlyâs. The lodge had been established together with a lecture room in its endowment deed, and in the seventeenth century it was for a time turned into a madrasa. This double identity shows in Sezâyî's entry too: after his father's death there was dispute over whether the building counted as a madrasa or a lodge; a professor was appointed first, four years later the decision went in favour of the lodge, and in the end the two offices were divided.

The family's arrival at Çilehane begins with Sezâyî's grandfather. Seyyid Sheikh İbrâhim Efendi, of the Haydarzâde branch of the seyyids of Havza, was a great-grandson of Seyyid Haydar Efendi. He taught in the Yâkub Paşa Mosque and became its professor, received his licence as deputy from Mehmed Efendi, sheikh of Çilehane, and on that sheikh's death in 1099 (1687-88) became sheikh of Çilehane and preacher of the Yâkub Paşa Mosque; after seventeen years in the post he died on 23 Zilhicce 1116 (April 1705). Since the trusteeship of the Yâkub Paşa endowment had also passed to him, his son Seyyid Sheikh Mehmed Efendi became both sheikh and trustee. Sezâyî was this Mehmed Efendi's son.

The chief chanter is the member of a Halveti zikr who sings the hymns and guides the circle with his voice. Sezâyî's appointment to this office, and his success in it, enough for it to be said that "he brought the lodge to life", suggest that his hymns were most probably written to be sung in the zikr gatherings. Other hymn-writing poets are found among the sheikhs of Çilehane; Pîr Abdurrahman Çelebi, who wrote as Hüsâmî, is one of them.

Where the Sources Differ

Two of Hüsameddin's entries describe the running of Çilehane in the eighteenth century differently. According to Sezâyî's entry his father died in 1168 and, after a short spell under a professor, the sheikhdom and trusteeship passed to Sezâyî in 1172; he then served as sheikh for more than forty years, until his death in 1214. The entry on his grandfather İbrâhim Efendi, however, states that on Mehmed Efendi's death in 1168 his son Seyyid Sheikh Abdullah Efendi became sheikh and trustee, but in 1178 (1764-65) handed the sheikhdom to his son-in-law, Sheikh Hasan Sinânî Efendi of Çorum.

The two accounts do not fully agree. From 1172 to 1214 is forty-two years, which matches "more than forty years"; if the transfer to the son-in-law is correct, Sezâyî's sheikhdom must have ended in 1178. One possibility is that the transfer of 1178 concerned only the zikr of the lodge while Sezâyî kept the preaching and the trusteeship; but Hüsameddin does not say so. The report that Sezâyî had no son and that the trusteeship went to his daughter Şerîfe Hâtun is consistent with the son-in-law Hasan Sinânî's entry into the family. Hasan Sinânî's son, Abdullah Vecîh Efendi, later became a scholar known in Amasya for his teaching circle.

His Poetry

Sezâyî Abdullah Efendi's poems have not been found. Hüsameddin knew the hymns and meant to put some of them in his book; the "anthology of Amasya's poets" in which they were recorded, however, burned. The same fire is mentioned in other entries: in the entry on Servahdî Mustafa Efendi, Hüsameddin relates that he had found and copied a gazel of his, and that it too, alas, was burned. Sezâyî's hymns may have been sung in the lodge from memory; but no hymn bearing his pen name has so far turned up in any manuscript anthology or hymn collection. Nor is the pen name a rare one among Ottoman poets; even if a hymn signed "Sezâyî" were to surface, a further record would be needed to show that it was the sheikh of Çilehane's.

Chronology

815 (1412-13): Yâkub Paşa founds the Çilehane lodge.

1099 (1687-88): His grandfather Seyyid Sheikh İbrâhim Efendi becomes sheikh of Çilehane.

1116 (1705): İbrâhim Efendi dies; the sheikhdom and trusteeship pass to Sezâyî's father Mehmed Efendi.

1168 (1754-55): His father Mehmed Efendi dies; a professor is appointed to Çilehane.

1172 (1758-59): Sezâyî Abdullah Efendi becomes sheikh and trustee of Çilehane.

1178 (1764-65): According to İbrâhim Efendi's entry, the sheikhdom passes to his son-in-law Hasan Sinânî Efendi.

Late 1214 (1800): Sezâyî dies; the trusteeship is given to his daughter Şerîfe Hâtun.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources