Merzifonludur. Ulemâ-yı kudâtdan el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi bin Ebussu’ûd Efendi bin Ahmed Efendi bin Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi bin [290] Reîsülküttâb Ahmed Çelebi bin Ahî Toy el-Merzifonî mahdûmudur. Merzifon, Amasya ve İstanbul ulemâsından tahsîl-i ulûm ederek 98l senesinde Süleymaniye müderrisi iken vefât eden Şeyhülislâm Ebussu’ûd Efendizâde Abdülkerîm Çelebi bin Mehmed Meylî Efendi’den mülâzım ve ders-i âm olmuşdu.
Mülâzemeti uzadığı halde müderrisliğe nâil olamadığına muğber olarak tarîk-i tedrîsden ferâgat edib İstanbul’da Bezirgân Câmii imâmı oldu. Vazîfe-i imâmete kanâat ve ihtiyâr-ı kûşe-i uzlet edib l0l9’da vefât etdi. Âlim, kânî, şâir idi. Mahdûmu Mehmed Efendi’dir.¹⁶⁹
Kâfzâde Faizî Abdulhay Efendi “Zübdetü’l-Eş’âr” adlı tezkire-i şuarâsında diyor ki: “Ümîdî İmâm-Merzifonî Receb Çelebi olup İstanbul’da fevt olmuşdur. l0l9 tarih-i irtihâli:
Nevmîd gitdi dehr-i fenâdan Ümîdî hây
Şu gazeli yazılmışdır:
Tîr-i müjesine dime dil mürgı urulmaz
Ebrûlarının yâyı kolayına kurulmaz [291]
Âvâre gönül hâtıra-i vasl ile her şeb
Allah ki görür vâkı’alar hîç yorulmaz
Uşşâk tavâf itmede bir mertebe kesret
Kim Ka’be-i kûyunda durulmaz oturulmaz
Bu da onundur:
Nice aylar geçer bir gün kadem rencîde kılmazsın
Koya ey afitâbım zerrece hiç hâl bilmezsin
Varayın zahm-ı sînen dikeyin dimişdin ey hûnî
Beni gördükce ok gibi geçersin hiç ilmezsin
Tekellüfsüz girîbân çâk-ı ağyâra sevilirken
Benim yanımda ey gonce-dehen niçün açılmazsın
Birgili Mustafa Efendizâde Riyâzî Mehmed Efendi “Tezkîre-i Şu’arâ”sında Ümîdî Receb Efendi’nin tercemesini şöyle yazıyor:
“Ümîdî-i diğer: Nâmı recebdir. Merzifonî Ebussu’ûd Efendizâde Mehmed Efendi’nin ferzend-i kirâmîsi olup çâr-ı erkân-ı Kâbe-i devlet ve ikbâl olan Medârîs-i Süleymaniyye’den birinde müderris iken peder ve dehân-i fanî eden Abdülkerîm Çelebi’nin şeref-i mülâzemetine nâil oldukdan sonra tarîkden [292] ferağ edib Dârü’s-Saltana Konstantiniyye’de Bezirgân Câmiinin cihet-i imâmeti ile kanâat ve ihtiyâr-ı kûşe-i uzlet etmişdir.
Pâdişâhımız¹⁷⁰ asrında olan şuarâdandır. Bu gazel-i meşhûr ki Ümîdî-i sâbık nâmına şâyî’dir onundur”. Bu gazeli yukarıda yazıldı.
In Modern English
He was from Merzifon. He was the son of Hacı Mehmed Efendi, one of the scholars of the judges' class. Hacı Mehmed Efendi was the son of Ebussuud Efendi; Ebussuud Efendi, of Ahmed Efendi; Ahmed Efendi, of Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi; Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, of the reisülküttab Ahmed Çelebi; and Ahmed Çelebi was the son of Ahî Toy el-Merzifonî. Having studied with the scholars of Merzifon, Amasya and Istanbul, he became a mülâzım [candidate for a professorship] under Abdülkerîm Çelebi, son of Mehmed Meylî Efendi and grandson of the şeyhülislam Ebussuud Efendi, who died in 981 [1573-74] while a professor at the Süleymaniye, and received the authority of ders-i âm [giving open lectures].
Resentful that, although his period as a mülâzım had grown long, he had not attained a professorship, he gave up the teaching path and became imam of the Bezirgân Mosque in Istanbul. Content with the post of imam, he withdrew into seclusion and died in 1019 [1610-11]. He was a scholar, a man of contentment, and a poet. His son is Mehmed Efendi.
Kâfzâde Faizî Abdülhay Efendi says in his anthology of poets "Zübdetü'l-Eş'âr": "Ümîdî, the imam, is Receb Çelebi of Merzifon; he died in Istanbul. The chronogram of his death in 1019:
Nevmîd gitdi dehr-i fenâdan Ümîdî hây
This ghazal was written:
Tîr-i müjesine dime dil mürgı urulmaz
Ebrûlarının yâyı kolayına kurulmaz
Âvâre gönül hâtıra-i vasl ile her şeb
Allah ki görür vâkı'alar hîç yorulmaz
Uşşâk tavâf itmede bir mertebe kesret
Kim Ka'be-i kûyunda durulmaz oturulmaz
The meaning of the ghazal is roughly this: Do not say the bird of the heart cannot be struck by the arrow of your lashes; the bow of your brows is not easily drawn either. The wandering heart roams every night with the thought of union. Lovers circle the beloved's street like the Kaaba in such crowds that there is neither standing nor sitting there.
This too is his:
Nice aylar geçer bir gün kadem rencîde kılmazsın
Koya ey âfitâbım zerrece hiç hâl bilmezsin
Varayın zahm-ı sînen dikeyin dimişdin ey hûnî
Beni gördükce ok gibi geçersin hiç ilmezsin
Tekellüfsüz girîbân çâk-ı ağyâra sevilirken
Benim yanımda ey gonce-dehen niçün açılmazsın
This ghazal is a complaint to the beloved: Months pass and you never once tire your foot; my sun, you never ask after my condition. "I will come and stitch the wound in your breast," you had said, o bloody one; whenever you see me you pass by like an arrow. While you open your collar without ceremony before strangers, o bud-mouthed one, why do you not open up beside me?
Birgili Mustafa Efendizâde Riyâzî Mehmed Efendi writes the biography of Ümîdî Receb Efendi in his "Tezkire-i Şu'arâ" as follows:
"Another Ümîdî: His name is Receb. He is the noble son of Mehmed Efendi, son of Ebussuud Efendi of Merzifon. After he attained the honor of mülâzemet under Abdülkerîm Çelebi, who was a professor in one of the Süleymaniye madrasas, regarded as the Kaaba of state and fortune [the meaning of the phrase "peder ve dehân-ı fânî eden" in the text could not be resolved], he left the path and, in Istanbul, content with the post of imam at the Bezirgân Mosque, chose seclusion.
He is among the poets who lived in the age of our Sultan. This famous ghazal, which has circulated under the name of the earlier Ümîdî, is his." This ghazal was written above.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ulemâ-yı kudât: scholars of the judges' class
- mülâzım: a madrasa graduate waiting in line for a professorship, in the waiting period called mülâzemet
- ders-i âm: authority to give open lectures that anyone may attend
- muğber: resentful, offended
- tarîk-i tedrîs: the path of teaching, of professorship
- ihtiyâr-ı kûşe-i uzlet: choosing to withdraw into a corner and live alone
- kânî: content, satisfied with little
- tezkire-i şuarâ: a book collecting the lives and sample poems of poets
- mevâlî: members of the learned (ilmiye) class, as used in the book
- ferzend-i kirâmî: noble, respected son
- ümîdî: hopeful; Receb's pen name
His Teacher Abdülkerîm Çelebi
Abdülkerîm Çelebi, named as Receb's teacher, was a grandson of the şeyhülislam Ebüssuûd Efendi. The şeyhülislam died in 982 [1574]; of his three sons, Mehmed Çelebi (d. 971 [1563-64]) rose as far as judge of Aleppo and Damascus, and Abdülkerîm was the son of this Mehmed Çelebi. After becoming a mülâzım, Abdülkerîm was appointed professor of the Mahmud Pasha Madrasa out of respect for his grandfather. It is possible that the "Mehmed Meylî Efendi" Hüsameddin names is this Mehmed Çelebi, but the sources do not say so outright.
No link could be established between the "Ebussuud Efendi" in Receb's own genealogy and the şeyhülislam. Hüsameddin lists Receb's forefathers as men of Merzifon. The şeyhülislam Ebüssuûd, on the other hand, is written to have been the son of a Bayramî sheikh, and his father's tomb is said to be in İskilip. That the same name appears in both may be a coincidence; this is our inference.
Zübdetü'l-Eş'âr and the Poems
In his anthology Kâfzâde Fâizî (d. 1031 [1622]) gives samples from poets who lived from the middle of the fifteenth century until his own death, a number given in the sources as between 514 and 517; according to what Hüsameddin quotes, Receb is among them. The work is regarded as more an anthology than a tezkire. The abjad value of the chronogram line Hüsameddin quotes could not be verified.
Riyâzî's phrase "circulated under the name of the earlier Ümîdî" shows that the famous ghazal was going around attributed to an earlier Ümîdî, and Riyâzî says it belongs to Receb. No information was found in other sources on Receb's poems or on this distinction.
The Bezirgân Mosque
The building known in Istanbul as the Bezirgânbaşı Mosque was commissioned from the architect Sinan and built together with its lodge in 994 [1586] by Hâce Hüsrev. The first sheikh of the lodge, Ramazan Efendi, died in 1025 [1616], and for this reason the mosque is also called the Ramazan Efendi Mosque. Since Receb died in 1019 [1610-11], the mosque where he was imam may be this building; the text says only "Bezirgân Mosque" and no record confirming the match was found. This too is our inference.
The Footnotes
According to Hüsameddin's footnote, Receb's son Mehmed Efendi belonged to the mevâlî and his seal was the line "Şod bende-i Mehmed Mehmed". On the cover of a book an Arabic note was seen meaning "This book, by the driving of Allah the Almighty, passed in the year 1021 [1612-13] into the ownership of the poor Muhammad bin Receb el-Merzifonî, may mercy be upon them both."
Hüsameddin explains Riyâzî's phrase "our Sultan" as follows: since Riyâzî Mehmed Efendi died in the month of Safar 1045 [1635], the phrase appears to point to Murad IV. But since, according to Kâfzâde's record, Receb died in 1019, the one meant must be Ahmed I.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 352–353. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies