Zarîf Mehmed Efendi, known in Amasya as "Şeyhü'z-zürefâ", the sheikh of the wits, was in the second half of the eighteenth century the pulpit preacher, khatib and preacher of the Mehmed Paşa mosque, sheikh of the Mehmed Paşa soup kitchen and a member of the council of the city's notables. A pupil of İdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi, he was a madrasa teacher whose clear exposition drew many students. In Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's pages he is a poet of graceful speech, skilled in verse and in prose composition. One passage of that same work places his death in 1202 (1787-88), another in 1204 (1789-90). None of his poems have reached us.

Hüsameddin's Entry

In the "zâ" section this entry comes after that of the other Zarîf, Zarîf Ahmed Efendi-Kudsîzâde:

Amasya'da Mehmed Paşa Câmii yanında Hâtunîye medresesinin ilk müderrisi olan Hüseyin Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Pederinden ve hâssaten Allâme Iydî Hacı Âkif Mustafa Efendi'den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âm oldu. Takrîri açık, beyânı güzel olduğundan talebesi çoktu. 1178'de pederinin irtihâlinde birâderleriyle mezkûr medrese müderrisi ba'dehû Mehmed Paşa Câmii kürsi şeyhi, meclis-i a'yân a'zâsı, 1190'da Mehmed Paşa imâreti şeyhi de olup refâha erdi. 1204'de vefât etdi. Mehmed Paşa mezârlığında medfûndur. Âlim, kâmil, pek zarîf, şâir, sözü latîf, güzel söyler, şiir ve inşâda mâhir, hüsn-i tabiata mâlik, nüfûz ve ikbâli yerinde bir zât-ı sütûde-simât idi. Mutasavvifeden olup Abdullah Vecih Efendi'nin pederiyle musâhabâtı iyi idi. Mahdûmu Hâfız es-Seyyid Abdürrahîm Efendi kendisine benzerdi.

What the entry says: his father, Hüseyin Efendi, was the first teacher of the Hâtuniye madrasa beside the Mehmed Paşa mosque in Amasya. He completed his studies with his father and above all with the great scholar İdîzâde Hacı Âkif Mustafa Efendi and became a lecturer. Because his exposition was clear and his speech fine, he had many students. When his father died in 1178 he became, together with his brothers, teacher of that madrasa, then pulpit preacher of the Mehmed Paşa mosque and a member of the council of notables, and in 1190 also sheikh of the Mehmed Paşa soup kitchen, and so came into comfort. He died in 1204 and is buried in the Mehmed Paşa cemetery. He was learned, accomplished, very refined, a poet, gracious in speech and a fine talker, skilled in verse and prose, of good nature, a man of standing and influence worthy of praise. He was one of the Sufis and was on good terms of conversation with the father of Abdullah Vecîh Efendi. His son Hâfız Seyyid Abdürrahîm Efendi took after him.

The kürsü şeyhi was the official who mounted the preaching chair in the great mosques and gave sermons and religious instruction to the public. Being both a madrasa teacher and the preacher of this mosque explains how his name became known to a wide circle in the city. Zarîf Mehmed's life was spent among the buildings of the Mehmed Paşa mosque of 1486 and its surroundings: the madrasa where his father taught stood beside the mosque, he preached from its chair, became sheikh of its soup kitchen and, when he died, was buried in the Mehmed Paşa cemetery.

His Teacher and Circle

Zarîf Mehmed's teacher, İdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi, was born in 1097 (1686), served twice as mufti of Amasya, taught in the city for forty-five years and died on 24 Receb 1173 (March 1760). Hüsameddin writes that one evening a week he gathered scholars and men of letters in the reception rooms of his house for learned and literary conversation. Whether Zarîf Mehmed attended the gatherings of this teacher, himself a poet with a divan, Hüsameddin does not say.

The Abdullah Vecîh Efendi named in the entry is the scholar Hüsameddin elsewhere calls "the celebrated learned mufti of Amasya"; Zarîf Mehmed's son Abdürrahîm studied in his circle and, while his teacher was mufti, drafted his fatwas.

His Sons

Hüsameddin gives separate entries to two of Zarîf Mehmed's sons. Seyyid Abdürrahîm Efendi studied with Abdullah Vecîh Efendi, became khatib and then pulpit preacher of the Mehmed Paşa mosque, and died in 1220 (1805-06) as a preacher of clear delivery. Hâfız Abdurrahman Efendi studied with Seküköylüzâde Kâşif Mehmed Efendi, himself a pupil of Âkif Mustafa Efendi, passed the rüûs examination held in 1200 (1785-86), became a madrasa teacher, served as judge and died in 1214 (1799-1800). In both sons' entries the father is called "famous as Şeyhü'z-zürefâ"; in Abdurrahman's entry his name appears as Hâfız Mehmed Zarîf Efendi. The sons were accordingly known by the surname "Zürefâzâde".

The State of the Sources

Hüsameddin's own work contains two different years of death. Zarîf Mehmed's entry says 1204. In the supplementary part of volume 4, however, the account of the events of 1202 records that "Hacı Mehmed Zarîf Efendi, khatib and preacher of the Mehmed Paşa mosque, called Şeyhu'z-Zurefâ" died that year and that his son Abdürrahîm became khatib and preacher in his place; the narrative then moves straight on to Muharrem 1203. If the year-by-year account was written in chronological order, 1202 looks the firmer date, but no other source has been found that would decide between them.

The title of his office also differs between the two passages: the entry presents him as pulpit preacher, the annals as khatib and preacher. Since his son Abdürrahîm was first khatib and later pulpit preacher, Zarîf Mehmed seems to have held the two posts together or one after the other. The epithets "Hacı" and "Hâfız" appear only in these other records; by them he must have made the pilgrimage and known the Qur'an by heart, though the entry itself does not touch on either point.

His Poetry

Zarîf Mehmed Efendi's poems could not be reached. Hüsameddin's praise, "skilled in verse and prose", comes without an example: the entry has no couplet and mentions neither a collection of his poems nor a divan. The nickname "Şeyhü'z-zürefâ" suggests that he was known more for witty conversation than for poetry, and Hüsameddin's "gracious in speech, a fine talker" points the same way.

Chronology

1173 (1760): His teacher İdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi dies.

1178 (1764-65): His father Hüseyin Efendi dies; Zarîf Mehmed and his brothers become teachers of the Hâtuniye madrasa.

1190 (1776-77): He becomes sheikh of the Mehmed Paşa soup kitchen.

1200 (1785-86): His son Hâfız Abdurrahman passes the rüûs examination.

1202 (1787-88) or 1204 (1789-90): Zarîf Mehmed Efendi dies and is buried in the Mehmed Paşa cemetery.

1214 (1799-1800): His son Abdurrahman dies.

1220 (1805-06): His son Abdürrahîm dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources