Scholar of kalam,
fiqh and astronomy (B. ?, Şirvan / Siirt – D. 1486, Şemahî / Şirvan /
Siirt). His full name was Fethullah b. Ebi Yezid b. Abdulaziz b. İbrahim
el-Şaberanî el-Şirvanî el-Şemahî. He received his first education from his father
and then received basic religious education in Anatolia
and went to Şirâz and received lessons from Seyyid
Şerif Cürcanî. He continued his education in Serahs and Tus. He went to Samarkand in the mid 1435
and in the Samarkand Madrasah, he received lessons of mathematics, astronomy, kalam
(justification of religious principles through rational evidences) and language
sciences and received ratification (competency, diploma) on September 13, 1440
from Musa Kadîzade. During
his education in madrasah, he is guessed to have joined astronomy studies,
especially the observations, in the Samarkand Observatory.
It is seen that, “Şerh el-tezkire fî 'İlm el-Heye” of
Nizamuddin el-Nisaburî, which is among the works he read from Kadîzade, has an
important place both for Samarkand Madrasah and for the education of Şirvanî. While
he was in Samarkand,
he also prepared a sharh (commentary) to “el-Envar
li-a’mal el-ebrar” of Camaluddin Yusuf b. İbrahim el-Erdebilî on Shafii
fiqh and submitted to Ulugh Beg, the Timur Emperor.
After giving
lessons in the Şirvan madrasahs for some time, he came to Anatolia
during late years of the Sultan Murad II period (1421-51) upon the advice of
his teacher Kadîzade. Since he was complemented by Çandaroğlu İsmail Bey in
Kastamonu, he began to give lessons in the madrasahs there. He educated many
students who have spread the mathematical sciences in line with the “Samarkand School”
throughout the Ottoman country and especially in Anatolia.
In January-February 1453, he went to Bursa
and dedicated his work on commentary (interpretation of Koran) to Ottoman grand
vizier Çandarlı Halil Pasha. Again in those days, he submitted Fatih Sultan
Mehmet, his work named “Mecelle fî
el-musikî”. However, within the changing political climate after conquest
of Istanbul,
Şirvanî lost his protector upon execution of Halil Pasha and returned to
Kastamonu. Afterwards, he wrote a haşiye (T.N. marginal notes) named “el-Ferai’d ve el-Fevai’d” to “Şerh el-Mulahhas fî 'ilm el-Heye” of
Kadîzade and submitted it to Fatih Sultan Mehmed and thus he wanted to come
close to the Ottoman palace but he couldn’t.
Şirvanî stopped by Iraq during his
pilgrim's journey and gave lessons at the madrasahs there. After completing
pilgrimage, he stayed in Mecca
for a while (1467) and gave lessons there. On the way back, he stopped by Cairo and then came to Istanbul. In Istanbul, he mostly dealt with compilation
and teaching. However he couldn’t attract sufficient interest in Istanbul and returned to
his hometown Şirvan and died in Şemahî in February 1486.
Şirvanî, who was an expert
and produced works on literature and linguistic besides religious and rational
sciences, was a scholar who transferred and spread the knowledge of Samarkand
School regarding especially the fields of mathematics and astronomy, into
Anatolia and Istanbul, together with Ali Kuşçu. He presented some of his works
to sultans such as Fatih Sultan Mehmed and Sultan Bayezid II and to notable
statesmen such as Çandarlı Halil Pasha. Şirvanî wrote six works in the fields
of language, literature and commentary, usul-i fiqh (doctrinarian law).
Regarding kalam (justification of religious principles through rational
evidences), he made three separate studies on “el-Mevakıf fî’ilm el-Kelam” which he had read from his teacher
Kadîzade. Especially, the long hasheyah (justification) he wrote to Seyyid
Şerif el-Curcanî’s sharh of this work was notable. The sharh he wrote to “Tehzib el-Mantık ve el-Kelam” of Mesud
al-Teftazanî showed that his interest on both logic, the language of science of
the period, and the issues on kalam was continuing. Considering that these
works incorporate the topics such as metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy and
physics, it can be concluded that they are important for determining
theoretical and metaphysical understanding of Şirvanî regarding these
topics.
Şirvanî wrote an
important work in the field of music, which was being accepted as the
sub-branch of mathematical sciences in his period, called “Mecelle fî el-musikî”. The work was written by benefiting from the
thoughts of renowned Islamic music theorists like Safiyyuddin el-Urmevî and
Abdulkadir el-Merağî and Avicenna and Nasiruddin el-Tusî besides the opinions
of Greek philosophers, within a broad historical perspective. This work was
facsimiled and published by Fuat Gezgin (Frankfurt
1986).
Şirvanî’s most
noteworthy work on astronomy is doubtlessly his sharh on the important work of
Nasiruddin al-Tusî named “el-Tezkire
fî’ilm el-Hey’e”. Şirvanî, who read the sharh on this work of Tus el-Curcanî
and listened the sharh of al-Nisaburî from his teacher Kadîzade in Samarkand during early
studentship years, placed importance to this work both during his studentship
and during teaching years. Thus, in the foreword to his sharh to the work, he
has attracted attention to the place and importance of the work in his life. He
particularly emphasized that he wrote such a sharh considering the needs of the
advance skilled students to whom he was giving lessons in the field of astronomy.
In this work he completed on January 11, 1475, he benefited from the previous sharhs
as well as the lecture notes of his teacher Kadîzade and from his own
experiences.
Şirvanî, comprehensively
handled the ilm el-hey’e system described by Nasiruddin el-Tusî in his sharh, and
determines its geometrical bases. He delivered comprehensive information about
older calendar systems, especially the Turkish calendar. While delivering these
information, he both benefited from the previous sharhs of this work and
combined the related approach of Samarkand
School with his own
opinions. He carried out the “İlm el-hey’e” understanding largely within the
system of İbn Heysem, where mathematical and natural perspectives are handled
together; he did not try to clear the Aristotleist physics and metaphysics
principles from astronomy, as done by Ali Kuşçu, who was his contemporary and
grew in Samarkand
as himself.
Şirvanî had continued
the theoretical astronomy studies represented by Samarkand
School, within the framework of the
methods and problems of that school; he contributed to details and the body of
thought he represented were spread throughout various places of Ottoman
country, especially in Anatolia, by means of
education and work compilations. The technical contributions of Şirvanî to the
astronomy of Semerkand
School is still waiting
to be investigated.
MAIN WORKS:
el-Mevakıf fî ‘ilm el-Kelam Şerhi, Tehzib
el-Mantık ve el-Kelam Şerhi, Mecelle fî el-musikî, Kadîzade’nin Şemseddin
el-Semerkandî’nin Eşkal el-Te’sis Şerh’ine Haşiye, el-Ferai’d ve el-Fevai'd fî
Tavzih Şerh el-Mulahhas, Nasiruddin al-Tusî’nin el-Tezkire fî’ilm el-Hey’e
Şerhi.
REFERENCE: Bursalı Mehmet Tahir / Osmanlı Müellifleri (III, s. 392, İstanbul 1915, Latin
harfleriyle 1972), Cemil Akpınar / “Fethullah eş-Şirvani” (Türkiye Diyanet
Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi (c. 12, s. 463-466, 1995), Ramazan Şeşen - Cevat İzgi
- Cemil Akpınar - İhsan Fazlıoğlu / Osmanlı Astronomi Literatürü Tarihi
(Editör: Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, I, s. 42-45, 1997), Fethullah Şirvani
(ihsanfazlioglu.net, erişim 18.12.2011), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Bilim Adamları
(Türkiye Ünlüler Ansiklopedisi, c. 2, 2013) -
Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013)
- Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları
Ansiklopedisi (Cilt 12, 2017).
