Müstakimzade Süleyman Sadeddin

Biographer, sufi and calligrapher (B. 1719, Atikalipaşa / Is­tanbul- D. 1788). He was the son of Mehmed Emin Efendi, a mudarris (lecturer) of Sadrazam Seyyid Hasan Paşa Madrasah, and the grandson of Mehmed Müstakim Efendi served as kadi (T.N. Muslim judge) in Damascus and Edirne. He was educated by Seyyid Yusuf Efendi, imam of the Fatih Mosque, and other teachers as well as his father. He learnt Arabic and Persian. He learnt Thuluth (T.N. a special Arabic calligraphy) naskh and ta’lik (T.N. a special Persian calligraphy) by taking courses from various trainers. He was attached to Mehmed Emin Tokadî, the Sheikh of Nakşibendî-Müceddidî sect and served for him for seven years. He was granted the title as the successor of this religious sect and eligibility for hadith science. Since his instructor and his mother died one after another in 1745, he mourned and went to live for a while in Bursa within the consideration that would be good for his health.

During the era of Seyyid Murtaza Efendi as shaykh al-islam, Süleyman Sadeddin Efendi wanted to participate in ulama class just like his grandfathers and father, therefore he took an exam for being a mudarris (lecturers in madrasahs) just a couple of months after his father’s death in 1751. However, he could not pass the exam on the ground that his beard was thin. He was affected by this occurrence and dedicated himself to writing books. He rejected the proposal for being a lecturer at the last years of his life. He wrote various books about all kind of religious sciences, particularly in Sufism, language and literature. Müstakimzade, who was also talented in poetry, was good at indicating the date by letters, and the majority of his books were named according to the date of writing in accordance to “ebced” calculation (T.N. a system of calculation depending on numeric values of letters in a word according to Arabic Alphabet). Müstakimzade, who spent his life in poverty, never married, earned his life by reproducing book copies. He passed away on July 14^th, 1788 and was buried in next to the tomb of Mehmed Emin Tokadî located around the Pirî Paşa Mosque, Zeyrek.

His book named “Mecelletün-Nisâb” was composed of short biographies of famous people in the Muslim World. The book of Süleyman Sadeddin Efendi named “Devhatü’l- Meşâyih” was the first book written about people who served as Shaykh al-Islam in the Ottoman Empire. Two annexes were added to this book by the author. Ahmet Rifat Efendi as well wrote an annex and published the book same as its original version. This copy was published under the name of “Devhatü’l-Meşâyih maa Zey1”. (Istanbul, any information on date is missing, lithography). One of two PhD thesis on this book is the study named “Müs­takimzâde Süleyman Sadeddin: Hayatı, Eserleri ve Mecelletü’n-Nisâbı” carried out by Ahmet Yılmaz (Ankara University, Social Sciences Institute, 1991). The later study is “Müstakimzâde Süleyman Sa’deddin Efendi, Mecelletü’n-Nisâb: Kişi, Eser ve Yer Adlarının Açıklamalı Dizini” carried out by Muhammed İssaiman (Ankara University Social Sciences Institute, 1996). Facsimile of the book was published by the Ministry of Culture in 2000.

His book named “Tuhfe-i Hattâtîn”, in which names of people famous for calligraphy were listed in an alphabetical order, was published together with an extensive research on author and his books by İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal. (Istanbul, 1928)

“Risale-i Tâciyye” is an important book on crowns in religious sects and published as a facsimile under the name of “Traktat Über die Derıvisch-mützen (Risâle-i Tâciyye) des Müstaqimzâde Süleymân Sa’deddin (Leiden 2001) together with a criticized text, its German Translation, and extensive research carried by Helga Anetshofer and Hakan T. Karateke. He produced approximately one hundred and thirty works.

MAIN WORKS: 

BIOGRAPHY: Mecelletun-Nisâb, Devhatü'l- Meşâyih, Tuhfe-i Hattâtîn, Zeyl-i Hamîletü’l-Küberâ, Kitâbü’l-Menâkıb.  

RELIGION-SUFISM: Terceme-i Mektûbât-ı Kudsiyye (1277), Risale-i Tâciyye,  Tuhietü’l-merâm, Risâle-i Melâmiyye-i Şüttâriyye (One of the basic books on the history of Bayramı Melâmîliği), Şerh-i Vird-i Settâr (Translation and paraphrase of Yahyâ eş-Şirvânî’s evrâd (T.N. a collection of prays and verses of Koran to be read at certain times)), Akidetü’s-Sûfiyye, Hulâsatü’l-Hediyye, Âsâru Adî­de, el-Âsârü'l-Ehab li-meyli Hubbi'l-Arab, Hüccetü’l-Hatti’l-Hasen (It was also included at the beginning of Tuhifet-i Hattâtîn), Turarü’s-Selâm li-ahrâri’l-İslâm, Şerefü’l-Akide (Translation and paraphrase of İmâm-ı Azam’s Fıkhü’l-Ekber and published under the name of Fıkh-ı Ekber Tercemesi, Istanbul 1314). Tahki- ku’s-salavât, es- Salavâtü’ş-Şerîfe, Tefsîru Sûreti’l- Fâtiha,  Şerh-i Evrâd-ı Kadirî (1260, 1282).

LITERATURE: Terceme-i Kânûnü’l-Edeb (It is an encyclopedic dictionary including the Turkish version of the Arabic- Persian book named Kânûnü’l- Edeb fî Zabti Kelimâti’l-‘Arab by Hubeyş et-Tiflfer. It was registered as four great volumes in Süleymaniye Library), Şerh-i Dîvân-ı Alî (This book is a verse translation and paraphrase of Hz. Ali’s Divan and it was published as a simplified manner by Şakir Diclehan) (1981), Durûb-ı Emsal (It is composed of 448 Turkish proverbs listed in alphabetical order), el-Istılâhâtü’ş-Şi’riyye.

   REFERENCE: İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / “Sadedin Efendi, Müstakimzade Süleyman” (Türk Meşhurları, 1946), Agâh Sırrı Levend / Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi (c I, 1984), Ahmet Yılmaz / “Mûstakimzâde ve Durûb-ı Emsâl’inin Türk Edebiyatındaki Yeri ve Öne­mi” (Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, sayı: 6, Kon­ya 1999),  M. Şinasi Acar / Ünlü Hattatların Mezarları: Gelimli Gidimli Dünya (2004), M. Ke­mal Özergin / “Müstakimzâde’nin Besteciler Fih­risti” (Nesil, IV/43, 1980), Ahmet Yılmaz / “Müstakimzade Süleyman Sadeddin” (TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (c. 32, s.113-114, 2006), İhsan Işık /  Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006ü 2007) -  Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, c. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).