Nedîm facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nedîm
Effendi
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| نديم | |
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A later artist's impression of Nedîm, no extant contemporary depictions of him exist.
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| Born |
Ahmed
c. 1681 Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), Ottoman Empire
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| Died | 1730 (aged 48–49) Beşiktaş, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
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| Resting place | Karacaahmet Cemetery, Scutari, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire |
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| Spouse(s) | Ümmügülsüm Hanım |
| Writing career | |
| Language | |
| Period | Tulip Era |
| Genres |
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| Literary movement | Diwan vernacularism (Turkish: Mahallîleşme) |
Ahmed Effendi, better known by his mahlas (nom de plume) Nedîm (Ottoman Turkish: نديم; c. 1681 – 1730), was an Ottoman lyric poet of the Tulip Period. He achieved his greatest fame during the reign of Ahmed III. He was known for his slightly decadent poetry and for bringing the folk poetic forms of türkü and şarkı into the court.
Contents
Life
Early life
Not much is known about Nedîm's early life, except for what can be inferred from records of the time. Nedîm (then Ahmed) was born in Constantinople, most likely in 1681.
As the son of Kadı Mehmed Effendi, and a family vested in Ottoman bureaucracy, Nedîm's education is thought to be quite robust, including a variety of sciences, as well as "enough Arabic and Persian to write poetry." Following this education, he passed an examination process led by Shaykh-al Islam Ebezâde Abdullah Effendi, and started work as a scholar in a madrasa. While the exact date of this examination is unknown, it is known that Nedîm had already started to publish poetry by this time. Despite this, he continued to work as a teacher and scholar, in schools such as the Molla Kırîmî, Nişancı Pasha-yı Atîk, and Sekban Ali Pasha madrasas, eventually becoming a leading scholar in the Sahn-ı Seman Madrasas while teaching various subjects until his death in 1730.
Active years
While his first poems were most probably published before this, Nedîm's more traditional qasidas had become quite well known by the start of Ahmed III's reign in 1703; these had helped him obtain connections with high-ranking officials, such as Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha, who would later offer him patronage, as he considered Nedîm's odes to be superior to other poetry written to his name.
Nedîm was, however, better known for the challenge he provided to the literary environment of Constantinople, which by then strongly favored the Nâbî school; a school of highly philosophical, almost didactic ghazals. In this environment, which left little space to Nedîm's lyric style, he came to be known as the pioneer of his Nedîmâne school of poetry. His works suggest that he was aware of the innovative nature of his poetry, as he claims this status in multiple poems:
Ma‘lûmdur benim sühanım mahlas istemez
Fark eyler onu şehrimizin nüktedânları
My word is obvious, it doesn't need my name,
The writers of our city can recognize it as mine.
During these years, Nedîm was noted as an accomplished teacher, being invited to huzur sessions in Ramadan for his knowledge on Islamic matters, while also being highly productive; climbing through the ranks of Ottoman bureaucracy in various fields: as a scholar, chief librarian, translator of historical works, naîb (an assistant to the kadı), and, later, the sultan's nedîm (lit. companion); all while continuing to write poetry.
Nedîm's unique lyric style, vernacular vocabulary, and literary innovation had already caught the eye of many observers during this lifetime, including that of noted tezkire author Sâlim, who praised him as the taze-zebân (lit. fresh-tongued) poet of his era. Others, such as occasional poets Râşid and Âsım, embraced his school of poetry by writing tanzîrs (pastiches) of his works. Despite this early bout of fame, he was not nearly celebrated to the extent that he is today, and his collected poems would not be organized into and printed as a Diwan until 1736.
Final years
The nature of Nedîm's final years are often disputed, with different sources claiming different causes of death, as well as different series of events. Well known, however, is his mental illness (illet-i vehîme, lit. anxiety disorder) as well as his "already fragile nature". Sources do state that he was married to Ümmügülsüm Hanım, and that they had one child before his death, however, not much information about this marriage exists.
Most sources claim that he died during the Patrona Halil Rebellion. Some, including biographer Süleyman Sâdeddin, assert that his death was an accident; that he fell from the roof of his house during the rebellion. Other sources claim that he could have died of tremors, a disease resembling Parkinson's. Either way, it is known that he remained a scholar at the Sekban Ali Pasha Madrasa up until his last days.
Work
Nedim is now generally considered, along with Fuzûlî and Bâkî, to be one of the three greatest poets in the Ottoman Divan poetry tradition. It was not, however, until relatively recently that he came to be seen as such: in his own time, for instance, the title of reîs-i şâirân (رئيس شاعران), or "leader of poets", was given by Sultan Ahmed III not to Nedim, but to the now relatively obscure poet Osmanzâde Tâib, and several other poets as well were considered superior to Nedim in his own day. This relative lack of recognition may have had something to do with the sheer newness of Nedim's work, much of which was rather radical for its time.
Nedîm's works are a diverse collection; consisting of 170 ghazals, 34 şarkıs, 44 qasidas, 88 strophic forms, 3 mathnawis, 11 rubais and 2 koşmas, as well as a few poems of other forms. More traditional poems are also interspersed with works often claimed to be satires of said traditional forms, as well as avant-garde poems in his collection. Because of this diversity, as well as cultural forces such as modernization, nationalism and heteronormativity, Nedîm's poems have been analyzed in a range of different, and sometimes contradictory ways. According to H. A. R. Gibb, for instance, Nedîm's school of poetry could have been described as a local, vernacular style of lyric poetry that makes use of "realistic descriptions of women", with a worldly focus and a lack of interest in Sufi mysticism. However, these older descriptions have faced criticism, notably by Stephen Murray and others, for being shaped by certain ideological and cultural forces.
