FEHİM SÜLEYMAN (FAHĪM SOLAYMĀN) EFENDİ, a Persian teacher and poet of Turkish origin (b. Istanbul, 1203/1789; d. 1262/1846). There is no information available concerning his youth and education. He was a servant and student of the well-known contemporary scholar Esmāʿīl Farroḵ Efendi. He matured under his tutelage and, above all, became highly accomplished in Persian. After serving in several capacities at the imperial court, the imperial mint, and in Rumelia, he came to Istanbul and settled there to give Persian lessons. Among his students were Jevdet Pasha, the statesman and historian, and Fatîn Efendi, author of a taḏkera of Turkish poets. Fehim Süleyman Efendi’s works include a small divan (Istanbul, 1262/1846), and a translationof Dawlatšāh’s Tadkerat al-šoʿarāʾ entitled Safīnat al-šoʿarāʾ, which also utilized Jāmī’s Nafahat al-ons, the Taḏkera of Sām Mīrzā, and ʿAlī-Šīr Navāʾī’s Majāles al-nafāʾes. Written at the beginning of the reign of Maḥmud II (1223-55/1808-39), FEDĀʾĪĀNE ḴALQ this translation was dedicated to the stateFEHİM SÜLEYMAN (FAHĪM SOLAYMĀN) EFENDİsman Hâlet (Ḵāled) Efendi. It is a very abridged and loose translation of Dawlatšāh’s taḏkera. Although the taḏkera of Dawlatšāh is divided into seven classes, Fahim’s taḏkera is comprised of only four classes and an appendix. In addition, it is somewhat careless in the order of presentation of the poets. The work was published in Istanbul in 1259/1843.
Bibliography:
A. Kırımlı, Türk Edebiyat| Ansiklopedisi, Istanbul, n. d.
M. Ṭāher (Tahir), ʿOṯmānlī moʾalleflerī (Osmanlı Müellifleri), Istanbul, 1915. Büyük Larousse Sözlük veAnsiklopedisi, Istanbul, 1986. Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Ansiklopedisi, s.v. “Fehim Süleyman Efendi.”
(Tahsın Yazici)
Originally Published: December 15, 1999
Last Updated: January 24, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. IX, Fasc. 5, pp. 474-475
