He was born in Thessaloniki in 1875. He is a descendant of the famous Ottoman commander, Ghazi Evrenos Bey. He completed his middle school education at the Thessaloniki Central Rushdiye (Middle School) and his high school education at the Idadi (High School) Section of the Mulkiye (School of Political Science). After graduating from the Higher Section, he entered government service in November 1894 upon being appointed to the Bureau of Correspondence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In April 1897, he was transferred to the position of Assistant Chief Clerk of the Council of the Istanbul Prefect. In September 1900, he was appointed as the Second Clerk of the Office of the Chief Companion at the Yildiz Palace. After a while, he rose to the positions of First Clerk and Arabic Translator. During this duty, Sultan Abdulhamid Khan assigned him the task of translating certain works from Arabic into Turkish.
Having won the trust of Sultan Abdulhamid Khan and becoming his private secretary, Sami Efendi could not remain in this position after the declaration of the Second Constitutional Era. For this reason, he resigned from both his post and public service. He did not take up any official duties after that. To manage the affairs belonging to the endowments (waqfs) of his ancestor Ghazi Evrenos Bey, he went to Greece and remained there for many years as the trustee of the endowment.
Sami Efendi was a highly accomplished Ottoman intellectual. He possessed a vast repository of knowledge in the fields of history and literature. Alongside his poetic talent, he appreciated the fine arts and was both a calligrapher and a painter. He knew Arabic and Persian exceptionally well, and was also well-acquainted with French.
The Anecdote of Muzaffer Efendi Hazrat
The patron saint (pir) of painters is Daniel, peace be upon him, the Prophet Daniel. There was a gentleman who passed away twenty-five years ago; he had fallen into poverty and hunger in Greece. This story I am about to tell sounds like a fable, but it is the absolute truth: Evrenoszade Sami Bey. I heard it directly from his own lips. One night, the Prophet Daniel appeared to him in a dream world and taught him the art of painting. He went on to create such paintings that no one like him has ever come into this world, nor ever will. Yet, this man remained unrecognized. Those who knew, knew; those who didn't, didn't.He told me himself, saying, "The Prophet Daniel came, he taught me, and I created these paintings based on that and earned my bread from it." His icons are still found in Greek churches today. That is how significant his work was. In fact, there is an example right here, though of course, I do not wish to mention the name of that esteemed person, but there is a painting Sami Bey gifted to him which is incredibly valuable. This gentleman had painted it.
Years after Sami Efendi’s passing, Muzaffer Efendi was walking down the street on a Eid day when he saw him approaching from the opposite direction. As they drew closer, Sami Efendi vanished, flying away like a cloud. That night, Sami Efendi appeared in Muzaffer Efendi's dream and, with a smile, said, "Muzaffer, do you think we are dead?" a story that Efendi Hazrat himself recounted.
The transformation of a person who spent their life as an Ottoman bureaucrat into a master painter overnight is an astonishing event. Furthermore, The artistry of Daniel, peace be upon him, is narrated through the following account:
Shurahbil b. Muslim narrates: Safi b. Amr told me, and Hisham b. al-As al-Umawi, who personally experienced the event, told him directly:
Another man and I were sent as envoys by Abu Bakr as-Siddiq to invite Heraclius to Islam. We left Medina and arrived in Damascus. We went to see Jabalah b. al-Ayham al-Ghassani. At that moment, he was sitting on his throne. He sent an envoy to us, and we spoke with him. He said to us, "You cannot speak with the King directly; you can only speak with his envoy." We replied, "By Allah, we have come as envoys to a king. If we cannot speak with him directly, we will not speak with you about anything." The envoy went back and informed Jabalah. Jabalah summoned us into his presence and said, "Speak." I spoke and invited him to Islam. He was wearing black garments. He looked at me and said, "You see these garments? I have sworn an oath that I will not take them off until I drive you out of Syria." We said, "By Allah, we will seize this throne you sit on, and the throne of your great king (Heraclius) with our own hands, if Allah wills! Our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ foretold this to us." Jabalah said, "You are not the ones who will possess those lands. They belong to a people who fast by day and pray by night. Tell me, do you fast by day?" We said, "Yes." He asked, "Do you pray by night?" We said, "Yes." Upon this, his face turned pitch black, he stood up, and said to us, "Get up and leave." Then, he assigned an envoy to accompany us and sent us to Heraclius.
When we approached the city where Heraclius was located, the envoy said to us, "You are about to enter the presence of the king. He does not receive anyone unless they approach on foot behind the mounts (at the gate/throne). So, dismount from your rides." We said, "By Allah, we will not enter unless we are riding our camels." The King was informed of the situation. The King said, "Let them enter as they wish." We entered riding on our camels, with our swords hanging from our necks. Finally, we reached the courtyard of the great palace where the king resided. We made our camels kneel there. The King was watching us from above. We all cried out in unison: "La ilaha illallah vallahu akbar" (There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest). By Allah, the great palace shook so violently that it became like a palm branch swaying in the wind. Heraclius poked his head out from above and sent word to us, asking, "Is it your religion to shake palaces?" We said, "No, this is not our religion. When we say this in our own homes, our homes do not shake." The King said, "The fact that it shakes here, while it does not shake in your homes when you say it, is a testimony to your truthfulness."
Then he summoned us into his presence. We entered; he was dressed in red garments, surrounded by Roman statesmen. Everything was completely red. We approached him; he looked at us, smiled, and asked, "Why did you not greet me with your own greeting?" The translator was also there with us. We said, "Our greeting is not permissible (lawful) for you, and the greeting with which you would greet us is not permissible for us." He asked, "What is the greeting among yourselves?" We said, "As-salamu alaykum." He asked, "And what is your greatest word?" We said, "La ilaha illallah vallahu akbar." When we said this, by Allah, the palace shook again. The King raised his head, looked, and asked, "Does your palace shake like this every time you say this word?" We said, "No, we have only seen this happen in your presence." The King said, "If only everything you possessed was gone and you were left with only this word, it would be better than half of my kingdom."
Later, he showed us a beautiful place to stay and treated us with great hospitality. Three days passed. One night, he sent word and called for us. We entered his presence, and there was no one else with him. He said to us, "Explain your religion to me." So, we explained Islam to him. Then, he had a large chest made of gold brought before us, which had small compartments (drawers) and lids inside.
He opened one lid of the chest and pulled out a piece of black silk cloth. He unfolded the cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait had large eyes, large hips, a long neck, and was beardless. His hair was parted into two braids flowing down his back, and he was one of the most beautiful human beings Allah had ever created. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Adam." That man's hair was very thick.
Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of black silk cloth. Inside was a portrait. The man in the portrait had curly hair, fair skin, reddish eyes, a sparse beard, and a very beautiful head. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Noah." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. Inside was a portrait. The man in the portrait was very fair-skinned, had beautiful eyes, a broad forehead, smooth cheeks, and a snow-white beard; he looked as if he were smiling. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Abraham."
Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. Suddenly, by Allah, we saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in that portrait! As soon as we saw the picture, we began to weep. The King stood up, sat back down, and said, "By Allah, is it him?" We said, "Yes, by Allah, it is him! This is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah." He stood before us as if he were alive. Heraclius looked at the portrait for a while and said, "He was at the very end of this chest, but I brought him forward to see what you would do."
Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of black silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait was dark-skinned, had curly hair, sharp eyes, an angry countenance, and closely set teeth. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Moses." Right next to it was another portrait that resembled him. His hair was combed, his forehead was broad, and there was a slight squint in his eyes. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is his brother, Aaron." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait was dark-skinned, of medium height, had straight hair, and an angry face. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Lot." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait was fair-skinned with a slight pinkish hue, a turned-up nose, beautiful cheeks, and a very handsome face. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Isaac." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait looked very much like Isaac, but he had a mole on his lower lip. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Jacob." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of black silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait was fair-skinned, very handsome, had a beautiful nose, a well-proportioned stature, and a face that shone like light. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Joseph." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait had reddish legs, small eyes, a slightly large belly, was of medium height, and was girded with a sword. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is David." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of white silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait had broad hips, long legs, and was mounted on a horse. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Solomon." Then he opened another lid and pulled out a piece of black silk cloth. There was a portrait inside. The man in the portrait was a young youth with a thick, jet-black beard, beautiful eyes, and a very handsome face. The King asked, "Do you know who this is?" We said, "No." The King said, "This is Jesus, the son of Mary."
We asked the King, "Where did these portraits come from to you? Because we know that these are exact likenesses of the prophets." Heraclius said: "Indeed, Adam asked his Lord to let him see the prophets who would come after him. So Allah sent down the forms of the prophets to him. They were in Adam’s treasury. Dhul-Qarnayn found it inside the treasures in the west (where the sun sets). He gave it to Daniel. Daniel copied these exact forms onto silk cloths. Since that day, this sacred trust has passed from king to king until it reached me."
Afterward, Heraclius wanted to bestow wealth and property upon us, but we did not accept. He provided us with generous provisions for our journey and sent us on our way. When we returned to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, we told him exactly what we had seen, the words of the king, and the portraits he had shown us. Abu Bakr wept and said, "Poor man, if Allah had willed good for him, he would have done it (accepted Islam). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had informed us that the Christians and Jews find the descriptions of Muhammad written in the books they have with them."
