The only information on Abdullah Halim Efendi is given in his own work. He was born in 1742/43 and his father was a müderris and imam. He had a good ulema education and served as imam, secretary or steward (kethüda) under various officers, including the şeyhülislam Arabzâde Atâ Efendi, several close collaborators of Selim III, such as the defterdar Şerif Efendi or Mustafa Reşid Efendi (kethüda of the Grand Vizier), and finally İzzet Mehmed Pasha (later Grand Vizier, in 1794), whose kethüda he had been for four years.
Seyfü’l-izzet ila hazreti sahibi’d-devlet (“The sword of glory [or: Izzet’s sword] for his Excellency the lord of the state”)