Glimpses of Turkish Saints: Another Look at Lamiʿi and Ottoman BiograPhers
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Glimpses of Turkish Saints 253 Chapter 20 Glimpses of Turkish Saints: Another Look at Lamiʿi and Ottoman Biogra phers Introduction It is generally acknowledged that mystical writing reached a peak of attainment in Anatolia in the thirteenth century, and great masters of mystical thought and poetry such as Yahya as-Suhrawardi al-Maktul (d. 1191), Nacm a d-Din Daya Razi (1177-1256),1 Baha’ud din Valad (d. 1231),2 Calal a d-Din Rumi and his mystical friend Shams-i Tabrizi,3 Muhyi ad-Din ibn al-ʿArabi,4 Sadr ad-Din Konawi (Konevi, d. 1274),5 and his pupil, the Sufi master Saʿd or Saʿid ad-Din Fargha ni,6 the visiting scien tist Kutb ad-Din Shirazi (1236-1311),7 Fahr ad-Din ʿIra ki (d. 1289),8 can be cited as outstan ding expo nents of this achieve ment of Persia na te culture.9 Turkish cultu re, with vesti ges of shama nism,10 was alive in the sheykhs Baba Ilyas 1 Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill, 1975, 257; J.T.P. de Bruijn, The Qalandariyāt in Persian Mystical Poetry, from Sanā’ī Onwards”, in L. Lewisohn (ed.), The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism, Lon don/New York 1992, 80; M.I. Waley, “A Kubrawī Manual of Sufism: The Fusūs al-ādāb of Yaḥyā Bākharzī”, in Lewi sohn, Legacy, 290-291. 2 Fritz Meier, Baha-i Walad. Grundzüge seines Lebens und seiner Mystik, Leiden 1989. 3 A. Schimmel, “Yusuf in Mawlana Rumi’s Poetry”, in Lewisohn, Legacy, 45-60; V. Holbrook, “Diverse Tastes in the Spiritual Life: Textual Play in the Diffusion of Rumi’s Order”, in Lewisohn, Legacy, 103. 4 William C. Chittick, Ibn al-ʿArabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination. The Sufi Path of Knowledge, New York, 1989. 5 Gudrun Schubert, Annäherungen. Der mystisch-philosophische Briefwechsel zwischen Ṣadr ud-Dīn-i Qōnawī und Naṣīr ud-Dīn-i Ṭūsī, 2nd ed. Beirut 2011. 6 Chittick, “Spectrums of Islamic Thought”, Legacy, 203-218; John T. Walbrid ge, “A Sufi Scientist of the Thirteenth Century: The Mystical Ideas and Practices of Qutb al-Din Shirazi”, Lewisohn, Legacy, 326-327. 7 Walbridge, “A Sufi Scientist”, Lewisohn, Legacy, 324 f. 8 W.C. Chittick and P.L. Wilson, Fakhruddin ʿIraqi: Divine Flashes, New York 1981; Chit tick, “Spectrums of Islamic Thought”, Lewisohn, Legacy, 207. 9 A. Ateş, “Hicrî VI-VIII./XI-XIV. asırlarda Anadolu’da Farsça eserler”, TM VII-VIII (1945), 94ff; Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 315; L. Lewisohn, “Iranian Islam and Persianate Sufism”, Lewisohn, Legacy, 25. 10 For a study of the Kalenders see Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, Osmanlı İmpara torluğunda Marjinal Sûfîlik: Kalenderîler (XIV-XVII. Yüzyıllar), Ankara, 1992. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004355767_021 254 Chapter 20 and Baba Ishak, who were remem bered in hagiograp hy11. In the four teenth cen- tury, as part of a broader advance in literary and religious stand ards, the writing of Arabic and Persian works continu ed. This is attested by Kadi Burhan ed-Din’s eminent prose works written in Ara bic12, by the extensive works of the jurist and mystic Sheykh Bedr ed-Din of Samavna (executed as a rebel in 1416) including the Wari dat; by the Persian prose written by Ahmad Ilahi,13 by the histor ian Karim ad-Din Aksa rayi (d. after 1320) and the hagiogra p hers, Faridun b. Ahmad Sipahsa- lar,14 Shams ad-Din Ahmad Afla ki15 and ʿAziz b. Ardashir Astarabadi.16 Also included is the Per sian poetry com posed by Sufi poets, not only Sultan Ve led,17 but also Sayf-i Fargha ni who composed a volumi nous di van of mysti cal poetry contain ing two long reproachful kasides, called the “Tears of Anatolia”, addressed to the Ilkhan Ghazan.18 But in the course of the same century Turkish works, especi ally those concer ned prima rily with the aim of spiritual advice and exhorta- tion, were increa singly compiled and circula ted. Such works are: Sultan Ve led’s Turkish verses, Yunus Emre’s ilahis and his Risale,19 the long mesnevis by Gülshe h- ri, ʿAshık Pasha (d. 1332) and his son Elvan Pasha (d. after 1358).20 Among Ahmad 11 Ismail E. Erünsal and A. Yaşar Ocak have edited Elvan Çelebi. Menâki bu’l-Kudsiyye fi Menâsibi’l Ünsiyye, Istanbul, 1984, a Turkish mesnevi dated 760/1358-9. 12 William C. Chittick, “Sultan Burhan al-Din’s Sufi Correspondence”, in WZKM 73 (1981), 33-45. 13 Ac cording to Kasım Kufralı, “Molla İlâhî ve Kendisinden Sonraki Nakşbendîye Muhiti”, TDED III (1948), 131, Ahmed Ilahi who wrote, in 1475/76, a Persian commentary of Sadr ad-Din Konawi’s Miftah al-ghaib at the request of Sultan Mehmed II, in a zawiye in the port Edremit in Western Anatolia, is not identical with ‘Abdullah Ilahi as suggested by Chit tick, “Bur han al-Din’s Sufi Corres pondence”, 37. 14 Faridun b. Ahmad Sipahsalar, Risala-yi Ahwal-i Mawlana, ed. Sa’id Nafisi, Tehran 1325/1946. V.R. Holbrook, “Diverse Tastes in the Spiritual Life”, 99, with more literature. 15 The author of the Manakib al-ʿArifin, edited by Tahsin Yazıcı, 1959-1961. John O’Kane (transl.), The Feats of the Knowers of God: Manāqeb al-ʿārifīn, Leiden, 2002. The work was begun in 718 and completed in the second redaction in 754/1353 (died in Konya in 761/1360). V.R. Hol- brook, “Diverse Tastes in the Spiritual Life”, Lewisohn, Legacy, 99 and 103-105. 16 Bazm u razm; summarized by H.H. Giesecke, Das Werk des Aziz Ibn Ardaşir Astarabadi. Eine Quelle zur Geschichte des Spätmittelalters in Kleinasien, Leipzig, 1940. 17 V.R. Holbrook, “Diverse Tastes in the Spiritual Life”, Lewisohn, Legacy, 103, with literature. 18 A. Ateş, “Anadolu’nun Unutulmuş Büyük Bir Şairi: Sayf al-Dīn Muhammed al-Farġānī”, Bel- leten XXII (1959), 415-456. 19 The most recent critical edition is Mustafa Tatçı, Yunus Emre Divanı I-III, Ankara, 1990, con- taining the divan and the Risaletü n-Nushiyye, accompa nied by a full analysis. 20 For full information on Elvan Pasha (later entitled Chelebi) and his father see İ.E. Erünsal and A.Y. Ocak, Elvan Çelebi. Menâkıbu’l-Kudsiyye fî Menâsıbi’l-Ünsiyye, Istanbul, 1984, xxiii- lxix..