Sunullah Gaybi

One of the important representatives of Turkish Sufi poetry; a mystic poet who produced his works on the Bayramî-Melâmî line.

He was born at Kütahya between 1624 and 1629. His father was Ahmed Efendi, known as Müftî Derviş, who served as mufti at Kütahya and was a disciple of Sinân-ı Ümmî of Elmalı. His descent reaches well-known Sufi figures: his grandfather was Şeyh Beşir Efendi, and the latter's father Pîr Ahmed was connected with the circle of Sünbül Sinan.

In 1649, at about twenty-five years of age, he went to Istanbul to be trained under İbrâhim Efendi, known as Olanlar Şeyhi. On İbrâhim Efendi's death in 1655 he returned to Kütahya and there composed his works within the Bayramî-Melâmî tradition.

He belonged to two separate paths: to the Bayramî-Melâmî through İbrâhim Efendi, and to the Halvetî chain through Muslihuddin Efendi of the Balıklı lodge at Kütahya.

He died some time after 1676, the year in which he completed his last work.

His Poetry and Sufi Line — He is one of the principal representatives of Turkish Sufi poetry; he treats such fundamental Sufi subjects as manifestation, the theory of the cycle, and the perfect human being. M. Fuad Köprülü counted him among the followers of Yûnus Emre. His poem Keşfü'l-gıtâ, of ninety-nine couplets, won a particular renown in Sufi circles.

His Works — 1. Dîvan (115 poems in various verse forms: hymns, panegyrics and Sufi poems). 2. Sohbetnâme (a compilation of İbrâhim Efendi's discourses between 1649 and 1655). 3. Rûhu'l-hakîka (1661). 4. Bîatnâme (the relation of guide and disciple and the methods of remembrance). 5. Risâle-i Esmâ (1087/1676; the divine names and the spiritual path). 6. Risâle-i Halvetiyye ve Bayramiyye (1662). 7. Mekârimü'l-ahlâk fî tarîki'l-uşşâk (1661). He also has further treatises on belief, gnosis and practice.

His Tomb and Complex — It is in the Musallâ Cemetery at Kütahya and continues to be an important place of visitation.