Hasan Sezai-i Gulsheni

A Halvetî-Gülşenî sheikh and divan poet; the pîr of the Sezâiyye branch of the order, centred on Edirne.

He was born in 1080 (1669) in the town of Gördüs (Corinth) in the north-east of the Morea. His given name was Hasan; the pen name Sezâî, it is related, was bestowed on him by Niyâzî-i Mısrî. His father's name was Ali and his grandfather's Kurtbeyzâde Hasan.

When the Morea fell under Venetian occupation in 1098 (1687) he crossed by sea to Istanbul and from there to Edirne. At Edirne he worked in the mukabele office with the help of his relative Ali Bey, accountant of the cavalry.

At the Âşık Mûsâ lodge he attached himself to Sheikh Mehmed Sırrî Efendi and entered the Halvetî-Gülşenî path. After Sırrî Efendi's death he completed his spiritual training with Lâ'lî Mehmed Fenâî Efendi and received authorisation. He also received an icâzetnâme from İbrâhim Çelebi, sheikh of the Gülşenî lodge in Egypt.

He died on 17 Ramadan 1151 (29 December 1738) at Edirne and was buried at his own lodge.

His Circle of Influence — The Sezâiyye branch of the Halvetî-Gülşenî order, which bears his name, spread above all in Edirne and its surroundings and found its real strength in that region.

His Poetry and Sufi Line — Sezâî is among the poets who worked Sufi content within the forms of divan poetry; his voluminous divan is the proof of this productivity. His Sufi line comes from the Gülşenî branch of the Halvetiyye, and the bond formed with Niyâzî-i Mısrî appears both in the account of his pen name and in the commentary he wrote on one of his ghazals.

His Works — 1. Dîvan. A voluminous collection made up of 396 ghazals, five odes, twelve murabba's and other verse forms. It was printed at Bulak (1250, 1256) and at Istanbul (1276); the edition in Latin letters was prepared by Şahver Çelikoğlu (1985). 2. Mektûbât-ı Sezâî. His letters to his son, his sons-in-law, his disciples and state officials; printed at Istanbul (1289), the edition in modern Turkish was prepared by Cezair Yarar (2001). 3. Şerh-i Gazel-i Niyâzî-i Mısrî. A commentary he wrote on a famous ghazal of Niyâzî-i Mısrî (Istanbul 1276).

His Tomb and Complex — A masonry tomb with a dome was later built over his grave.