Saints and Tombs of Afyonkarahisar

Ahmed Kemaleddin Çelebi

Postnişin (head sheikh) of the Sultan Dîvânî (Karahisar) Mevlevihane in Afyonkarahisar, serving from 1872 for about twenty-three years. The lodge's repair after the 1875 fire was completed in his tenure; he continued in office despite losing his sight. He died on 21 July 1894 and was buried in the Mevlevihane türbe, succeeded by his son Ali Celâleddin Çelebi. (Sources: Semazen Akademik; TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 'Karahisar Mevlevîhânesi')

Nureddin Sultan

A Horasan dervish buried in Sandıklı, said to have come from Khorasan in the era of Yunus Emre (13th–14th c.) and settled there. Regarded as the patron saint of the Sandıklı chickpea-roasters' guild; his tomb in the courtyard of Emirhisar village mosque is preserved in original form. Lacking firm dates, he is a legendary figure (shrine/disputed). (Sources: Abdülhalim Durma, Afyon Evliyaları; Afyon Kocatepe University Sandıklı MYO study)

Mahmut Sultan

A legendary figure buried in Mahmutköy, Şuhut, counted among the Horasan dervishes; tradition holds he came with his brothers during the Seljuk-era conquest of the region (c. 1216–1219) and was martyred here. His tomb, about 3.5 km from Şuhut centre, draws many visitors. As firm dates are absent, it is marked shrine/disputed. (Sources: Abdülhalim Durma, Afyon Evliyaları; Şuhut Mufti's Office / Afyonkarahisar Governorate)

Hak Halili (Shaykh Hacı Halil Efendi)

A müderris (professor) and şeyh born in 1823 in Dereköy, Emirdağ, Afyonkarahisar. He studied in Bolvadin, Konya, Istanbul and at al-Azhar in Egypt, obtaining authorisation in twelve Sufi orders; he led the Naqshbandi order in Damascus and the Mevlevi line in Afyon. Settling in Karacalar village late in life, he founded a medrese training hundreds of students and died there in 1907. (Sources: Abdülhalim Durma, Afyon Evliyaları; academic article on Hak Halîlî Dergâhı, Dergipark 2022)

Abdurrahim Karahisari

Hazrat

A Turkish Sufi and poet; the deputy of Akşemseddin and the author of the Vahdetnâme . His father was Alâeddîn-i Mısrî. From the endowments of his father and his relatives it is understood that he belonged to a wealthy and established family. He attached himself to Akşemseddin ; he received spiritual grace from him and later became his deputy. He passed the greater part of his life at his sheikh's side. The course of his life can be followed through the records that mention him: Beypazarı (1436), Edirne (1443), İznik (1457) and Göynük (1458). After an endowment deed dated 1483 there is no information about where he was. He died after 888 (1483) and before 1494. His Works — 1. Vahdetnâme. His most important work; a Sufi-ethical mesnevî of 4250 couplets, completed in 865 (1460). 2. Münyetü'l-ebrâr (1453). A Turkish translation of a Sufi work. 3. Tercüme-i Kasîde-i Bürde. A Turkish rendering of Būsīrī's Arabic ode. 4. Risâle fî eşrâti's-sâa (862/1457). An Arabic treatise on the signs of the Hour. His Tomb and Complex — His grave is at the Kasım Paşa Mosque in Karahisar.

Divane Mehmed Chelebi (Sultan Divani)

Hazrat

A Mevlevî sheikh and divan poet who played a decisive part in the spread of the Mevlevî order. He was born in the second half of the fifteenth century at Karahisar (Afyon). On his mother's side he belonged to the family of Mevlânâ: his descent reaches Mutahhara Hatun, the daughter of Sultan Veled. After his father Bâlî Çelebi he became sheikh of the Karahisar Mevlevîhâne and perceptibly widened the reach of the Mevlevî order. He made long journeys: he saw such Shi'ite places of pilgrimage as Najaf, Karbala and Mashhad; he met eminent Sufi leaders such as Ahmed es-Sâfî in Egypt and Ebû Bekir el-Vefâî in Aleppo. The source assesses these journeys as a reflection of his make-up, which combined Mevlevî, Kalenderî, Bektashi and Hurûfî influences. He died after 951 (1544). His Circle of Influence — He founded or supported lodges at Aleppo, Burdur, Eğridir, Sandıklı, Egypt, Algiers and Mytilene; Latakia is added to these. Because of this spread the source counts him, in the propagation of the Mevlevî order, as second only to Ulu Ârif Çelebi . Among his disciples are Şâhidî İbrâhim Dede and a great number of regional deputies who carried on the chain. His Poetry and Sufi Line — In his poems he used the pen names Divâne and Semâî . Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı counted one of his couplets among the finest verses of Turkish literature. To him belongs the first didactic poem explaining the symbolism of the Mevlevî ceremony; this poem, of fifty-two couplets, was written in the metre fâilâtün fâilâtün fâilât . His unconventional way of living — including the drinking of wine — and his adherence to Mevlevî discipline are found together in him; the epithet Divâne likewise comes from this unconventional bearing rather than from administrative achievements. His Works — No independent divan of his was compiled; his poems have remained scattered within anthologies. The best known of these poems is his didactic composition of fifty-two couplets on the symbolism of the Mevlevî ceremony.