Eşrefoğlu Rûmî

Eşrefoğlu Rûmî, whose real name was Abdullah, is remembered in the sources as one of the great saints and poets. His father was Eşref, who emigrated from Egypt and settled in İznik; he himself was born in İznik. After studying the first religious sciences in the madrasas of İznik, he continued his education in Bursa at the madrasa built by Çelebi Mehmed; he became proficient in Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), hadith, and jurisprudence (fiqh). After meeting Abdal Mehmed in Bursa, he turned to Sufism, was for a time present in the gatherings of Emîr Sultan, then became a student of Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî in Ankara, serving him for eleven years, and married his teacher's daughter Hayrünnisâ. Later he went to Hama and entered a forty-day spiritual retreat (khalwa) with Shaykh Hüseyin Hamevî, a descendant of Abdülkâdir Geylânî; he received his license (ijâza) and became a deputy (khalifa) in the Qâdirî path. Returning to İznik, he lived for a time in seclusion, and after becoming known he withdrew to the mountains; his first student established a lodge (dergâh) at Pınarbaşı. Students gathered around him from Bursa, Istanbul, and the surrounding provinces, and the Grand Vizier Mahmûd Pasha also became attached to him. He appointed Abdürrahîm-i Tırsî as his deputy and married him to his daughter Züleyhâ. He left behind many works such as Müzekkin-Nüfûs, Tarîkatnâme, and the Dîvân; the poem 'Come to Repentance' (Tövbeye Gel) in his Dîvân is famous. Various miracles attributed to him are related in the sources. He died in İznik in the year 1484 (AH 889), and his shrine is in İznik.