Rüstem Halîfe Bursevî

Rüstem Halîfe Bursevî was from the district of Göynük in the province of Bolu and is among the saints who lived in Bursa; the year of his birth is unknown. He is remembered as a man belonging to the path of Sufism and possessing miraculous gifts (karāma). Rüstem Halîfe, who was at first occupied with trade, later became a student of Shaykh Hacı Halîfe of Kastamonu and entered the path of Sufism. He was someone who ate and drank little, was content with little, lived constantly in a state of spiritual austerity (riyāza), and occupied himself ceaselessly with reciting the Qurʾān. According to what is related in the sources, in a legend recounted by Lâmiî Çelebi, Rüstem Halîfe, who suffered from pain in his eyes, met a young man; it was understood that this young man was Khidr (peace be upon him). The young man advised him to recite the Muʿawwizatayn sūras in the last two rakʿas of the emphasized supererogatory (sunna muʾakkada) prayers, whereupon Rüstem Halîfe was cured. He passed away in 1511 (AH 917). His grave is in Bursa, within the citadel, at Orta Pazar, in the vicinity of the Nakkâş Ali Mosque, beside the grave of Osman Çelebi.