A Sufi and poet of Bursa, regarded as the pîr of the Celvetî way. His name was Mehmed, his cognomen Muhyiddin; he is known by the pen-name "Üftâde" used in his poems. "Üftâde" means "fallen, lovelorn", and the name stayed with him after a warning received in a dream.
He was born in the Araplar quarter of Bursa. Although the sources give his date of birth as 895 (1490), a phrase in the Vâkıât of his disciple Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî indicates that he was born around 900 (1495). His father is recorded as having come from Manyas and settled in Bursa.
In childhood he became a disciple of Muk'ad Hızır Dede, one of the Bayramî shaykhs, and at his encouragement began his studies; he served him for about eight years until his master's death in 918 (1512). With his beautiful voice he called the adhân at the Great Mosque of Bursa and at the Doğan Bey Mosque. Because he had accepted a salary of a few akçe he was warned in a dream, "You have fallen (become üftâde) from your rank," and THE VERY NEXT DAY he gave up calling the adhân. Thereafter he made his living by silk-making and button-making and by copying manuscripts, while continuing his duties as imam and muezzin without pay, as a volunteer. This choice is the key to his life: he drew his livelihood from the work of his hands and kept religious service separate from wages.
Around the age of thirty-five he began to preach and guide. The people followed his sermons at the Doğan Bey Mosque, the Namazgâh Mosque and elsewhere with great interest. While continuing his guidance at the mosque and lodge he had built in the Pınarbaşı Kuzgunluk quarter on the slopes of Uludağ, he was appointed between 1529 and 1536 as preacher (hatip) of the Emîr Sultan Mosque. He said that he accepted this office upon a spiritual sign from Emîr Sultan, and he held it until his death. His mosque, completed in 985 (1577) in the Yerkapı district, and his lodge have survived to the present through successive repairs and alterations.
He died on 12 Cemâziyelevvel 988 (25 June 1580). His two sons, Mehmed and Mustafa, succeeded him in turn as shaykhs of his lodge. His most famous deputy is Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî, who became his disciple in 984 (1576), in the last years of his life; the notes Hüdâyî kept over three years, known as the Vâkıât, have carried Üftâde's teaching down to our day. TEİS lists among his most famous deputies Üftâdezâde Şeyh Mehmed Efendi (994/1586), Muabbir Veli Dede (1010/1601), Üftâdezâde Şeyh Mustafa Efendi (1017/1608) and Hüdâyî; it is also among the narrations that he willed the succession to his son Mehmed Efendi although he was younger than his brothers.
His Chain and the Celvetiyye
His initiatic chain reaches Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî through Hızır Dede and Akbıyık Sultan. Although the Celvetiyye order is attributed to Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî, it is Üftâde who made CELVET the basis of the method of wayfaring; for this reason the TDV author says "it may also be said that he is the pîr of the Celvetiyye". İsmâil Hakkı of Bursa, himself a Celvetî shaykh, describes this development with the metaphor of the moon: the Celvetiyye was a CRESCENT in the time of İbrâhim Zâhid-i Geylânî, a HALF MOON in Üftâde's day, and a FULL MOON in Hüdâyî's (Silsile-i Celvetiyye, p. 63).
His Asceticism and His Meeting with Süleyman the Magnificent
Among his most marked traits are asceticism and piety; besides avoiding what is forbidden he declined even some permitted things. It is related that Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, who at one time forbade him to speak of the Mesnevî and the Fusûsü'l-hikem in his sermons, later invited him to Istanbul and showed him honour; and when he saw that Üftâde would not accept a village or two that he wished to endow upon his lodge, he told his viziers that some shaykhs are seekers of the world (tâlib-i dünyâ) but Üftâde is one who has left the world (târik-i dünyâ).
His Poetry
He wrote gnostic poems in a plain language in the manner of Yûnus Emre; his poems drew great interest in lodge circles and some were set to music as hymns and sung. His divan was printed by Mehmed Tâhir of Bursa (Istanbul 1328), and there are three further editions in the Latin script (Mustafa Bahadıroğlu, "Celvetiyye'nin Pîri Hz. Üftâde ve Divanı", Bursa 1995; "Üftâde Divanı", Bursa 2000 and Istanbul 2011). His divan, containing fifty poems mostly in aruz and some in syllabic metre, was translated into French by Paul Ballanfat as "Le divan Hazret-i Pir Üftâde" (Paris 2002), and Angela Culme-Seymour rendered that French translation into English as "The Nightingale in the Garden of Lover" (Oxford 2005). Ali Örfî Efendi wrote a commentary titled "Şerh-i Nutk-ı Üftâde" on his poem beginning "Yine dûş oldu gönül yârin cemâl-i şem'ine". TEİS records that his poetry contains both a gnostic idiom rich in Arabic and Persian words and a plain speech accessible to ordinary people, and that its themes turn on loving God, becoming worthy of beholding His beauty, and devotion to the path.
The Vâkiât
Beginning on 1 Zilkade 984 (20 January 1577), Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî recorded his master's words in Arabic throughout the three years of his wayfaring, completing the work on Friday 9 Şevval 987 (29 November 1579), a month before receiving his licence and leaving Bursa. At the beginning of the book known as Vâkıât-ı Hüdâyî (Vâkıât-ı Üftâde) stands a phrase meaning "lofty words more precious than refined gold, which passed during the wayfaring between his eminence the shaykh and this poor one". İsmâil Hakkı of Bursa's words — "the sayings of Shaykh Üftâde which his eminence Hüdâyî compiled, famed under the name Vâkıât" — show that this title was given to the work later. The book, regarded as the PRIMARY SOURCE for Üftâde's views and for the Celvetiyye order, survives in the author's own copy in two volumes of one hundred (100) folios each in the Hacı Selim Ağa Library in Üsküdar (Hüdâî Efendi, nos. 249-250). Mehmed Muizzüddin Celvetî, thought to have been one of Hüdâyî's disciples, translated parts of the work into Turkish during the shaykh's lifetime (Süleymaniye Library, Mihrişah Sultan, no. 253/6).
His Lodge
Built on the slopes of Uludağ on a steeply sloping site running from south to north, over a total of 2,507 m², the lodge amounts to a complex comprising a mosque, a semâhâne, a harem, a selâmlık, a retreat cell (çilehâne) and a fountain. Üftâde's grandson, the fourth shaykh Kutub İbrâhim Efendi, renewed the lodge with additional buildings in 1081 (1670) and fortified its surroundings. Its present form bears the characteristics of the reigns of Selim III and Mahmud II. On the renewed portion of the fountain known as the "Hû Fountain" on the western wall of the mosque are inscribed the date 974 (1566) and the Qur'anic verse concerning water (al-Anbiyâ 21/30). In the retreat cell are displayed objects once used in the lodge and attributed to Üftâde and Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî. The selâmlık section has now been demolished and a road passes over it; extensive restorations have been carried out in recent years in the harem, the retreat cell and other sections.
His Counsels and Teachings
Üftâde's teaching rests in two places: the VÂKIÂT, the notes his disciple Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî kept over three years, and his own DIVAN. This section conveys the teaching those two sources give, and his own verses, with sources named; the atlas records no sentence as "Üftâde said" unless it is his.
The Core of His Teaching: Abandon the Unveiling, Do Not Abandon the Sharia
The essence of his views on unveiling and gnosis is this saying: "Should everything in the worlds of dominion (mülk) and of the angelic realm (melekût) be shown to you by way of unveiling, if you have not the power to explain it in a manner conformable to the sharia, then ABANDON THAT UNVEILING, BUT DO NOT ABANDON THE SHARIA." In his view a wayfarer travelling in the angelic realm should not recount the matters of that realm to one who dwells in the world of dominion and is bound by its constraints; the wayfarer who has unveiled reality "must sew his mouth with the needle and thread of the sharia". If he speaks at large without clothing his words in the garment of the sharia he opens the way to corruption, and the sea of strife begins to surge, as was seen in Hallâc-ı Mansûr and Seyyid Nesîmî. He may also cause those who repeat such sayings by mere imitation to fall into unbelief (TDV)
Addressing People According to Their Capacity
The natural consequence of this measure is that people must be addressed according to the level of their understanding; the prophets too did so, speaking with people in a manner their minds could bear. The TDV author records the practical fruit of this principle as well: "For this reason not a single utterance of the şathiye kind ever left Üftâde's lips" (TDV)
Asceticism: Declining Even Some Permitted Things
Among his most marked traits are asceticism and piety; besides avoiding the forbidden he declined even some permitted things (TDV). Its counterpart in his life is concrete: he kept religious service separate from wages, drew his livelihood from the work of his hands through silk-making, button-making and copying manuscripts, and refused villages that were to be endowed upon his lodge.
The Method of Wayfaring: Celvet
Although the Celvetiyye order is attributed to Hüdâyî, it is Üftâde who made CELVET the basis of the method of wayfaring; the TDV author therefore says "it may also be said that he is the pîr of the Celvetiyye". İsmâil Hakkı of Bursa describes the way's development with the metaphor of the moon: a crescent in the time of İbrâhim Zâhid-i Geylânî, a half moon in Üftâde's day, a full moon in Hüdâyî's (Silsile-i Celvetiyye, p. 63). TEİS likewise records that his works are dominated, alongside the principles and etiquette of the Celvetiyye, by the themes of wayfaring, divine gnosis and the unity of being.
The Vâkiât: the Record of a Three-year Lesson
From 1 Zilkade 984 (20 January 1577) Hüdâyî recorded his master's words in Arabic together with THEIR DATES over three years, completing the work on Friday 9 Şevval 987 (29 November 1579). The phrase at the head of the book describes what passed between master and disciple during the wayfaring as "lofty words more precious than refined gold". The Vâkıât is regarded as the primary source for Üftâde's views and for the Celvetiyye order; the author's copy is in the Hacı Selim Ağa Library in two volumes of one hundred (100) folios each (Hüdâî Efendi, nos. 249-250) (TDV; TEİS)
His Manner of Preaching
In his sermons he quoted from many works, foremost among them Mevlânâ's Mesnevî, explaining many-sided subjects in a manner ordinary people could readily grasp (TEİS). That Süleyman the Magnificent at one time forbade him to speak of the Mesnevî and the Fusûsü'l-hikem in his sermons also shows how much this manner drew attention in his age (TDV)
His Counsels in His Own Verse
The stanzas below are taken from the published edition of his divan, with the source named.
① The plea for guidance and the road with the people of gnosis:
Night and day let us weep and lament
may Allah the Forgiving grant guidance
may the people of gnosis be our guides
may Allah the Forgiving grant guidanceMay He make us worthy to behold His beauty
let us be true to the Truth upon the path
let us be lovers of God from the heart
may Allah the Forgiving grant guidance.
Meral, Arzu [ed.], Dîvân-ı Hazret-i Üftâde, Istanbul: Revak Yayınları, 2012, pp. 3-4; from the "Examples from his works" section of TEİS.
② Passing beyond one's own being:
Show the light of Your beauty
let Your lovers yearn
cut their hearts off from all else
let Your lovers taste delightDrown them in the encompassing sea
cast their souls into the ocean
and within that ocean let Your lovers
annihilate their own selvesThe veil before Your beauty
is the very being of the dervishes
take away their being
that Your lovers may find serenity.
Same edition, pp. 5-6.) The last stanza reads like a summary of his understanding of wayfaring: the veil before the divine beauty is the dervish's OWN BEING.
③ Polishing hearts with remembrance:
O my God, with Your remembrance give a polish to hearts
that Your fair beauty may appear within the confession of unity, O Lord
make Your remembrance the guide, let it be the means to Your Essence
for within remembrance all the saints attained the TruthGive our souls everlasting life through Your remembrance
that they may escape annihilation and find subsistence through it.
Same edition, p. 7.
④ His call to the people of the path:
O you who have attained upon the path
lords of the road of the Friend
guides of the seekers
give me news of the Friend.
Same edition; from the same section of TEİS.
His Manner
He wrote gnostic poems in plain language in the manner of Yûnus Emre; some of his poems were set to music as hymns and sung. TEİS records that his poetry contains both a gnostic idiom rich in Arabic and Persian words and a plain speech accessible to ordinary people, and that its themes turn on loving God, becoming worthy of beholding His beauty, devotion to the path, and asking guidance from God.
Miracles
What follows are narrations (rivâyet) as recorded in the sources; the atlas records them not as "this is what happened" but as "this is what the sources relate". The work each account comes from is given in parentheses.
A Measure First: Üftâde Opposed the Disclosure of Miracles
In reading this section his own measure must be kept in mind. Üftâde opposed the disclosure of unveilings and miracles and avoided expressions that strain the limits of reason; not a single utterance of the şathiye kind ever left his lips (TDV; TEİS). The narrations below, therefore, are accounts that live on in the memory of the people DESPITE his own preference — in the words of TEİS, "his miracles are related from tongue to tongue even today".
The Dream That Gave Him His Name
It is related that while he was calling the adhân with his beautiful voice at the Great Mosque of Bursa and the Doğan Bey Mosque, having accepted a salary of a few akçe, he was warned in a dream: "You have fallen (become üftâde) from your rank"; and that THE VERY NEXT DAY after this warning he gave up calling the adhân. TEİS records that he then abandoned the salary and ASKED to be called "Üftâde" — so the name is not a compliment but the name of a reckoning with the self (TDV; TEİS)
His Mother's Dream
TEİS writes that nothing is known of his mother except that she was "a woman whose inner eye was open" and that she once saw in a dream her son swimming in a great sea of milk; his father interpreted the dream to mean that the boy would grow up to be a great scholar or a saint (TEİS)
Preaching From the Mesnevî Without Knowing Persian
TEİS relates that Üftâde, who preached in a fluent and lucid language, preached and admonished from the Mesnevî — THOUGH HE DID NOT KNOW PERSIAN — thanks to the spiritual aid (himmet) of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî in a dream (TEİS)
Emîr Sultan's Spiritual Sign
When he was appointed preacher of the Emîr Sultan Mosque between 1529 and 1536, he himself said that he accepted the office upon a spiritual sign from Emîr Sultan; he held it until his death (TDV)
Süleyman the Magnificent's Testimony: "One Who Has Left the World"
It is related that Sultan Süleyman, who at one time forbade him to speak of the Mesnevî and the Fusûsü'l-hikem in his sermons, later invited him to Istanbul and honoured him; and when he saw that Üftâde would not accept a village or two he wished to endow upon his lodge, he told his viziers, "Some shaykhs are seekers of the world, but Üftâde is one who has left the world" (TDV). This account is not a miracle story but the confirmation of his asceticism by the most powerful man of his age.
Avoidance of Wages
It is recorded that after leaving the salary he lived by silk-making and button-making and by copying manuscripts, and that he continued as imam and muezzin WITHOUT PAY (TDV). The heart of the account is this: the warning in the dream was not a single act of repentance but a rule kept for a lifetime.
Hüdâyî's Trial
It is related that before accepting Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî, who came from the judgeship and a professorship, Üftâde required him to renounce first his property and estate, then his office; and, to place his ego underfoot and break his pride, to sell liver on a pole through the streets of Bursa IN HIS JUDGE'S ROBES — the best-known example of Üftâde's method of training (the Hüdâyî entry of TEİS; the narration is referred to Tezeren 1987 and Yılmaz 1990). The sources relate this not as a miracle but as the discipline of the self that precedes miracles.
"Let Sultans Walk Behind Him"
It is related that these words, spoken to Hüdâyî before his death, were fulfilled when Sultan Ahmed I, out of reverence for Hüdâyî, mounted him on his own horse in the Üsküdar market and walked behind him for a time like a groom (the Hüdâyî entry of TEİS; the narration is referred to Tezeren 1987, p. 15). The account thus locates the miracle in the FULFILMENT of Üftâde's word.
The Couplet On the Door of the Great Mosque
TEİS attributes to him the Arabic couplet inscribed on the western door of the Great Mosque of Bursa: "Yâ Câmi'al-kebîr ve yâ mecma'al-kibâr / Tûbâ limen yezûrüke fi'l-leyli ve'n-nehâr" — "O Great Mosque! O gathering place of scholars and saints! Glad tidings to whoever visits you by night and by day" (TEİS)
Differing Scholarly Views
This record rests on two independent academic sources: the entry "ÜFTÂDE" in the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam (Nihat Azamat, vol. 42, pp. 282-283, Istanbul 2012) and the entry "ÜFTÂDE, Mehmed Muhyiddin" in the Dictionary of Names of Turkish Literature (TEİS; Dr. Murat Karaca). The description of his lodge is taken from the TDV entry "ÜFTÂDE TEKKESİ" (Hasan Basri Öcalan, vol. 42, pp. 283-284). The two sources agree in outline; the points where they diverge are left visible below.
Date of Birth
TDV writes that although the sources give 895 (1490), a phrase in Hüdâyî's Vâkıât indicates that he was born AROUND 900 (1495); TEİS gives 1490. The atlas record keeps 895 (1490), the value common in the sources, and leaves this discrepancy visible here.
Date of Death
TDV gives a precise day: 12 Cemâziyelevvel 988 (25 June 1580). TEİS says 989/1581. The atlas takes as its basis the TDV record, which gives day, month and year (so that the anniversary of his death can be kept at DAY level); the difference in TEİS has not been concealed.
Whether He Received a Licence From Hizir Dede
Most sources state that Üftâde received his licence (hilâfet) from Hızır Dede. The TDV author objects: Üftâde was about eighteen at his master's death (918/1512), and receiving a licence at that age "does not appear very plausible". Üftâde's own words are cited: "It was not opened to me in the time of my late shaykh; it was opened only after his death." Since no one other than Hızır Dede is found whom he called "my shaykh", it is judged a strong possibility that he completed his wayfaring by the ÜVEYSÎ way. This is not a simple difference between sources but a reasoned criticism by the TDV author.
The Sünbül Si̇nan Claim — Not Correct According to TDV
Cemâleddin Hulvî, author of the Lemezât-ı Hulviyye, and some authors who follow him, record that before Hızır Dede Üftâde became a disciple of Sünbül Sinan (d. 936/1529) in Istanbul and received his licence from him. TDV says this is NOT CORRECT: Üftâde, who went to Istanbul many times in his later years, may well have met Sünbül Sinan, but his becoming his disciple is remote and his receiving a licence impossible.
WHO IS THE PÎR OF THE CELVETİYYE? The order is attributed to Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî; on the other hand, because it is Üftâde who made celvet the basis of the method of wayfaring, TDV says "it may also be said that he is the pîr of the Celvetiyye". İsmâil Hakkı of Bursa's crescent–half moon–full moon metaphor likewise describes this gradual unfolding. The atlas does not substitute one attribution for the other: Hüdâyî is recorded as the founder, Üftâde as the pîr of the method.
Hizir Dede's Epithet
TDV names him among the Bayramî shaykhs as "Muk'ad Hızır Dede"; TEİS says "Hızır Dede of Karacabey". Both agree that the discipleship began in childhood.
His Father and His Early Livelihood
TDV records that his father came from Manyas and settled in Bursa; TEİS names the father "Mehmed Efendi of Manyas" and says that Üftâde was placed as a boy as an apprentice with a merchant in the silk trade, and that after his father's death he provided for the family. In TDV, silk-making and button-making appear as the means of livelihood taken up AFTER he gave up the muezzin's salary. The two accounts do not contradict each other, but the order differs; the atlas records both separately.
The Identity of Musli̇huddi̇n Mustafa Efendi̇
Among the Sufis whose gatherings he attended from childhood was Muslihuddin Mustafa Efendi, imam of the Selçuk Hatun Mosque beside the Irgandı Bridge; the possibility that he is the same person as Muallimzâde Şeyh Mustafa Efendi (d. 930/1524) of the Zeyniyye lodge shaykhs is given in TDV with the qualifier "probable" — it is not a settled identification.
A Difference of Date Within the List of Deputies
In listing his most famous deputies, TEİS writes "1038/1623" for Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî. Hüdâyî's death is known as 1038/1628 — including in TEİS's own Hüdâyî entry and in TDV; the mismatch stands thus in the source. The atlas neither corrects nor reproduces it, but only makes it visible.
THE TOMB AND THE LODGE ARE NOT THE SAME PLACE (a coordinate finding). The atlas's pin marks the tomb: 40.182988, 29.057976. The Kültür Envanteri record "Üftade Türbesi" is identical with this coordinate, the OpenStreetMap record "Üftade Camii" is 19 metres away, and the KE record "Üftâde Camii Haziresi" is 15 metres away — that is, the tomb pin is verified by two independent numeric sources (ADR-024). By contrast, the site recorded in both sources under the name "Üftâde Tekke Külliyesi" lies about 633 METRES from the tomb. The atlas currently has no separate place record for the lodge; to treat tomb and lodge as one point would have been wrong.
Sources
- İslâm Âlimleri Ansiklopedisi · vol. 15, p. 12
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · entry “ÜFTÂDE TEKKESİ”
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — Nihat Azamat · vol. 42, pp. 282-283, entry “Üftâde”
- Üftade Camii ve Türbesi'nin Mimarisi ve Bezemeleri
- Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (TEİS) — Murat Karaca · entry “ÜFTÂDE, Mehmed Muhyiddin”
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · entry “ÜFTÂDE”
- Evliyalar Ansiklopedisi · entry “Bursa Evliyâları”
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — Hasan Basri Öcalan · vol. 42, pp. 283-284, entry “Üftâde Tekkesi”
- Lemezât; vr. 187 b
- Şakâyik-ı Nu'mâniyye Zeyli (Atâî); s.357
- Osmanlı Müellifleri; c.1, s.22
- Sefînet-ül-Evliyâ; c.2, s.362
- Yâdigâr-ı Şemsî; s.27
- Kâmûs-ul-A'lâm; c.2, s.999
- Tam İlmihâl Seâdet-i Ebediyye; (50. Baskı) s.1107
- Güldeste-i Riyâz-ı İrfân — İsmâil Belîğ · p. 109
- Vâkı'ât
- Menâkıb-ı Üftâde (Selîmağa Kütüphânesi, Hüdâyî bölümü No: 982)
- Kitâb-ı Silsile-i İsmâil Hakkı; s.79
Every record is sourced (Mandatory Sources).