Üftâdezâde Kutub İbrâhim Efendi

Üftâdezâde Kutub İbrâhim Efendi was one of the saints who lived in Bursa, and was the grandson of the great saint His Holiness Üftâde. He was born in 1606 (AH 1015). His father, Mustafa Efendi, served as sheikh at the lodge (dergâh) of his grandfather Üftâde, and passed away in 1608. Kutub İbrâhim Efendi attained maturity on the path of Sufism in the conversations of Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî, and received the caliphate (hilâfet) from him. According to the narration, one day his grandfather Üftâde told Hüdâyî that one of his own descendants would become his student and would attain the secret of truth (hakikat) through him, thus foretelling that his grandson would reach this station. It is also related that when Kutub İbrâhim Efendi, having received the caliphate, was returning to Bursa and asked Hüdâyî when he might come to visit, Hüdâyî replied: 'We have waited until this time for your service.' When he arrived in Bursa in 1628, he received the news of the passing of Azîz Mahmûd Hüdâyî. Thereafter he occupied himself for more than fifty years with raising students at his grandfather's lodge (zâviye), and he expounded the right path to people. It is related in the sources that years after his passing, when the tomb-keeper (türbedâr) and the mosque imam saw him in their dreams, his grave was opened, a pleasant fragrance spread from within, and his shroud was found undecayed. He passed away in 1678 (AH 1089); in accordance with his testament he was buried outside the tomb of His Holiness Üftâde. A chronogram was composed for his death with the verse: 'The Pole of the Age departed to Paradise in [one thousand and] eighty-nine.'