He is a famous Turkish Sufi end the founder of famous
Bayramiye sect. He was born in Solfasol village of Ankara in 1352. His father was
Koyunluca Ahmet Effendi. Among scholars brought up by Hadji Bayram Veli, who had a good
education, there are Fatih Sultan Mehmet's hodja Akşemsettin and Bıçakçı Ömer dede.
Hadji Bayram, who wrote his ideas with a clear Turkish and as verses with syllable
measure, died in Ankara in 1436.
His tomb in Ankara is one of the primary places of
visit today. Hadji Bayram Veli, the father of saints, was born in Solfasol village of
Ankara in spring 1352. His real name was Numan. He had taken together with him his fortune
and it rained a lot on the arid land of Solfasol on the day of his birth.
Young Numan was a
healthy and beautiful child. The neighbors saw that he was different from other children,
smarter and wiser as he grew up. He learned reading and writing on his own. He wanted to
go far away and seek science and knowledge as soon as he reached adolescence. This was a
very strong desire from inside. One spring morning, they saw him off from the village.
Hadji Bayram Veli's
life story breaks off here. Nobody knows where he studied, from whom and when he took
lessons. He never talked about those too. He answered those who asked: "We are
walking on the truth path. May my Lord help us"... Year 1387.
Ankara's name was Engürü
then. There was a school named Kara Medrese in Engürü. Although it was a medium capacity
school, that year it did not suffice. Because, everybody who heard about the soft words,
nice conversations, deep knowledge of the young scholar who started to teach in this
school, had rushed there. This young scholar was nobody but Numan from Solfasol. There
were no questions he despised. He had found all what is necessary with regard to fame and
credit. But he felt somehow strange.
Sometimes his heart went cloudy, world got narrow for him and life seemed meaningless and
even nothing. He saw Sheik Suca-i Karamani from Kayseri on such a day. Karamani had taken
an invitation from Sheik Hamit Hamideddin known as Somuncu Baba. He said "Our
instructor wants you". He said "The most beautiful path is the path of wisdom
and knowledge".
The dream he had one
night ago had come out true. He gathered all students in the school. He asked each of them
separately their forgiveness for any fault he may have made. One night they departed. It
has always remained as a "secret" how great instructors see and what they speak
to great disciples. Numan and Sheik Hamideddin conversation was also a secret.
After this day, Numan
from Solfasol and Sheik Hamideddin did not leave each other any more. They walked around
in many regions together. They went to Hijaz together. Numan from Solfasol read, deepened,
and saw that what he knew was very little as he learned. At last, he felt a flame burning
in his heart on the day when Sheik Hamideddin, his instructor was buried in Aksaray. That
was the day he had found his real personality. It is said that Hadji Bayram Veli became a
saint on this day: He was to discharge to Sufism sea like a large spring now. He turned
back to Engürü from Aksaray. He went directly to Kara Medrese. Anyone who heard him come
back rushed crying their heart out. A famous sect was born around him automatically. They
called it Bayramiye sect.
Numan's name was
forgotten. Everyone knew him as Hadji Bayram Veli. He took the first social justice to the
town. All of his disciples had a job. He never admitted unemployed to his sect. He
stipulated working and looking for his own fortune with great efforts to participate in
Bayramiye sect. He had created a fine tradition in Ankara. He gathered dervishes
frequently and walked around in bazaars altogether. The tradesmen put some money at the
bags hanged on the back of the dervishes, as much as they could. Hadji Bayram Veli used to
look after patients and crippled people with the money so collected and made orphans
laugh.
The rapid growth of
Bayramiye sect troubled Sultan Murad the 2nd. There was some instigation between. He
decreed "Arrest and take him to me". Hadji Bayram Veli had a hunch, he welcomed
the men of palace on their way to Ankara. Those coming in anger melt like a tomb wax
before this respected old person with a bright face. They kissed his hands. They said
"Let's inform the sultan. You cannot be a person to encounter rage".
However, he rejected.
He said "No". "A decree is a decree. Let's go together..."
Sultan Murad the 2nd understood his mistake as soon as he saw him. He not only did not get
angry, but also welcomed him. Hadji Bayram Veli became the hodja of many scholars after
this day. One of them was Akşemseddin, who brought Fatih Sultan Mehmet up. The father of
saints retired into seclusion in his convent in Ankara when he got old. He passed away in
1436. His tomb visited by many people everyday is in Ankara. We could not obtain yet the
Turkish divan by Hadji Bayram Veli. However, we know a few of his poems. One of them is as
follows:
N'oldu bu gönlüm, n'oldu bu gönlüm
Derd-ü gam ile doldu bu gönlüm.
Yandı bu gönlüm, yandı bu gönlüm,
Yanmada derman buldu bu gönlüm.
*
Yan ey gönül yan, yan ey gönül yan,
Yanmadan oldu derdime derman.
Pervane gibi, pervane gibi
Şem'ine aşkın yandı bu gönlüm.
* *
Gerçi ki yandı, gerçi ki yandı
Rengine aşkın cümle boyandı.
Kendinde buldu, kendinde buldu
Mâtlubunu hoş buldu bu gönlüm.
* *
"Bayram'ın imdi, Bayram'ın imdi,
Bayram ederler yar ile şimdi
Hamd-ü senâlar, Hamd-ü senâlar
Yar ile bayram kıldı bu gönlüm.
As per Hadji Bayram
Velî; mature man, real man, should strip himself off his own egotism. Man should see
Allah in essence of all types of existence, and should see himself before everything. One
who knew himself would know Allah.
One of his poems read
as follows:
Bilmek istersen seni,
Can içre ara canı
Geç canından bul anı
Sen seni bil, sen seni ..
* *
Kim bildi ef'alini
O bildi sıfatını,
Anda gördü zâtını
Sen seni bil, sen seni..
Bayram özünü bildi
Bileni anda buldu
Bulan ol kendi oldu
Sen seni bil, sen seni...
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