Allegory of Seyr ü Sülûk in Gülşen-Âbâd

Abstract

Unlike Islamic disciplines such as kalam and fiqh, the Sufis adopted a method called seyrusulûk, which is based on the mind and the five senses, as well as the sound heart and reason, in obtaining the virtues of Prophet Muhammad. Sufis, who brought the principles and limits of this spiritual journey to the agenda in detail in their works, to witness the manifestations of God, purifying the heart from spiritual impurities, observing the relationship of God with the world in all its aspects by means of its manifestation in the heart, they have attained such high levels as fana and baka, and have adopted the motto of being adorned with the moral maturity of the Prophet, whom God praises. Shemseddîn-i Sivâsî, who lived in the sixteenth century and was the founder of the Şemsiyye branch of the Halvetiyye sect and an influential figure in his period and afterwards, is one of the names who intensively deals with the discourses and practices of the sufis in his works. In many of his works, Sivâsî

has expressed various dimensions of the process of navigation as a method of obtaining prophetic morality. He devoted his work named Gülşen-Âbâd to issues such as the secrets of truth, the fact that everything in the universe is a sign of God, and that the devotees can only reach these truths by navigation. Sivâsî, who explains the sides of the process of seyrusüluk by depicting ten kinds of flowers such as crocus, hyacinth, zerrin, benefşe, tulip, sesame, lily, water lily, daffodil and rose, deals with the idea of unity of existence in the work. The work includes topics such as the conversations of the author with these flowers, the questions asked to them, the answers received, and the principles, sides and borders of navigation in this process. In this study, in the context of Shemseddîn-i Sivâsî’s work named Gülşen-Âbâd, which has an original place in literary and moral masnavis in terms of method and content, the views of the sufis on the method of obtaining prophetic morality are expressed.