The Esma Shaykh Alaeddin Taught Seyyid Harun Veli in Baghdad

Esma means “names.” In Sufism the word also names the dhikr made with the names of God. This page transmits one such text. It is recorded in a book called Makalat-i Seyyid Harun.

Who Was Seyyid Harun Veli?

What is known about him is limited. He lived in Khurasan and is remembered there as a just ruler. The book says he was “a just emir in the land of Khurasan.” He had also studied the religious sciences, which is clear from the fact that he later founded a madrasa in Seydişehir and led the prayer in an assembly. His uncle had been an emir before him.

The word seyyid at the front of his name is a title. It belongs to the descendants of Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet. According to the book, Seyyid Harun’s line runs back to Musa al-Kazim on his father’s side and to Uways al-Qarani on his mother’s side. His lineage, his learning and his family’s standing together made him emir of the city where he lived. The attachment people felt for him comes from this.

The book that tells his story was written in 1554 by Abdulkerim b. Shaykh Musa, a descendant of Seyyid Harun’s brother. That is about two hundred and fifty years after the events. The book is a menakibname, a work that records the life and the wonders of a saint. Historians treat such books as sources, but they read them with caution about exaggeration.

Setting Out

According to the book, whenever Seyyid Harun visited the graves of his forefathers a voice reached his ear. It said: “O Harun, go out to Rum, and build a city beside the eastern side of a mountain called Küpe Dağı in the province of Karaman.” Rum was the name given to Anatolia in those days.

He told his companions and said he would leave the emirate: “I have no need of rule, go and choose another lord.” Those around him refused. “We served you when you were a king of this world, and now you have become a king of the next; do not turn us away,” they said. In the end he set out with forty men.

Researchers who have studied the subject connect this migration to Mongol pressure. In those years Anatolia was still a place of refuge.

His Welcome in Baghdad

In those years a caravan went from Khurasan to Baghdad once a year. The caravan used to visit Shaykh Alaeddin, who lived in Baghdad. Shaykh Alaeddin was a saint descended from Ja’far al-Sadiq. Seyyid Harun joined this caravan. The people in it did not know that he intended to travel on to Anatolia.

Shaykh Alaeddin would receive his visitors only after three days. Seyyid Harun he met outside the city, and he showed him great attention. Those around him were surprised. “You are a saint of the line of Ja’far al-Sadiq; why do you show this man such attention?” they said.

The Shaykh was very angry at these words. “Do not speak so, this is a great person,” he said. Then he told them his lineage: on his father’s side he descends from Musa al-Kazim, on his mother’s side from Uways al-Qarani.

Then he took him in, and the two entered khalwa for forty days. Khalwa is withdrawal from the world for worship. The esma that is the subject of this page was taught at the end of those forty days.

The Cloak, the Staff and the Esma

The book describes the moment the esma was given:

The Shaykh gave the Khurasan caravan leave, and they went. But with Seyyid Harun he entered khalwa for forty days, and they gave themselves to supplication. The Shaykh made known to him the states of the way of the masters. He gave him the cloak and the staff, and taught him the names.

The Shaykh first gave the caravan leave, and they set out. Seyyid Harun stayed. For forty days the two of them made munajat in retreat. Munajat is intimate pleading with God. Then the Shaykh told him the states of the great men of this way.

After that he gave him the cloak and the staff. The cloak is the wool garment a dervish wears. The staff is the stick of a traveller. When a shaykh hands these over, it means he truly trusts the person before him. Last of all he taught him the esma.

To Be Read Every Day

As he gave the esma, Shaykh Alaeddin said:

He said: O son of Harun, go now, and be upon what the Truth has commanded you. But let this esma be your wird every day, and persevere in it. May your zevk and your şevk increase as well, God willing.

Two words matter here. A wird is a dhikr read regularly every day. Müdavemet means to continue without leaving off. The Shaykh did not ask him to read this esma once. He asked him to read it every day and never to abandon it. The last sentence is a prayer: zevk is to know a truth by tasting it, and şevk is longing for God.

The Text of the Esma

As it is recited:

Fa’lem ennehû lâ ilahe illallah, fa’lem ennehu la ilahe illallah, fa’lem ennehu la ilahe illallah, bi-adedi ilmillahi ve bi-fazli rahmetillahi, Sübhanallahi ve’l-hamdü lillahi ve la ilahe illallahu vallahu ekber ve la-havle ve la-kuvvete illa billahi’l-aliyyi’l-azim. Sübhane’l-lezi la-yecûru ve hüve’l-meliku’l-cebbâru, Sübhane’l-mu’tî li-men yeşa’u, Sübhane’l-lezi leyse ke-mislihi şeyun. Sübhane men tüsebbihu lehu’l-hevamu fi-emâkinihâ, Sübhane men tüsebbihu lehu’l-en’âmu fi-sehâriha. Sübhane men tüsebbihu lehu’l-vuhuşu fi-revâsihâ. Sübhane’l-meliki’l-Cebbâr. Sübhanehu hüvallahu’l-Vâhidu’l-kahhâr. Sübhane mucîbi’s-sâ’ilin. Sübhane kâsimü’l-cebâbireti. Sübhane’l-kâdiri alâ külli şeyin. Sübhane’l-hallâkı’l-alim. Sübhane’l-fettâhı’l-azîm. Sübhane’l-cevâdi’l-kerim. Sübhane’r-reşâdi’l-hâdi, Allâmu’l-guyub. Sübhane’l-lezi halaka’s-semâvati fe-rafeahâ. Sübhane’l-lezi yutli’u’l-kevâkibe fe-ezheraha. Sübhane’l-lezi enşeeha fe-ersâha. Sübhane’l-Celili’l-Kerim. Sübhane âlimü’l-gaybi fela yuzhiru alâ gaybihi ehaden. Sübhane’l-hallâkı’l-alim. Sübhane’r-rezzâki’l-hakim. Sübhane’l-musavviri fi’l-erhami ma-yeşau, Sübhane’l-azîme’l-lezi leyse şeyün azeme minhu. Sübhane’l-kaviyyi’l-lezi leyse şeyün akva minhu. Sübhane’l-kadiri’l-lezi leyse şeyün akdera minhu. Sübhane’l-lezi bi-yedihi havassu’l-halkı. Sübhaneke seyyidi ma azamehu şa’nüke. Sübhaneke seyyidi ma a’lâ divâneke. Sübhaneke seyyidi ma akdereke alâ halkıke. Sübhaneke’l-erzâku tekeffele bi-lutfihi ve keremihi. Sübhane men yerzuku keyfe yeşau. Sübhanehü men yüridü ve la yüradü ve hüve manzaru’l-a’lâ. Sübhane men yesme’u hafakâni’t-tuyûri fi-emakinihâ. Sübhane men tüsebbihu lehu’t-tuyûri fi-efkârihâ. Sübhane men yüsebbihu lehu’l-halku ecmaine, erzeke’t-tuyûre ya erhame’r-rahimin. Sübhane’r-rezzâki’l-azîm. Sübhane’l-kerîmi ekrem. Sübhane’l-hâliki’l-cenneti ve naimuhâ, la-havle ve la-kuvvete illa billahi’l-aliyyi’l-azim.

Its meaning, as the book renders it:

Know and learn that there is no god but God. Know and learn that there is no god but God. Know and learn that there is no god but God. As much as the knowledge of God, as much as the mercy of God: Glory be to God, praise be to God, there is no god but God, God is the greatest. There is no strength and no power except by the help of God, the High, the Great. Glory be to God, who does no wrong, the Sovereign, the Compeller. Glory be to God, who gives to whom He wills. Glory be to God, who has no like and no equal. Glory be to God, whom the creatures of the earth glorify from their places. Glory be to God, whom the beasts glorify from their breasts. Glory be to God, whom the wild animals glorify from the high mountains. Glory be to God, the Sovereign, the Compeller. Glory be to Him, God, the One, the Overpowering. Glory be to God, who gives to those who ask. Glory be to God, who brings down tyrants. Glory be to God, who has power over everything. Glory be to God, the Knowing, the Creator. Glory be to God, the Exalted, who delivers from distress. Glory be to God, the Generous, the Noble. Glory be to God, who knows the unseen, the Guide, the One who leads aright. Glory be to God, who created the heavens and raised them, and taught the planets their stations. Glory be to God, who built the courses of those planets. Glory be to God, the Majestic, the Noble. Glory be to God, who knows the unseen and discloses His unseen to no one. Glory be to God, the Creator, the Knowing. Glory be to God, the Provider, the Wise. Glory be to God, who shapes in the wombs what He wills and as He wills. Glory be to God, greater than whom there is none. Glory be to God, stronger than whom there is no one. Glory be to God, mightier than whom there is none. Glory be to God, in whose hand is the knowledge of all creatures. How exalted is Your glory, my God; I declare You free of every fault. How high and exalted is Your court, my Lord; I declare You free of every fault. How powerful You are over what You have created, my Lord; I declare You free of every fault. My God, who by His grace and generosity stands surety for all provision, I declare You free of every fault. Glory be to God, who provides as He wills. Glory be to God, who reaches everywhere and is reached by none, the Most High. Glory be to God, who hears the beating of the hearts of the birds. Glory be to God, whom the birds glorify by their trust. Glory be to God, whom all creatures glorify. He is the most merciful of the merciful. Glory be to God, the Provider, the Mighty. Glory be to God, the Noble. Glory be to God, who created the garden and the happiness within it. There is no strength and no power except by the help of God, the High, the Great.

The first sentence of the text is taken from verse 19 of Surah Muhammad. The rest is tasbih, which means declaring that God is far above every deficiency. The Quran says that all things glorify God: “There is nothing that does not glorify Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification” (Surah al-Isra 17:44). The beautiful names in the text are set inside this glorification.

Lawful Food

When the esma was finished, Shaykh Alaeddin said:

O son of Harun, if any ordinary person reads these names with lawful food, he becomes one of the elect. Whoever among the elect reads them and perseveres becomes the elect of the elect. And whoever is of the elect of the elect and reads them and perseveres, his every wish becomes real in the sight of the Truth, God willing.

The condition at the head of the sentence asks for attention: lawful food. That is, that a person’s earnings and the food on the table be lawful.

This is one of the things Sufi books insist on most. The way a living is earned matters. Money that comes from interest, a sale made by deceiving, a worker’s wage paid short, a partner whose right has been eaten. All of these fall under kul hakki, the right of another person. Taking what belongs to someone else is not closed by repentance alone; it has to be given back to its owner.

There is a well-known saying of the Prophet on this. He says that God is pure and accepts only what is pure. Then he describes a man who has come a long road, dishevelled and dusty. The man raises his hands to the sky and prays. But what he eats is unlawful, what he drinks is unlawful, what he wears is unlawful. “How then should such a one be answered?” he says (Muslim, Book of Zakat).

Parting

After he received the esma, Seyyid Harun asked leave to set out. Shaykh Alaeddin had provisions prepared for the road. Then he walked with them for three stages of the journey.

According to the book, the Shaykh there understood the secret of the cloud that guided Seyyid Harun, and calling him “Seyyid Harun Sultan” he said, “the Truth has made it your guide.” He asked his leave to go back. They embraced, took leave of one another, and the Shaykh returned.

Seyyid Harun, in the book’s own words, “took refuge in the Truth and put his trust in God,” and went on. From Baghdad he came to Konya, and from there to the foot of Küpe Dağı. This was the place the voice had described. In 1305 he founded a new city on the empty land east of that mountain. Today it is Seydişehir. He founded a madrasa as well. He died there in 1320.

Sources

• Abdulkerim b. Shaykh Musa, Makalat-i Seyyid Harun, Manisa manuscript, fols. 6a-7b (1554)
• M. E. Şen, B. Şahin, A. Bektaş, Vefatının 700. Yılında Seyyid Harun Veli ve Makâlât-ı Seyyid Harun Veli (Seydişehir Belediyesi Yayınları, 2021)
• Cemal Kurnaz (ed.), Abdülkerîm b. Şeyh Mûsâ: Makâlât-ı Seyyid Hârûn (Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1991)
• Mehmet Emin Şen, “Bir Şehir Kurucusu Olarak Seyyid Harun Veli”, SDÜ Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 55 (2022)
• Haşim Şahin, “Seyyid Hârun”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)