TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

pursued the orders of the shari’a and banned his disciples from indulging in
unsanctioned practices such as drinking wine. 417 In fact, Saffetu’s-safa, the principal
source of information about Shaykh Safī, permits no suspicion on the issue. 418 Ibn
Bazzaz, an adherent of the order, composed this encyclopedic book in 1356 by the order
of Shaykh Sadruddin, the son, the chief disciple, and the deputy of Safīyuddin. Saffetu’s-
Shaykhs in a quite positive manner. Like most Ottoman historians, he also argues that the saintly nature of
this order was destroyed by Shaykh Junayd. See TA, pp. 62-3.
417 Such an image of Shaykh Safi is unanimously accepted by modern scholars. Minorsky writes, for
example, “The early shaykhs were strictly orthodox and their religious authority could not be called in
question and opposed.” V. Minorsky, “Shaykh Bālī-Efendi on the Safavids”, Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, vol. 20, no. 1/3, 1957, p. 439. Also see Hanna Sohrweide, “Der Sieg der
Safaviden in Persien und seine Rückwirkungen auf die Schiiten Anatoliens im 16. Jahrhundert”, Der
Islam, 41, 1965, p. 100; BRW, p. 43; Minorsky, Tadhkirat al-Mulūk. A Manual of Safavid Administration,
London, 1943, p. 125; Zeki V. Togan, “Sur L’origine des Safavides”, Mélanges Massignon, III, 1957, p.
356; Walther Hinz, Uzun Hasan ve Şeyh Cüneyd. XV. Yüzyılda Đran’ın Millî bir Devlet Haline Yükselişi,
çev. Tevfik Bıyıklıoğlu, Ankara: TTK, 1992, p. 15; Jean Aubin, “Etudes Safavides I, Sah Ismail et les
notables de l’Iraq persan”, Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient, II/I, 1959, p. 9; Basil
Nikitine, "Essai d'Analyse du Safwat as-Safa", Jounal Asiatique 245, 1957, p. 388; Hans Robert Roemer,
“The Safavid Period”, The Cambridge History of Iran, 6, ed., Peter Jackson, Cambridge, 1993, p. 195.
418 For a very brief summary of the content of this principle source regarding the early period of the order
see BRW, pp. 38-39. Despite its eminence among sources of the history and especially the religious stand
of early Safavids, a critical edition of this work is yet to be published. Saffetu’s-safa is composed of an
introduction, a conclusion, and twelve chapters (bāb). A German translation of the eighth chapter
alongside its original text in Persian was published by Heidi Zirke. (Ein hagiographisches Zeugnis zur
persischen Geschichte aus der Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts, Das achte Kapitel des Safwat as-safa in
kritischer Bearbeitung, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1987.) In the introductory part of his study, Zirke
briefly discusses the content of the whole work and the manuscript copies available in several libraries
across the world. Zirke also provides a genealogical map of available manuscripts. See Zirke, pp. 1-32.
The oldest copy of Saffetu’s-safa is known as to be that in the Library of Leiden (Or. 465) dated 1485.
(Mirza Abbaslı says he has a microfilm copy of the author copy, that was written by Ibn Bazzaz, dated
759/1357. But unfortunatelly he does not clarify where the original copy is. See Mirza Abbaslı,
“Safevîlerin Kökenine Dair”, Belleten, XL, 1976, p. 289.) Two later copies are preserved in Süleymaniye
Kütüphanesi in Istanbul (Ayasofya 3099 and Ayasofya 2123), the former being dated 1491 and the latter,
1509. All the other copies were written during and after the reign of Shah Tahmasb. Interestingly, the
fourth chapter (bāb) of Saffetu’s-safa was translated into Turkish only one year later than it was written, in
760/1357. This copy is preserved in Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, (Kemankeş 247). So, excluding Abbaslı’s
unknown copy, this is the oldest copy of Saffetu’s-safa, even though it was partial and a translation of the
original work. Another point to notice is that this Turkish translation of Saffetu’s-safa seemingly gained
wide currency among Ottoman learned circles, especially by the sixteenth century. There are numbers of
copies of this Turkish translation in several libraries in cities such as Istanbul, Kastamanu, Konya, and
Manisa. One should not disregard that these cities, except Istanbul, were prince sanjaks of the Ottoman
Empire; thus, they were at the same time scholarly, literary and artistic centers. Furthermore there are
respectful references to the sayings and deeds of Shaykh Safī in the works of some leading Ottoman sufis.
For example, in his famous book Müzekki’n-nüfûs, which was written in 1448, Eşrefoğlu Rûmî, who is
known as the second great pîr of the Kâdirî Order in Anatolia, counts Shaykh Safî among the greatest
saints of Sufism and on six occasions refers to his words, an honor reserved for only few great sufis. See
Eşrefoğlu Rûmî, Müzekki’n-nüfûs, yay. Nezihi Ferhun-Ali Ayağ, Đstanbul, 1976. For an analysis of
Saffetu’s-safa see Basil Nikitine, "Essai d'Analyse du Safwat as-Safa", Jounal Asiatique 245, 1957, 385-
394.
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