THE SAINTLY EXPLOITS OF

HAJJI BEKTASHI VELI

THE SAINTLY EXPLOITS OF

HAJJI
BEKTASH VELI

Manâkib-ı Hacı Bektâş-ı Veli

“Velâyetname”

Babagân Books, Chicago

Translation & Introduction: Huseyin Abiva

© Copyright 2017, Babagân Books - Chicago

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, including photocopying, electronic,
mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written consent of the publisher. In specific cases,
permission is granted on written request to publish or translate Babagân Books publications into
other languages.

ISBN #978-1-365-59158-7
 CONTENTS
Introduction .................................................................................. i
The Saintly Exploits of Hajji Bektash Veli
Exordium .............................................................................................................. 1
The Genealogy of Hajji Bektash Veli ............................................................... 2
Hajji Bektash Veli & Lokman-i Perende ......................................................... 8
Hajji Bektash Veli displays miracles to the Saints of Khorasan ................... 11
Kutbettin Haidar & the Badakhshan War ..................................................... 14
Receiving the vestments & coming to the Land of Rûm .............................. 22
Hajji Bektash Veli & Tapduk Emre ............................................................. 34
Hajji Bektash Veli & Ibrahim Hajji ............................................................... 35
Hajji Bektash & Baha’uddin Bostancı .......................................................... 37
Hajji Bektash Veli & One of God's Saints .................................................... 39
The Hamlet of Sinason .................................................................................... 40
The Quarreling Village ................................................................................... 41
The Village of Açık Saray ............................................................................ 42
Hajji Bektash Veli comes to Sulucakarahöyük ............................................. 44
Hajji Bektash & Nurettin Hoca ..................................................................... 50
The Suckling Calves ..................................................................................... 54
Five Stones Witness ...................................................................................... 55
The Apples .................................................................................................... 57
Hajji Bektash Veli & Kara Fakih .................................................................... 59
The Kneading Stone .......................................................................................... 60
Cutting a Stone ................................................................................................. 61
The Miraculous Wheat .................................................................................... 62
Hırka Dağ, Robe Mount .................................................................................. 65
Staying in the Kızılca Halvet ......................................................................... 67
Hajji Bektash Veli & Akça Koca Sultan ....................................................... 68
Opening a Window in the Retreat ................................................................... 70
Necmettin Kubra, Kavus Khan & Kara Donlu Can Baba ............................... 71
The Mongols & Huy Ata ................................................................................. 81
 THE SAINTLY EXPLOITS OF HAJJI BEKTASH VELI

Sarı Saltuk ........................................................................................................ 83

Hajji Bektash, Tapduk Emre & Yunus Emre ................................................... 88
Hajji Bektash Veli & Mevlana Rûmî .............................................................. 90
Hajji Bektash Veli & Seyit Mahmud Hayrani ................................................ 91
Hajji Bektash Veli & Akhi Evren .................................................................... 93
Hajji Bektash Veli & Çırak ............................................................................ 100
The Frogs show deference .............................................................................. 102
Bostancı Baba the Brigand ............................................................................ 103
The Priest who was a Believer ....................................................................... 105
The Coming of Mullah Sa`dettin .................................................................... 107
The Modesty of Kadıncık Ana ....................................................................... 121
The Hidden Saints ........................................................................................... 124
A Shepherd learns a lesson ............................................................................ 125
The Fate of Kayseri's Governor .................................................................... 127
Hajji Bektash Veli rescues a Ship .................................................................. 131
The Hünkâr & Kara Reis ...........................................,,,................................. 134
Hajji Bektash Veli & Sultan Seyit Gazi ....................,,................................. 136
Hajji Bektash Veli & Young Osman ...............................,,,,........................... 138
Hajji Bektash Veli & Prophet Khizr .....................................,,...................... 145
Hajji Bektash Veli & Emir Cem Sultan ......................................,,................ 147
The Man who brought shortbread rings to Hajji Bektash Veli ........,........... 148
The Tale of Güvenç Abdal ...............................,,........................................... 149

The Caliphs of Hajji Bektash

Cemal Seyit ..................................................................................................... 153
Sarı Ismail ....................................................................................................... 155
Hacım Sultan, the Open-Sleeved .................................................................. 158
Resul Baba ...................................................................................................... 167
Pir Ebi Sultan .............................................................................................. 169

The Passing of Hajji Bektash

The Last Request to Sarı Ismail .................................................................... 171
A Miracle after His Death & the Construction of His Tomb ....................... 174
Covering the Dome with Lead ........................................................................ 176
Postscript ........................................................................................................ 177

Glossary .......................................................................................................... 179

 A Note on Translation and Transcription

Due to the complexities faced in transcribing terms and names

originally written in the Ottoman-Arabic script but now rendered into
several modern writing systems, I have chosen to use the standardized
modern Turkish spellings for the sake of retaining a sense of context,
except in instances where the word is commonly known in English (for
example, Hajji rather than Hacı).

c ‘j,’ as in ‘jump.’
ç ‘ch’, as in ‘chair.’
ı ‘uh,’ as the ‘u’ in ‘radium.’
ğ silent, but it lengthens the preceding vowel sound.
ö a tightly rounded ‘oe’ sound.
ş ‘sh,’ as in ‘short.’
ü a tightly round ‘ew’ sound.
Pearl from the Sea of Divinity, display of Ali’s mystery,
Emperor of the seven climes you are, O Hajji Bektash Veli!
-Ali Resmi Baba
 Introduction

The Vilayetname is a classic work on the life of the 13th-century Islamic

mystic, Hajji Bektash Veli who is the eponymous founder of a popular dervish
brotherhood that is often viewed in modern times as the embodiment of both
Turkish and Balkan folk Islam. Although not as recognized in the West as
his contemporary Mevlana Rûmî (d. 1271), the reputation of Hajji Bektash
has long spilled over the borders of Anatolia, and he is a figure known and
venerated not only by Turks but by Muslims throughout the Balkans.
The traditional life of Hajji Bektash is presented in the pages of the
Vilâyetnâme-i Haci Bektâş-i Velî, the account of his saintly exploits. This world
was an incredibly popular in Bektashi circles during the Ottoman Empire,
and a great many lodges (tekkes) possessed copies of it. Consequently,
timeworn manuscripts of this work have survived to this day, the oldest
found to date going back to the 17th century. In 1958, the Vilayetname
was published in modern standard Turkish as a result of the efforts of the
distinguished scholar of Sufism, Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı. His work was derived
from a single manuscript that had been preserved in the mother tekke located
in the central Anatolian village of Hacıbektaş (Sulucakarahoyük). While
modern academics continue to deliberate the date in which the Vilayetname
was composed, Gölpınarlı believed that it was composed between 1481 CE
and 1501 CE, the year when Balım Sultan assumed the leadership of the
Bektashi order.
However, others point to an earlier date. John Kingsley Birge believed
that the Vilayetname was put together as early as the end of 14th century and he
based this possibility by examining the content of the work. For instance, the
Vilayetname mentions with considerable accuracy 13th century individuals and
historical events, such as the names of various Seljuk sultans, the invasion of
Anatolia by the Mongols, the siege of Baghdad by Hulagu Khan (1258 CE),
the futuvvet (chivalric) guilds as well as reference to several notable Anatolian
Sufis who lived during the course of the 13th and 14th centuries, specifically