The Sufi World of Adile Sultan, “Sultan of the World and the Hereafter”

Authors : Şeyda Öztürk

Pages : 169-200

Doi:10.46231/sufiyye.1781011

View : 88 | Download : 107

Publication Date : 2025-12-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In the history of Sufism, only a limited number of biographical and ṭabaqāt sources provide early information about female mystics. Works of the wāridāt type, which illuminate the seyr u sulūq (spiritual journey) of women Sufis, are almost entirely absent. In this context, the scholarly writings of female Sufis, scholars, and poets—together with wāridāt -type treatises and dīwāns—function as hidden treasures that preserve significant insights into women’s engagement with Sufism. This study examines the mystical elements and reflections on the spiritual path in the Dīwān of Adile Sultan (1826–1899), daughter of Sultan Mahmud II. A nineteenth-century Ottoman princess, Adile Sultan not only recorded her own mystical experiences but also forged connections with tekkes (Sufi lodges) and sheikhs by attending gatherings and offering material and financial support. Historical sources emphasise her piety, generosity, and resolute character, alongside her talents in music, poetry, and calligraphy, and her contributions to education in her era. What sets her apart among Ottoman princesses is her authorship of a Dīwān, which uniquely reveals her emotional and intellectual world. Adile Sultan is the only woman of the Ottoman dynasty known to have composed such a work. While many studies discuss sultan–sheikh relations, her Dīwān offers particularly rich insights into a woman’s perspective on Sufism, her devotion, and her ties to mystics. A second major source is the set of waqfiyyas she left behind. Together with her Dīwān, they reveal the dervish dimension of a prominent Ottoman princess within the palace hierarchy and make visible the mystical journey she expressed in writing. At the dawn of the twentieth century, her accounts provide transparent evidence of palace–tekke–sheikh relations. In her Dīwān, the descriptions of the rules of the Sufi order, the relationships between disciple and master, the states and stages of mysticism, as well as the information she conveys about the spiritual lineage of the order, provide us with the opportunity to observe the spiritual journey of a female disciple who possessed both influence and material means.
Keywords : Tasavvuf, Âdile Sultan, Kadın, Âdile Sultan Dîvânı, Nakşibendiyye, Seyr u sülûk .

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