İnsan âlem ilişkisi bağlamında Seyyid Harun Veli

This study examines Seyyid Harun Veli’s understanding of the human-universe (insan-âlem) relationship, focusing on his migration from Khorasan to Anatolia in the early 14th century to found the city of Seydişehir. The primary source for the analysis is the hagiography titled Makalât-ı Seyyid Harun Veli, which was written in 1554 by his ninth-generation descendant, Abdulkerim bin Şeyh Musa. The article argues that the conception of the human-universe relationship presented in the Makalât has a dual structure. On one hand, it portrays the practical action of Seyyid Harun, who renounced worldly power and, upon a divine command, built a new city on the ruins of an abandoned ancient city (Vervelid). This reflects an active form of asceticism (zühd) that engages with the world as a field of activity for the sake of the afterlife, rather than complete withdrawal. On the other hand, the study points to the Sufi understanding of creation and the cosmos detailed in the final section of the Makalât, based on the “four doors, forty stations” doctrine. Seyyid Harun’s founding of a city as a dervish is a unique case in Anatolia and the Balkans. In conclusion, the study asserts that Seyyid Harun’s actions exemplify a holistic worldview that integrates spiritual purpose with worldly endeavors, spiritually revitalizing geography and society. It opens the doors to a new way of knowing and produces knowledge that will enable us to review our relationship with the universe as an alternative to the ways of knowing we have.