God-Lover Fedâî Baba From Amasya And Sufi Culture

Abstract

FedâîBaba was born in 1855 in Yassiçal, one of the central villages of Amasya, and he passed away in 1940. It is rumored that this Aşik who had a different personality stayed in tombs in his childhood. He studied madrasa in Amasya for a while. According to a widespread rumour, he left madrasa before he completed his education. In Erbaa, a town in Tokat province, he received the Sufi knowledge from Deruni Baba descended from entombed Sheikh Mahmut Veli. There are two hundred and fifty two known poems belonging to this Aşik whose miracles have been told. FedâîBaba, known for his ingenuity in his dreams in accordance with the tradition of loveliest poetry, can not play the saz, but has the ability to sing poetic poem. He is a kind traveler as he frequently visits Amasya as a folk Aşik. He sang poems in accordance with both Ottoman and folk poetry styles. The poems which he composed in ottoman poetry style are more complex than his poems in folk poetry in terms of language. FedâîBaba who seems to have the ability towards poetry has a lyrical style. It is seen that his poems reflect this tradition as he is a member of the Alevi Bektashi tradition, which expresses the essence of the Sufi tradition such as "ILMI ledün, mürşit, zikir, dört kapi, ilahi aşk, tevhit". He masterfully blended the basic features of Sufism and Bektashi cultures in his poems. Amasya has an important place in Alevi Bektashi culture. FedâîBaba has not been investigated much even though he had a strong influence in this area. In this work, his biography has been focused and in line with his poems his prominence and mysticism in Alevi Bektashi culture has been put forward. This Aşik, who should be considered as a value of Amasya, tried to educate the public and show the right way to them. In his eighty-five year long life, he continued the previous tradition successfully and tried to establish brotherhood within Anatolian society.