Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. I

by Evliya Çelebi

Sixth. The station of Seyyid Battál Ghází in the sky-smiting belfry of the church.

Seventh. The station of Bábá Ja’fer Sultán, Ambassador of Hárúnu-r-rashíd.

Eighth. The station of Sheïkh Maksúd Sultán, the companion of Bábá Ja’fer. These two, with the king’s (i.e. the Greek emperor’s) permission, both offered up prayers on the eastern side of the mosque, within the sepulchral gate (Turbeh-kapú-sí), at the places now bearing their name.

Eighth. The station of Salomon, who is said to have offered up prayer on the ground where Ayá Sófiyah now stands, at the place called the Green Mihráb, to the right of the Minber.

Ninth. The station of Khizr, beneath the gilt ball in the centre of the cupola, is a place where some thousands of holy men have enjoyed the happiness of discoursing with that great prophet.

Tenth. The station of the forty, to the south of the platform of the Muëzzins, is a place where the ground is paved with forty stones of various colours, and where forty holy men stood when the extraordinary accident which happened to Gulábí Aghá took place.

Narrative of Gulábí Aghá.

Gulábí Aghá, Rikáb dár (stirrup-holder) of Sultán Suleïmán, a pious man, who died at the age of 151 years, relates that in consequence of the great plague in the reign of Sultán Selím II., which at Islámból carried off three thousand souls every day, that prince ordered the prayer Istiská to be proclaimed during three days; and that the mosque being much crowded on the holy night Kadr, in order to hear the sermon of the Sheïkh (i.e. Doctor) of the order of Beshiktásh Evliyá Efendí, the Sultán ordered the people present to be numbered. This Sheïkh, who was born at Tareb-afzún (Trapezonde), was a foster-brother of Sultán Suleïmán. The throng to hear his sermon was so great that all the people of Islámból filled the mosque three days before he preached. Sheïkh Yahyá being now in the middle of his sermon, and the whole multitude listening to his admonitions with their utmost attention, Gulábí Aghá, who was in the midst of the crowd, felt himself much distressed by a necessity of withdrawing. His body began to swell like the kettle-drum of Bagdad; he stood up two or three times on tip-toes to see whether there was no possibility of making his way through the multitude, but saw that a man must needs be engulfed in this ocean of men. He was ready to die for shame when he addressed himself to the forty, on the station of whom he was then standing, and begged of them to save him from being disgraced by exposure to the crowd. At that moment he saw a stately man standing near him, in the dress of a Sipáhí (soldier), who said to him, “I will release thee from thy pain;” and thus saying, stretched his sleeve over Gulábí’s head, who instantly found himself transported into a meadow on the bank of the stream near Kághid-khánah. His pain and distress were removed forthwith; and in a moment afterwards he was again in the same place in the mosque. When the sermon was finished all the hundred and one gates were shut except the large one at the south side, where the Defterdár Dervísh Chelebí, son of the Sheïkh Bábá Nakkásh, placed himself with his attendants in order to count all those who were then present in the mosque and its three stories of galleries, whose numbers amounted to fifty-seven thousand men. Gulábí Aghá not having the least doubt that the Sípáhí, who had transported him so charitably into the meadows of Kághid Khánah, was no other than the prophet Khizr himself, laid hold of the skirt of his robe, saying, “I am thy slave, O King! and will never again quit thee.” The Sipáhí answered him very roughly, “Be gone, man! We are not the man of whom thou speakest.” Gulábí Aghá, however, laid hold of him the faster; and the Sipáhí twice boxed his ears, and thus they made their way through the crowd. Gulábí, however, would not lose sight of him, and following him very close, saw him enter a place of retirement near Ayá Sófiyah. Gulábí waited for some time at the door, when, lo! it opened, and there came out a young cook of the Janissaries, elegantly dressed, with his official knife and silver chains. Gulábí instantly laid hold of him; but the Janissary cried out, “Begone, man, thou art mad!” Gulábí, notwithstanding, would not loose his hold; on which the cook of the Janissaries gave him a good thump, and entered a Búzah khánah in the market of Ayá Sófiyah, where he ate some kabábs and bread and drank búzah (a kind of beer), without taking the least notice of Gulábí. The Janissary went out and Gulábí followed him into a narrow street, where finding they were alone, he threw himself down at his feet, and entreated him, saying, “Be gracious to me, O Prophet, and grant me thy love!” The Janissary answered, “O seeker! although thou art a faithful lover, thou art not yet ripe, but wantest much of perfection, and must still undergo many trials; but as, notwithstanding my rebuffs, thou followedst me with unabated zeal, I will now bring thee to an old man, in whose company thou shalt remain forty days without opening thy lips or asking concerning any men or things that shall pass under thine eye.” He then, in that solitary place, knocked at a low and dirty gate, which was opened by an old camel-lipped negro, who pushed them both into the house. Gulábí, when he had recovered his senses, found himself in an assembly of men, who saluted him and received his salutations in return. The Janissary changed dress, and took the chief seat, after having kissed the hand of the old man, to whom he related Gulábí’s adventures. The Sheïkh said, “If he has renounced the world and all the pleasures of the senses, he is welcome in this assembly of Forty.” Gulábí then remained three days and three nights without eating or drinking. His house, family, and relations at U’n-kapání came into his mind; but he put his trust in the Almighty and resigned himself to his will. On the fourth, the old man said, “Now look to the business entrusted to you by God.” At the same time the man, who had first assumed the shape of a Sipáhí and then of a Janissary, stood up and brought out from a closet thirty-eight kinds of weapons, one of which he laid before thirty-eight of the men in company, placing before himself a Janissary’s basin with water in it. Gulábí being eager to drink, his guide said, “Have patience, we shall this day see whether this place be attainable by thee.” Some time afterwards there appeared on the opposite side, a male child; and one of the company, taking his sword, immediately cut off its head. “Friend,” said Gulábí, “why did you kill that boy? Did not I say, do not be curious?” replied his companion, the Janissary. Next appeared two men pursued by a lion, who tore one of them to pieces and eat him up, while the other saved himself by taking shelter behind the Sheïkh. Gulábí asking for an explanation, received the same answer. Next came an innocent little child pursued by a wolf. One of the men, sitting on the prayer-carpet (sejjádeh), took his bow and arrow and shot the beast dead; after which the child vanished in a corner. Three men then appeared on the other side, two of whom were hanged by the Sheïkh’s permission; and the third was about to be hanged, when Gulábí begun to intercede with the Sheïkh for his life. The Janissary seizing Gulábí by the collar, made him sit down in his place, and said, “Did I not tell you to have patience for forty days?” At that moment the water in the basin before the Janissary began to boil and bubble, and two small ships appeared upon it, one of which, by the Janissary’s aid, was saved, but the other perished with all its crew and passengers, except a little boy and girl who escaped to the edge of the basin. The Janissary pushing the innocent boy into the water, he was drowned; but the girl he drew out of the basin. Gulábí crying out, “Why didst thou drown that innocent boy, and why were all those Muselmáns lost in that ship?” The Sheïkh, from his seat as President, said, “Let us give a bit of bread to this man; and come let us offer up a prayer for him in the presence of these Forty.” So they all treated him with kindness and gave him a loaf of bread, an akchah, a piece of gold, a bunch of grapes, a date, and an olive; and prayed for him that he might continue in good health till his happy end, be honoured among the angels, preserved from misfortunes, heavenly and earthly, and die, after a long and prosperous life, under the shadow of the banner of the prophet of God. The whole company, at the termination of the prayer, said “Amen!” The Janissary and the negro door-keeper then laying hold of Gulábí’s collar, said, “Close thy eyes!” He closed his eyes, and on opening them again, suddenly found himself in one of the taverns at Ghalatah, where a crowd of drunken Janissaries hailed him; saying, “Come, old man, and drink a pot with us!” Gulábí, who had fasted three days, and supposed these Janissaries to be of the same kind as that who had been his guide, removed his hunger by partaking of the food prepared in the tavern. At length, when sunset was near, he took a boat to return to the U’n-kapání. On coming into a narrow street he was assailed by two drunken Janissaries, who stripped him of his turban and his sable robe, and said they would kill him if he did not drink another cup of wine. Whether he would or not, he was compelled to drink it. So he returned home naked, and never afterwards left his house again, having abandoned the world and given himself up to a spiritual life, in which he soon became a great man. He dwelt within the U’n-kapání among the goldsmiths, bestowing great liberalities on all comers and goers, to the astonishment of all men. Having heard the account of these extraordinary events which befel the late Gulábí Aghá (to whom God has granted mercy and pardon) at the station of the Forty, in Ayá Sófiyah, from his own mouth, it appeared proper to insert it here. The proof of it rests with the relater. One of the traditions of the Prophet says, “A liar is he who makes a story out of everything he hears.” We now return to our description of the stations in Ayá Sófiyah.

Eleventh. The station of the Apostles on the eastern side of the gallery.

Twelfth. The station of Ak Shemsu-d-dín, near the Sweating Column, which stands on the western side of the South gate. It is a square marble pillar eleven cubits high, and cased to a mans height with brass. It sweats day and night, winter and summer.