Biography, Works and Thoughts of Sheikh Ibrahim Gulshani Tabrizi

Sheikh Ibrahim Gulshani Tabrizi, one of the mystics of 9-10th centruries (A.H) was born in 830 in Diarbakir, a city located in present Turkey. His father, Sheikh Mohammad Amedi, was a dexterous athour, having published some volumes in Islamic jurisprudence, theology and logic as well. Seeking knowledge, Sheikh Ibrahim set off for Transoxiana but settled in Tabriz, after being paid attention by Uzun Hassan, a Sultan of Aq Qoyunlu dynasty. Gulshani, a Sunni Muslim who followed the mystical Tariqa of Khalwatiyya recieved the teachings of the Tariqa from his master Dadah Umar Roushani, after whose demise he sat on the cloth of guidance.  By the invasion of Qizilbash waroirs to Tabriz, he returned to Diarbakir and then headed to Qairo, where he started to found a Tikya to breed and guide his disciples, having received the attention of the Mamalik and Ottoman sultans respectively. Gulshani passed away and was burried in his Tikya but his traits and Tariqa was spread all over the Ottoman empire by his followers under the title of Tariqa of Gulshaniyya, as a subdivision of Khalwatiyya. Gulshani, whose Tariqa survived the 14^th century (A.H) left numerous Arabic, Persian and Turkish mystical works in prose and poetry. Today, his tomb, Mosque, Tikya, Madras and etc. remains in the ruins of monumental complex of Astane Gulshani in Bab-uz-Zawila, Qairo, Egypt.