There is no much information about his life. The information found in the scholarship is partial and relies
on the biographical material such as Latifî’s Tezkiretü’ş-Şuarâ
and Mustafa Âli’s Künhü’l-Ahbâr. Modern scholars agree that
he was born in Bursa around the mid fourteenth century and was
both, the son of Ahmed Paşa
and a descendant of Şeyh Mahmud
who in turn was the son of Edebâli, author of a commentary on the Fusûsü’l-hikem. Although the evidence is inconclusive, it has been suggested
that he could have been the preacher of the Grand Mosque of
Bursa during the reign of Bayezid I.
His actual dates of birth and death are unknown. Most biographies agree that Süleyman Çelebi wrote the
Vesîletü’n-Necât
after he listened a sermon and witnessed how the audience followed the misleading argument of the preacher.
The orator misspelled a Qur’anic verse regarding the prophets and announced that there is no difference
between Jesus and prophet Muḥammad. Accordingly, Süleyman Çelebi wrote his work
in order to reject these opinions and to declare the superiority of
the prophet Muḥammad over all other prophets.
Most of the existing scholarship regards Sūlaymān Chalabī’s Vesîletü’n-Necât as the first Turkish example of the genre of mevlid. It is the only work written by the
author. It is in the mathnawi format and written in a simple Turkish. One verse that appears in some of the copies
of the text reveals that Vesîletü’n-Necât was composed
in 1409 when the author is sixty years old. Sūlaymān Chalabī probably inspired from the earlier Arabic and Turkish siyar texts. In this respect,
Tahir Alangu finds similarities between the introductions to Vesîletü’n-Necât and Âşık Paşa’s mathnawi
Garibnâme (composed in 1332).
Also, he draws attention to the similarities especially of the parts on the birth of the prophet Muhammad in
Vesîletü’n-Necât with a siyar text translated by
Erzurumlu Mustafa Darîr bin Yusuf in 1388.
F. Lyman MacCallum divides the texts into
nine sections: A song of invocation and praise to Allah; A brief request (always carefully observed in recitals) for
prayers for the author, “Süleyman the lowly”; A discourse on the “Light of Muhammad”, or the prophetic succession;
The birth of Muhammad; The “Merhaba”, a triumphant chorus of welcome to the new-born Prophet; Further recital of
the marvels attending the birth; The miracles of the Prophet; The “Miradj” or heavenly journey of the prophet;
Concluding confession and prayer. From the time it had been written until now, Vesîletü’n-Necât has become one of the most popular siyar text. During the Ottoman
period, especially after the reign of Murad III (r. 1574-1595) reading Vesîletü’n-Necât aloud became an important part of the mevlid celebrations conducted
by the palace. Vesîletü’n-Necât has been read aloud
in other occasions too, such as births, funerals and circumcision ceremonies.
Most of the existing scholarship regards Sūlaymān Chalabī’s Vesîletü’n-Necât as the first Turkish example of the genre of mevlid. It is the only work written by the
author. It is in the mathnawi format and written in a simple Turkish. One verse that appears in some of the copies
of the text reveals that Vesîletü’n-Necât was composed
in 1409 when the author is sixty years old. Sūlaymān Chalabī probably inspired from the earlier Arabic and Turkish siyar texts. In this respect,
Tahir Alangu finds similarities between the introductions to Vesîletü’n-Necât and Âşık Paşa’s mathnawi
Garibnâme (composed in 1332).
Also, he draws attention to the similarities especially of the parts on the birth of the prophet Muhammad in
Vesîletü’n-Necât with a siyar text translated by
Erzurumlu Mustafa Darîr bin Yusuf in 1388.
F. Lyman MacCallum divides the texts into
nine sections: A song of invocation and praise to Allah; A brief request (always carefully observed in recitals) for
prayers for the author, “Süleyman the lowly”; A discourse on the “Light of Muhammad”, or the prophetic succession;
The birth of Muhammad; The “Merhaba”, a triumphant chorus of welcome to the new-born Prophet; Further recital of
the marvels attending the birth; The miracles of the Prophet; The “Miradj” or heavenly journey of the prophet;
Concluding confession and prayer. From the time it had been written until now, Vesîletü’n-Necât has become one of the most popular siyar text. During the Ottoman
period, especially after the reign of Murad III (r. 1574-1595) reading Vesîletü’n-Necât aloud became an important part of the mevlid celebrations conducted
by the palace. Vesîletü’n-Necât has been read aloud
in other occasions too, such as births, funerals and circumcision ceremonies.
Most of the existing scholarship regards Sūlaymān Chalabī’s Vesîletü’n-Necât as the first Turkish example of
the genre of mevlid. It is the only work written by the author. It is in the mathnawi format and written in a
simple Turkish. One verse that appears in some of the copies of the text reveals that
Vesîletü’n-Necât was
composed in 1409 when the author is sixty years old. Sūlaymān Chalabī probably inspired from the earlier Arabic and Turkish siyar texts. In this respect,
Tahir Alangu finds similarities between the introductions to Vesîletü’n-Necât and Âşık Paşa’s mathnawi
Garibnâme (composed in 1332).
Also, he draws attention to the similarities especially of the parts on the birth of the prophet Muhammad in
Vesîletü’n-Necât
with a siyar text translated by Erzurumlu Mustafa Darîr bin Yusuf in 1388. F. Lyman MacCallum
divides the texts into nine sections: A song of invocation and praise to Allah; A brief request (always carefully
observed in recitals) for prayers for the author, “Süleyman the lowly”; A discourse on the “Light of Muhammad”,
or the prophetic succession; The birth of Muhammad; The “Merhaba”, a triumphant chorus of welcome to the new-born
Prophet; Further recital of the marvels attending the birth; The miracles of the Prophet; The “Miradj” or heavenly
journey of the prophet; Concluding confession and prayer. From the time it had been written until now,
Vesîletü’n-Necât
has become one of the most popular siyar text. During the Ottoman period, especially after the reign of
Murad III (r. 1574-1595) reading Vesîletü’n-Necât aloud became an important part of the mevlid celebrations
conducted by the palace. Vesîletü’n-Necât has been read aloud in other occasions too, such as births, funerals and circumcision ceremonies.
