Little is known of Gülşenī-i Saruḫānī’s life. Laṭīfī (d. 990/1582-83) states that he came to Anatolia during the
reign of Meḥmed II. Although he is referred to as “Saruḫanlı” in biographical sources, none of his works
mention the place name Saruḫān. According to Ebrahim Ferzan, he is actually from Şirvān, but some copyists mistook the name Şirvānī as Saruḫānī, thus spreading
the name Saruḫānī. Two facts strengthen this claim: firstly, that
he dedicated some of his poems to people who lived near Şirvānī
and secondly, that he had profound knowledge of the Persian language as observable in his works, his
Persian Dīvān and the Rāz-nāme . Therefore it can be deduced that Gülşenī most probably came
to Manisa after spending his early years in Şirvān, and was patronized by Şehzāde Meḥmed, who was known
for his patronage at the time. Some sources often confuse Gülşenī-i Saruḫānī with
İbrāhim Gülşenī (d. 940/1533-34) who was the founder of Gülşenīyye- Ḫalvetiyye order.
Also known as Pend-nāme, Maḳālāt-ı Gülşenī, Esrār-nāme The work was
composed in 864 and dedicated to
Meḥmed II. It consists of stories and maḳāles containing ethical, religious and sufi counsels.
The work was influenced by Farīd al-Dīn ‘Aṭṭār (d. 618/1221)’s Manṭiq al-Ṭayr and Pand-nāmah. The work also includes a verse
translation of some stories from Saʿdī-i Shīrāzī (d. 691/1291-92)’s Bustān.
