Tevfik Efendi, the father of our esteemed Şefik Can, was from the Nakala Village of Ardahan. He was the son of Hacı Hilmi Efendi, a highly respected scholar who served as a professor at the Pervizoğlu Madrasa in Erzurum, a significant center of science and education during that era. Tevfik Efendi received both material and spiritual education from his father at a young age. He also studied at the best madrasas and schools of his time. For many years, he taught history at a Kız Rüştiyesi (Junior High School) in Erzurum. Later, he continued his service as a Mufti at his own request. During World War I, he fled the atrocities committed by Armenians in Erzurum and settled in the Yıldızelı district of Sivas. During the war years, he made intensive efforts to protect unity and solidarity in the region, to educate the ignorant public against the misapplications made in the name of religion, and contributed to the peace and tranquility of our country with his knowledge and wisdom through his personal endeavors. During the difficult days of our War of Independence, his commendable services as an enlightened religious figure were appreciated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who later sent him a special letter of gratitude signed "Mustafa Kemal, Speaker of the National Assembly." 

Our esteemed teacher, Şefik Can, a distinguished member of such a broad, deep-rooted, materially and spiritually knowledgeable, and enlightened family, was born in 1909 in the village of Tebricik in Erzurum (officially recorded as 1910). At a very young age, he deeply experienced the hardships, pains, and sufferings brought about by the First World War and our War of Independence. In those same years, while still a small child, he lost his mother, Gülşen Hanım. Despite all his father's efforts and endeavors, he grew up with the burning pain of longing for his mother, which never ceased.

Şefik Can, who closely experienced all the poverty and hardships our country went through during our War of Independence, had to wear the torn coats of Greek soldiers who were shattered by the blows of their butts in order to protect themselves from the severe winter cold during his student days in Tokat. He attended Tokat Military Secondary School in a school that was converted from a very old church into a school, with no electricity or running water, taught by the light of a kerosene lamp with a wick, slept on the grass in the dormitory, half hungry, half full, with a great love for his homeland and a deep devotion.

In those years, in terms of the defense, strength and well-being of our country, in order to replace the officers and soldiers we lost during the War of Independence and to strengthen the defense of the country as soon as possible, Military Secondary Schools were reduced to two years and students were immediately enrolled in high school. Thus, Şefik Can, who graduated from Tokat Military Secondary School in two years, started Istanbul Kuleli Military High School in the 1926-1927 academic year.

(I tried to present the above lines with the wish to remember once again, even if only with a few lines, how much pain and hardship has been suffered in order to protect our homeland and national integrity, which is above all else, and to be able to walk freely in the lands we live on, and how important it is for us to protect our homeland, which is watered with the blood of 400 thousand martyrs, today as it was in the past)

Unlike the secondary school in Tokat, Kuleli Military High School, which was not much affected by the poverty brought about by the war, graduated in 1929 and the Military Academy in 1931. In his memoirs, Şefik Can said, "I can say that my 4-year school life between 1927 and 1931 contains the most emotional and beautiful years of my 96 years of life." His very close schoolmates who accompanied him in these most beautiful years of his life were Faruk Gürler, Semih Sancar and General Hasan Polatkan, who left their mark on a period in our country by serving as Chief of the General Staff, and Nuri, the son of Tatar İzzet Pasha, one of Atatürk's closest schoolmates. His friendship with these very valuable schoolmates continued in the most sincere way throughout their lives.

Şefik Can, who graduated from the Military Academy as the nineteenth out of five hundred graduates, started to work as an Accountant at the Haydarpaşa Military Veterinary School in 1932 after a one-year education at the Quartermaster High School in Istanbul Yıldız Palace, which was the Military Academy in the 1930s. Şefik Can, who also wrote stories and articles for well-known cultural and literary magazines such as Yeni Adam, Turkish Art, Bilgi Yurdu, one of the popular magazines of the period, participated in the story contest opened by Yeni Adam magazine in 1934 with the story "Deli İsa" and received an award in this contest. Due to his extreme interest in literature, history, learning and teaching, he attended the Literature and History departments of Istanbul University in the same years. His attendance at the university without permission from his commanders was deemed inappropriate by the military authorities. He was removed from Istanbul and appointed as an Assistant Warehouse Manager in Vize, Kırklareli.

Şefik Can Hoca, who had been called "Mehmet Şefik Yenihan" since primary school because another name of the town of Yıldızeli in Sivas, where he spent his childhood days, was Yenihan, took the surname "Balcı" when the surname law was passed in 1934, Since his father, whom he cared for and valued very much throughout his life, had addressed him with the word "Can", which is a local name in Erzurum, he took the surname "Can" as a sign of respect to his father, unlike his entire family.

In Vize, where he served as a young lieutenant, he applied for a teaching position many times due to his unquenchable passion for literature and teaching, and was turned down by the regiment commander İshak Avni Pasha, who said "There are many teachers in this country, but I cannot find a soldier like you".

In 1937, upon the death of Ali Ekrem Bolayır, the son of Namık Kemal, the famous journalist, politician, poet and writer of Tanzimat Literature, who was a teacher at Maltepe Military High School, he continued to teach literature at Kuleli High School and Maltepe Military High School.

In 1941, he married Müşfika Pasin, the niece of Kadri Raşit Pasha, a well-known Ottoman pasha, and the daughter of Miralay Mehmet Refik Pasin, the pharmacist of Abdûlhamit Khan. From this marriage, two daughters, Mine in 1942 and Gülşen in 1946, were born.

In 1941, due to the Second World War, Kuleli Military High School moved to Konya and Maltepe Military High School moved to Akşehir. In those years, Tâhirü'l Mevlevi Hazretleri, to whom Şefik Can Hodja was deeply attached, did not want to leave Istanbul and go to Konya during the war years. Since he was a civilian teacher, he resigned from Kuleli Military High School and continued his duty at Darüşafaka High School. Şefik Can Hodja had to leave his beloved Murshid and was assigned to Akşehir and then to Kırıkkale Military Art Institute as the director of teaching. Staying in Kırıkkale until 1949, Şefik Can Hoca started to work as a Literature teacher at Kuleli Military High School again in 1950. In 1965, until his retirement from the Konya Non-Commissioned Officer School Teaching Directorate, he worked as a teacher of Literature and Turkish Literature in various military schools, and after his retirement, in civilian colleges and high schools.

Our teacher Şefik Can, who said "If I were born a thousand times, I would want to be a teacher again", dedicated his whole life to science, education and teaching until his last breath. In addition to his fluency in Arabic, Persian, English and French, he also wrote a grammar in Russian, which he learned on his own without a teacher. This work has not yet been published.

Şefik Can, who has shaped his whole life according to spiritual values since his childhood, especially with the inspiration and love he received from His Holiness Tâhirü'l Mevlevi, had a great admiration for Hz. Mevlana and his teachings and spent his blessed life devoted to Hz. Mevlana and his works. He continued his Mesnevi lessons, which he started in 1960 with the "Mesnevihan" icazat he received from His Holiness Tâhirü'l Mevlevi, until his last breath. He received a high service award in 2001 for his studies on Hz. Mevlana and his works.

His published works are as follows:

1. Mevlânâ and Plato, Konya İleri Printing House 1965; Second edition, Gelenek Publications, 2004

2. Classical Greek Mythology, İnkılap Publishing House, 1970.

3. Mevlâna Rubais, Ministry of Culture, 1991.

4. Mevlâna Life, Personality, Ideas, Ötüken Publishing House, 1995.

5. Explanatory Mesnevi Translation According to Subjects, Ötüken Publications, 1997.

6. Dîvân -ı Kebîr Selections, Ötüken Publications, 1999.

7. Commentary on the 5th and 6th volumes of the Mesnevi, which Tâhirü’l Mevlevî could not annotate due to his death, Şamil Publishing House 2000

8. Cevâhir-î Mesneviyye, Ötüken Publishing House, 2001

9. Güldeste - 50 poems selected from Hz. Mevlânâ by Erzurumlu İbrahim Hakkı Hz., with their originals, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Publications, 2001

10. Mesnevi Stories, Ötüken Publishing House, 2003.

11. Mevlâna Life, Personality, Ideas, English Translation, Işık Publications, 2004.

12. Selections from Mesnevî for Schools, Ötüken Publications, 2005.

Dear friends; as can be seen, our teacher Şefik Can, who dedicated his entire life to science, education, and teaching, has always been a sought-after and distinguished guest at the conversation days held in the mansions of very valuable figures of the period, such as Tâhirü’l Mevlevî, Mithat Bahari, Ahmet Avni Konuk, İsmail Hâmi Danişment, İbn-ül Emin Mahmut Kemal, and Seniha Bedri Göknil, attended by the great scholars, literary figures, artists, and Sufis of the time. With his broad perspective, intellectual personality, and the high value he placed on all our tangible and intangible values, thought, art, artists, literature, and history, our teacher Şefik Can, who lived his life to the fullest within a wide circle of friends, witnessed the entirety of the 1900s with his knowledge and wisdom. With his passion for Hz. Mevlânâ and the Mesnevi, and dedicated to education and teaching, some of the very valuable figures from history whom he met and befriended during his ninety-six years of blessed life are as follows:

In 1919, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk came to Sivas for the Sivas Congress, as a third-grade student, he went to welcome him with his teachers and friends, unknowingly witnessing our recent history, and saw Atatürk up close for the first time. Years later, as a student at the War School, our teacher Şefik Can, who unexpectedly attended the Silah Fenni (Weaponry) class with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who came to inspect the school without prior notice, followed and listened to the lesson with Atatürk until the end. After graduating from the War School, he accompanied Atatürk as a young lieutenant during a trip.

Our teacher Şefik Can, who, after returning from Egypt, went through a long period of illness, met and befriended Mehmet Akif Ersoy, our Independence Anthem poet, by visiting him in the hospital; over time, on various occasions, he also met Kazım Karabekir Pasha, Marshal Fevzi Çakmak Pasha, as mentioned above, Presidents Semih Sancar and Faruk Gürler Pasha, General Hasan Polatkan, İzzet Pasha of Çanakkale, one of Atatürk's close school friends, Kenan Evren Pasha, Halide Edip Adıvar, Rabindranath Tagore, Orhan Seyfi Orhon, Raif Nejdet, Muhiddin Raif, Cemil Sena, Aziz Nesin, Nazım Hikmet, Necip Fazıl, Muhsin Ertuğrul, Hüseyin Siyret, Ferit Kam, Rıza Tevfik, Ali Nihat Tarlan, Fuad Köprülü, Hasan Ali Yücel, İbrahim Alaaddin Gövsa, Feridun Nafiz Uzluk, Süheyl Ünver, Tahsin Yazıcı, Abdulkadir Akçiçek, Ömer Rıza Doğrul, Mehmet Zeki Pakalın, Elmalı Hamdi Yazır, Hattad Hamid Aytaç, Abdulbaki Gölpınarlı, H. Hilmi Işık, Ali Ulvi Kurucu, Yusuf Ziya Ortaç, Şukufe Nihal, Semiha Ayverdi, Seniha Bedri Göknil, Ayten Lermioğlu, Sofi Huri, Annemarie Schimmel, Suudul Mevlevi, Neyzen Tevfik, Ahmet Kabaklı, Eşref Edip, Peyami Safa, Hacı Sami Ramazanoğlu, Adıyamanlı Raşit Efendi, Şemseddin Yeşil, Ladikli Ahmet Ağa, Necmeddin Efendi, Muzaffer Ozak Efendi, Remzi Dede, Süleyman Hayati Dede, Yaman Dede, Selman Tüzün Dede, Hakkı Dede, Münir Çelebi, Esedullah Keymen Çelebi, Celâleddin Çelebi, Şemsi Ergüneş, Osman Senai, Ziya Şoşot, Mahmut Sadettin Bilginer, Ahmet Tahir Efendi, Mustafa Efendi, Selahaddin Efendi, Muhiddin Efendi.

As can be seen, our teacher Şefik Can became a close companion of very valuable figures whose names we can only read and learn about from books. I would like to state once again that he lived through every moment of the painful collapse of a great empire, the disappearance of a deep-rooted culture, and the agonizing birth of our Republic, deeply feeling the historical identity and fabric of our country. If his weary days spent serving the path of truth and righteousness had been researched and examined by experts, a separate book could have been written for each year he lived, and various aspects of our many tangible and intangible national values buried in time could have been brought to light, opening various horizons in our hearts. Although I am not qualified, I have made an effort to compile some of his memories. God willing, I will be able to share them with you in due course.

LITERARY PERSONALITY

The divine love overflowing from the heart of our teacher Şefik Can manifested itself in the form of service and affection for people. His own life experience and the social and cultural conditions of the era he lived in led him to the works of Hz. Mevlânâ, which he saw as the most urgent need of people. He prepared his works by blending them with the divine love in his heart, in the clearest, simplest, and most artistic form of expression, to the extent that everyone could understand, in a literary style. In his works, a sensitive temperament, a deep-rooted culture, a solid language, a profound knowledge of literature and history, meticulous attention, strong intuition, a broad understanding of Sufism, and a mastery of divan literature reaching the level of love are immediately noticeable. He always felt the sadness of not being able to serve more, let alone valuing these works he prepared by dedicating his life to them. He valued meaning more than matter, avoided fame, was unpretentious, modest, and wanted his works to be known, read, and appreciated only by a limited but understanding group of connoisseurs, rather than being printed and published widely. His only ambition and passion in life was Hz. Mevlânâ. With both his spiritual character and his high moral beauty, he always reflected the exemplary personality of Hz. Mevlânâ in his life in the best way, with his knowledge, piety, love, affection, and other states and behaviors, and led those around him. Our teacher Şefik Can's passion for Hz. Mevlânâ, who strived to live what he knew to be true in the truest way, reached a level of surrender, loyalty, commitment, and strong faith.

Although it seems very difficult to separate the life of our teacher Şefik Can, who lived his life as a tangible and intangible whole, I would like to first present its spiritual dimension to the extent that I can understand and explain it. With the perfection reflected from the mirror of Hz. Mevlânâ, his respect for people and thought, his vast tolerance, and the infinite humility bestowed by God, our teacher Şefik Can, whose sole purpose was to serve people selflessly, as is known, his first mentor was Tâhirü’l Mevlevi, but it was his late father, Mufti Tevfik Efendi, who prepared and raised him for those days. He memorized verses of Hz. Mevlânâ, Sheikh Sadi, and Hafiz from his father at a young age. He was influenced and admired by the name Tâhirü’l Mevlevi, which would never lose its impact on him in his nearly a century of life, for the first time by hearing it from his father, who read the poems of Tâhirü’l Mevlevi in the Sebilürreşat Journal with great interest and excitement.

Years later, when he introduced his father, whom he valued greatly, to his mentor, he considered himself the luckiest person in the world. I would like to present to you below, as a blessing, a quatrain from the poem “Hz. Prophet's Supplication in the Battle of Badr,” which was the last poem published by Tâhirü’l Mevlevi in the Sebilürreşat Journal.

O Lord, this army of zeal

If You make it captive to fatigue

Islam will be wasted, my Lord

Its day will be worse than the day before, my Lord

His esteemed father, Müftü Tevfik Efendi, was affiliated with Şeyh Bedrettin Osman Efendi, one of the prominent spiritual figures of the time. He was an enlightened religious scholar with profound knowledge, capable of commenting on the works of Ibn-i Fariz. I would like to briefly mention here, as it is relevant to our topic, that Said Nursi visited Tevfik Efendi with a close friend and stayed as a guest in their home. He stayed up all night, reading and examining these commentaries, which were prepared as handwritten manuscripts by Şükrü Efendi, the calligrapher uncle of our Hodja Şefik Can, with great admiration. Said Nursi wrote and signed words of praise on one page of the work he read, related to Müftü Tevfik Efendi and the work he commented on. This work was gifted to a close friend recently at the request of our Hodja Şefik Can.

Returning to our topic, with the joy of the spiritual education he received from his father at a young age, he became affiliated with Tâhirü’l Mevlevî in 1935, whom he had the grace to meet in his high school years. In his own words, in a father-son relationship, he spent 16 years with great love, respect and affection until the passing of Hazret in 1951. Our Hodja Şefik Can, repeating at every opportunity that this companionship was a great divine favor for him, said in his memoirs; "Look at this beautiful unification of God, I received my material and spiritual teaching certificate from the blessed hand of Tâhirü’l Mevlevî, with his signature."

Their legendary acquaintance has been published repeatedly in various media outlets over time. Therefore, although I will not go into much detail here for now, I cannot help but mention this. As it is known, our Hodja Şefik Can first went to Tâhirü’l Mevlevî's mansion to ask for a book when he was a student at Kuleli Military High School, but Hazret did not give him the book, saying; "I cannot give you the book! If you want, come and read it inside." Our Hodja Şefik Can insisted on taking the book and leaving, refusing to enter the house. As a result, Tâhirü’l Mevlevî Hazretleri; sent him back without giving the book, saying, 'If you want the book, you come and read it inside!' This situation, which upset our Hodja Şefik Can very much in those days, reminds me of Yunus Emre going to Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli to ask for wheat. According to the روایت; While Yunus Emre insisted on taking the wheat and leaving, Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli insisted on saying, 'Forget about the wheat, let me give you himmet.' Of course, Tâhirü’l Mevlevî Hazretleri's insistence on saying, 'Don't take the book and leave, come and read it inside,' was not just a coincidental word stemming from book addiction. There was a great wisdom behind it. That is why, years later, their paths crossed again in that blessed house, which was like a school of wisdom, and he gave an important place to our Hodja Şefik Can, whom he called "my son", both in his heart and in his mansion, and raised him as his successor to continue the service after him. With the unchanging beautiful destiny of God, these two great Mevlânâ lovers, who were like one soul in two separate bodies, continued their sixteen years of togetherness with love and affection with great respect and love until the passing of Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri, leaving a deep mark in Şefik Can Hodja's ninety-six years of life that was never erased from his heart.

After Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri, he had a spiritual affiliation with Mevlevi Sheikh Mithat Bahari Hazretleri, but this relationship was more in the form of two friends than a murshid-murid relationship. Very valuable and well-known Sufis, Literati, Poets, Musicians, Scholars, Calligraphers, and Hafizes of the period attended the Saturday meetings that Mithat Bahari Hazretleri held at Seniha Bedri Göknil Hanımefendi's villa. Our Hodja Şefik Can, who had a very distinguished place in this valuable community of lovers, chose a ghazal from Divân-ı Kebir and determined the topic of the day's conversation himself. Mithat Bahari Hazretleri also translated these ghazals, which were in Persian, and made explanations. Our Hodja Şefik Can, who was always very close to Mithat Bahari and Seniha Bedri Göknil Hanım, both on conversation days and at other times, continued the Saturday conversations himself after his passing, upon the request of Mithat Bahari Hazretleri. Seniha Bedri Göknil combined the old handwritten ghazals, which were the subject of conversation prepared by our Hodja Şefik Can, with the translations that were also handwritten by Mithat Bahari Hazretleri, and brought them together in the form of a book with an amateur study they did at home. She later gifted this book, which has a very high spiritual value, to our Hodja Şefik Can.

An affiliation of our Hodja Şefik Can that has never been known until now was to Şemsi Ergüneş Efendi, one of the well-known Melami murshids of his time; this affiliation dates back to before Mithat Bahari Hazretleri. Our Hodja Şefik Can, who met Şemsi Ergüneş Efendi through a Lieutenant General named Davut Aydın Aslan, the son of Saatçi Mustafa Efendi, one of the Rumelian Melami Sheikhs, says the following in his memoirs on the subject: "I visited Şemsi Ergüneş Efendi upon the recommendation of this general, who was a very close friend of mine, and I was very impressed. He knows Persian. He knows Arabic. He performs his five daily prayers. He is such a luminous person that he reminded me of Tâhirü’l Mevlevi. Because this person is truly a very knowledgeable, very luminous, very perfect person. I spent a Qandil night with him, no one slept until morning. Oh my God, hymns, dhikrs, tesbihs, I was already very depressed by the absence of my sheikh. That night I became affiliated with him. He also respected me and always wanted me to be with him on conversation days. One day he came to visit me without informing me. When he saw that I was not at home, he wrote a poem. He had very beautiful poetry, saying 'I came but could not find'. He gifted me Bedrettin Simavi's book called Varidat in his own handwriting."

Although there is detailed information about Şemsi Ergüneş Efendi, I am content with this much because our Hodja Şefik Can never talked about this subject. But I cannot help but mention this. Because his father was a Mufti, he grew up with the education of Yenikapı Mevlevihanesi, he did not want to live the Truth without Sharia, the heartfelt closeness he showed to Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu, I do not know, perhaps due to other different things, our Hodja Şefik Can was generally seen as someone very close to the Naqshbandi Order. His friendship and closeness with the Melamis is a little-known aspect. When his life is examined, it is seen that he was very close to the most well-known Melami Murshids of his time. Only I know "Şemsi Ergüneş, Osman Senai, Ziya Şöşot, Mahmut Sadettin Bilginer, Ahmet Tahir Efendi, Mustafa Efendi. Selahaddin Efendi, Muhiddin Efendi, Turgut Baba. All of these are well-known Melami Murshids of their time and are very close friends of our Hodja Şefik Can. Ahmet Tahir Efendi and his successor Mustafa Efendi introduced him to Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri. On holidays, they would come together near Kuleli Military High School and enjoy many scientific and Sufi subjects together. Especially Mahmut Sadettin Bilginer is quite close to our Hodja Şefik Can. He benefited greatly from him while preparing his work called Allah ve İnsan. Through this friendship, Mahmut Sadettin Bilginer, who met and fell in love with our Hodja Şefik Can's sister, had difficult days for a long time after the marriage he desired did not materialize.

As a result; Our Hodja Şefik Can had a deep heartfelt closeness to only one of the Naqshbandi Sheikhs, Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu Hazretleri, in contrast to the many Melami Murshids he was with throughout his life. And he always spoke of him with endless love and respect. Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu Hazretleri also showed great interest and love to our Hodja Şefik Can. After going to Medina, he frequently called them, sent letters and cards from there, and always maintained his heartfelt closeness to our Hodja Şefik Can. Even in periods when they could not write letters due to some health problems, his grandson Mahmut Sami Kirazoğlu wrote letters on behalf of his grandfather. They also wrote only their names at the end of the letter and signed it, making their spiritual presence felt even with a signature. Hazret's son-in-law Ömer Kirazoğlu also sent him many letters and cards from Medina. A painting belonging to Esad Erbili Hazretleri, which was transferred to Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu after his passing, with Mahmud written on it and of very high spiritual value, was later gifted to our Hodja Şefik Can. Their friendship, which continued with great affection for many years, continued with great love and respect until Hazret's passing.

Our Hodja Şefik Can summarized this heartfelt togetherness as follows: "For the first time, in a very troubled time, I went to the accounting office where they worked in Sirkeci through a relative. He showed کرامت and talked about my troubles that day and gave me comfort. He realized that I was a Mevlevi, even though I had never mentioned it, and recited couplets from Hz. Mevlânâ. I was very impressed by this first encounter. I left crying. Over time, we became very close friends. I would constantly visit his mansion in Erenköy. I would also translate the letters written in English from his dervishes in various parts of the world and convey them to him. One day, when we were alone, he asked me which order I belonged to, as if he did not know. I said that I had belonged to Hz. Mevlânâ since the beginning. I took out my Mevlevi Evrad, which I always carried in my pocket, and handed it to him. There was also a photograph of Es'ad Erbili Hazretleri and his son Ali Efendi together. When Sami Efendi saw that photograph, his eyes filled with tears and he cried. There was also a picture of Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri and me together. He looked at the Evrad and the picture for a long time. 'The place where you are is very beautiful, you stay there; but I am giving you this tesbihat as a blessing, you do that too.' I accepted with great pleasure." This heartfelt affection coincided with the times when our Hodja Şefik Can was with Mithat Bahari Hazretleri. It must also be accepted without question that our Hodja Şefik Can had great admiration for Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu. He maintained his love and respect in his heart throughout his life and continued the tesbihat given as a blessing years ago until the end of his life.

I would like to briefly mention Şemsi Ergüneş Efendi here as well. He was born in Sofia in 1872. In his youth, he met the great Sufi Muhammed Nur, who had a profound impact on him, and attended his العلم assemblies. Later, he became affiliated with Hacı Faik Efendi, whom Muhammed Nur Hazretleri appointed as his successor to the Usturumca Tekke while he was still alive, and after Hazret's death in 1904, he completed his سیر و سلوک by receiving فیض from Hacı Şerif Efendi, the son of Muhammed Nur, and later from Hacı Kemal Efendi, the grandson of Muhammed Nur. Şemsi Efendi, who passed away in Istanbul in 1968 at the age of 96, was buried in the Edirne Kapı Martyrs' Cemetery. Only his دیوان named "Şemsi" has been published out of about fifty works, most of which are translations.

Our Hodja Şefik Can never focused on his affiliation with Mithat Bahari Hazretleri or Şemsi Ergüneş Efendi throughout his life, and always kept his affiliation with Tâhirü’l Mevlevi in the foreground. This is a very important fact known by everyone. Our Hodja Şefik Can would occasionally talk about Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri and Mesnevi lessons, and would remember the old days with great longing. While I was listening to these memories with great admiration, I would feel like I was in the Mesnevi lesson the day before. Perhaps they were not aware of it, but they resembled their murshid so much in terms of eloquence, style, manner, and character that what was visible was entirely Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri. Therefore, I never felt the lack of not being able to see Tâhirü’l Mevlevi Hazretleri, whom I admired, and not being able to be in his honorable presence.

Our Hodja Şefik Can, who started Mesnevi lessons at Seniha Bedri Göknil Hanımefendi's villa in the 1960s, later continued his Mesnevi lessons at Münevver Ayaşlı Hanımefendi's mansion, in the conference hall of a private school in Erenköy, formerly "Güneş Koleji" and currently Işık Lisesi, built by Nezahat Nurettin Ege Hanımefendi, in the library of Mustafa Nazmi Ersin Mosque belonging to the same foundation, and in Nezahat Nurettin Ege Hanımefendi's own mansion where she lived, and with the support of Hülya Tertemiz Hanımefendi, in the Maltepe Nursing Home Conference Hall, in the mansions of Hakk lovers who devoted themselves to Hz. Mevlânâ and Mesnevi, in an education center in Üsküdar, in Yunus Evi in Kızıltoprak with the support of Edebiyat Vakfı, and in Kazım Karabekir Kültür Merkezi until his last days.

Our Hodja Şefik Can said the following about these places where he gave Mesnevi lessons: "Seniha Bedri Göknil Hanımefendi passed away to Hakk. The lady who served at Münevver Ayaşlı's mansion got tired of carrying chairs. Some people at Güneş College, saying that religious lessons were being held here, were disturbed. The congregation at Mustafa Nazmi Ersin Mosque, saying that the listeners were mixed men and women, found this wrong. The peace of the elderly was disturbed at the nursing home. The time for restoration came at Yunus Evi. The management changed at the cultural center in Üsküdar. As a result, we were always disturbing someone, so we were somehow dismissed. But, I will now be dismissed from Kazım Karabekir Kültür Merkezi." Indeed, Mesnevihan Şefik Can Hodja, one of the very valuable and exceptional personalities raised by our age, gave his last Mesnevi lesson at Kazım Karabekir Kültür Merkezi a very short time before passing away to Hakk.

Our Hodja Şefik Can, who spent his entire life trying to explain the knowledge and experience he gained throughout his education and العلم life according to the level of understanding of people, was a صاحب of concise conversation in Mesnevi conversations, who on the one hand explained the subject in the most understandable way, on the one hand said various couplets that spread نکتہ, on the one hand taught, and on the one hand made people love it, with many subtleties hidden in its depths. All his words, actions and states were integrated with what he said, and in addition, he was one of the rare personalities who tried to stand in the right direction in terms of belief, knowledge, emotion, attitude, behavior, and stance, who did not include superstition and nonsense in any of his behavior and conversation, who did not hide the main purpose by making round words with a series of word games, and who tried to be true and honest to God rather than being true and honest to people.

Our Hodja Şefik Can, who knew Arabic, Persian, English, French and Russian very well, carefully examined and researched world literature from different aspects with his very strong literary and historical identity. It is known by very few people that after graduating from the Military Academy; While attending the literature department of Istanbul University, he also attended the history department. Our Hodja Şefik Can, who was already a living history, had a very deep knowledge of philosophical subjects as well as his mastery of literature, history and Sufi subjects. His work titled Greek Mythology, which is still used as a textbook in the Archeology departments of various universities, is the best example of this. One of his greatest خاصیت was his devotion to Divan literature and poetry to the degree of divine عشق. He would say, "Culture, poetry; has no religion, faith, or sect"; he would read various books, دیوان and poems that left many reflections in his heart with great excitement, without making any distinction of thought. Even in the last days of his life, he would strive to memorize a couplet he had just heard. In the words of the ancients, his "محفوظات" was very rich. He had hundreds of beautiful قطعه, couplets and مصرع in his memory. He would decorate his conversation with these and make it more understandable. His very calm memory, perfection of form, softness of expression, delicacy of feeling and imagination, and richness of historical and literary culture were always remarkable. He would try to share his very deep material and spiritual cultural accumulation, which he accepted as his most essential task, with everyone in Mesnevi conversations.

Therefore, I am content with this much for now within the limited pages. While preparing the Divân-ı Kebir, to which he was passionately attached, he said the following in the preface with great sincerity and sincerity: "O my dear readers, whom I know and do not know! If you attain the happiness of feeling and hearing these poems, I ask you to remember Şefik Can, who selected and translated these poems, this humble servant, with خیر, to forgive his mistakes, and to bestow the favor of reading Fatiha for his روح. The most humble and worthless of those who love Hz. Mevlânâ, those who devote themselves to him, is Şefik Can."

The esteemed Hakkı Süha Sezgin also expressed this nothingness reflected by our Hodja Şefik Can in the most beautiful way: "There are some values that flow silently like underground rivers, invisible to the eyes. These do not appear, do not ask us for gratitude applause, even though they are the real feeders of the greenness, flowers, and wheat on the surface of the soil. These kinds of value artesian wells are descended into with روح and conscience drills. In order to see them, a person must have aspects similar to them." Yes, dear friends; No matter what we say here, it is also a fact that; Our Hodja Şefik Can defined himself with great sincerity as the most humble and worthless of those who love Hz. Mevlânâ, those who devote themselves to him. He only asked for Fatiha to be read behind him with a sincere supplication.

Therefore, while commemorating him once again with great longing, love, respect, gratitude and mercy, I pray that Fatihas will rain like rain from the sky on his عزیز روحانیت.

His last evrâd was this: Lâ maksûde illâ hû

Lâ meshûde illâ hû, lâ mevcûde illâ hû

A ney came and told the تاریخ of the wedding night

MESNEVİHAN MEVLEVİ CANI HÛ went to the Friend

While Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kara Hodja fell تاریخ to the passing of our Hodja Şefik Can with his very valuable couplets above; Haydar Ali Diriöz, who was a Literature Teacher at Kuleli Military High School, also fell the تاریخ presented below for our Hodja Şefik Can, with whom they shared many beauties together for years:

My old friend, my emir, Şefik Can-ı سعادتمند

He has gone from the عالم of شقاوت to the عالم of آخرت

With his own heart, a teacher, a major in the army of sciences,

He has gone to the mirror of absolute beauty, to the sublime.

It was delightful to practice manners with him for six years.

One would think he has gone to revive the silent school.

How is it possible to have fun and stay in this world like a sea?

This Mecnun of loyalty has run and gone to Leyla.

Ignited, burning for sixty years, what kind of love was that, O Lord?

All his efforts and perseverance have gone to the path of Mevlana.

Haydar, surely a righteous person will come out and say his epitaph:

Şefik Can Bey, having matured, has gone from Mevlana to the Lord.

Prof. Dr. İsmail Yakıt, one of the Deans of the Faculty of Theology, composed the following chronogram for our esteemed Şefik Can:

Another great person walked to Hakk,

He is Şefik Can, the lover of Mevlânâ.

I wish Celaleddin er-Rumi,

Şefik Can will be his companion in heaven.

Uttering a cry of "alas," I said the date:

"Şefik Can, the commentator of Mesnevi, has passed away."

Fevzi Halıcı, a close friend of Şefik Can, dedicated the following verses to Şefik Can:

Thank God, Can is free from separation,

Pure, sincere, and simply ecstatic Can.

A prayer shines in his heart, thank God so much,

In the world, he offers a drink from the Light, CAN.

A. Selâhaddin Hidayetoğlu Çelebi, from the pure lineage of Hz. Mevlânâ and a descendant of Ulu Arif Çelebi, expressed his heartfelt feelings on November 13, 2003, as follows:

Peace be upon you, O heir of the beloved of Rahman, peace be upon you.

Peace be upon you, O publisher of the lights of Furkan, peace be upon you.

To Üstâd-ı Ekrem Cânım Efendim

O, Wise Dervishes

Always Seeing the Truth

Mesnevî-hân, friend Şefik Can, Truth-attained

My dear master, my dear companion, life-giver

From the Mesnevî, an unfading, immortal rose-gatherer

Sipping from the hand of the Master, living in the moment

Offering his head to the dust of Mustafa's feet

Listening to the flute of the Master, revealing secrets

From the lineage of the Master, a soul, SALÂHİ, a seer of souls

Moment by moment, facing the threshold with a sigh

Ah, my master, my dear master, a light-weaver

My dear companion, friend Şefik CAN, giver of light

May His Soul Rejoice…

Life Increasing Light