Multiplication, Translocation and Adaptation: Ṣarī Ṣaltūq’s Multiple Embodied Localities Throughout the Balkans

According to the Tuffāḥ al-arwāḥ, written around 715/1315, the historical Sarı Saltuq (alternatively, Sarı Saltıq, d. 697/1297), one of the most extraordinary dervish-saints of the Balkans, was affiliated with both the Rifāʿi and the Ḥaydarī Sufi orders, groups of dervishes who rejected the commonly accepted norms of Muslim piety and were known for their miraculous deeds. This and later accounts about Sarı Saltuq, which associate him with other Sufi communities, especially the Bektāshī and the Saʿdī, provide further insights into the dramatic embellishments that enrich the multi-layered cycles of legends about his myriad miracles, including the ability to ‘wear’ and adopt the identities of other saints. His miraculous ability to have multiple embodiments in life multiplied in death. This enabled him to become associated with various Sufi meeting places, mausolea, and memorial places throughout Eastern Europe, especially in Albania, Dobruja, Herzegovina, Thrace, and the Sanjak of Ohrid, religious border areas where Christianity and Islam meet.