Ḥusām al-Dīn’s father, who was a shaykh or elder of the fityān or akhīs (q.v. members of the futuwwa movement, an urban order of chivalry and spirituality) had a zāwiya (lodge) in the environs of Konya. He was known as Akhī Turk, for which reason his son became known as Ibn Akhī Turk (Furūzānfar, 103–104; Gölpınarlı, Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn, 196–197). Ḥusām al-Dīn lost his father while in his teens, and according to Aflākī was then chosen by the fityān to be his successor; instead, however, he brought them to see Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (Aflākī, 738). Unbidden, he then han…