Sultan ul Awliya

During his childhood in Cyprus he sat with his grandfather, who was a Shaykh of the Qadiri Tariqat, to learn its discipline and its spirituality. Extraordinary signs appeared early in him. His conduct was perfect: he never fought nor argued with anyone. He was always smiling and patient. His grandfather from his father's side and his grandfather from his mother's side trained him for the spiritual path.

As a youth, Shaykh Nazim was given great consideration because of his unusually high spiritual station. Everyone in Larnaca knew about him, because at a young age he was able to advise people, and to predict the future and reveal it spontaneously. From the age of five there were times when his mother couldn't find him. After searching, she would find him either in the mosque or at the grave of Umm ul-Hiram (r), a Companion of the Prophet (s) whose grave has a mosque built next to it. Tourists come to her grave in large numbers, attracted by the spectacle of a rock suspended in space above her grave. When his mother would try to bring him home, he would say, "Leave me here with Umm ul-Hiram, she is one of our ancestors." He was often seen speaking to Umm ul-Hiram, who was buried fourteen centuries ago, listening and then speaking, listening and answering, as if having a conversation with her. Whenever anyone would disturb him, he would say, "Leave me, I am speaking with my grandmother who is in this grave."

His father sent him to school to study secular knowledge during the day, and in the evening he studied the religious sciences. He was a genius among his fellow-students. After completing his high school studies every night, he would devote his time to studying the Mevlevi and Qadiri Tariqats. He was conducting the Qadiri and Mevlevi circles on Thursday and Friday.

Everyone in Cyprus knew him at that time as an intensely spiritual person. He learned Shari'ah, Jurisprudence, the Science of Prophetic Narrations, the Science of Logic, the Interpretaion of the Qur'an and he was able to give juristic rulings on the whole range of Islamic subjects. He was able to speak from all spiritual levels. He had a gift for explaining difficult realities in clear and easy aphorisms.

After completing high school in Cyprus, he moved to Istanbul, where his two brothers and one sister were living and studying, in 1359 H/1940 CE. He studied Chemical Engineering in the University of Istanbul, in the Bayazit District. At the same time he was advancing in his Shari'ah knowledge and in the study of the Arabic language with his Shaykh, Shaykh Jamaluddin al-Alasuni, who died in 1375 H./1955 CE. He received his degree in Chemical Engineering and he excelled among his colleagues. The University professors encouraged him to go into research. He said, "I feel no attraction to modern science. My heart is always drawn to the spiritual sciences."