History and notable figures

As a child, Mehmed the Conqueror, son of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, would not sit quietly in class and was constantly disruptive. Whenever his teacher, Akşemseddin, corrected him, the boy replied:

“You cannot tell me what to do. I am the sultan’s son!”

Troubled by the boy’s behavior, the teacher hesitated to complain to the sultan. At last, he found the courage to explain what was happening.

The sultan thought for a moment and whispered a plan into the teacher’s ear. Akşemseddin protested that it would be impossible, but Murad II insisted:

“It will be done.”

The next day, young Mehmed again misbehaved and answered his teacher with the same words. At that moment, the sultan opened the door and entered the classroom.

Following the plan, Akşemseddin pretended to be furious. He reprimanded the sultan for entering without permission, even slapped him, and ordered him to leave immediately.

Murad II lowered his head, apologized, and left. Seeing that even his powerful father had to obey the teacher’s rules, the prince was stunned.

A short while later, someone knocked. This time the sultan asked permission to enter and apologized again.

The plan worked. From that day forward, Mehmed no longer disrupted his lessons. For the sake of his son’s upbringing, Murad II had set aside even a ruler’s pride.

Moral: In upbringing, personal example is stronger than any word. A responsible parent may even set aside personal pride to help a child find the right path.

Stories are taken from open Internet sources; illustrations were created with AI.

In a small village near Nuremberg lived a family with ten children. Their father worked eighteen hours a day to support the household. Despite their hardship, the two eldest sons, Albrecht and Albert, dreamed of becoming renowned artists. They knew their father could not afford to educate them both at once.

After long discussions by candlelight, the brothers decided to draw lots. The winner would study at the academy in Nuremberg, while the other worked in a nearby mine to support him. After four years, they would exchange places.

Albrecht won the draw. He left for the academy, and Albert began working in the mine.

For four years, one brother studied art while the other labored underground. Albrecht’s work soon attracted wide attention; some said that it surpassed the work of many of his teachers.

By the time he completed his studies, Albrecht was earning a good income. He returned home joyfully and told his brother:

“Dear brother, now it is your turn. Go and pursue your dream; this time I will support you.”

Albert held out his hands and answered softly:

“No, brother. It is too late. Four years in the mine have damaged my hands and every one of my fingers. I can no longer draw.”

Albrecht took his brother’s hands in his own and wept.

Centuries later, the works of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) continue to be displayed in leading galleries around the world. The famous drawing associated with his brother’s sacrifice is known as Praying Hands.

Moral: Behind success there often stands an unseen sacrifice. To recognize and honor that sacrifice is one of the finest expressions of humanity.

Stories are taken from open Internet sources; illustrations were created with AI.

When Mihrimah Sultan, the daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, reached the age of seventeen, it is said that two men wished to marry her. One was Rüstem Pasha, the beylerbeyi of Diyarbakır; the other was Architect Sinan, the great master of Ottoman architecture. The name “Mihrimah” is of Persian origin: “mihr” means sun, and “mah” means moon.

Sultan Suleiman married his daughter to Rüstem Pasha. Architect Sinan, already married and approaching fifty, did not see his wish fulfilled. According to the legend, he nevertheless continued to love Mihrimah Sultan deeply.

Unable to share his life with Mihrimah, Sinan could not erase this love from his heart and tried to keep it alive in his art with all its delicacy.

At the palace’s commission, Architect Sinan built the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Üsküdar and turned it into a magnificent architectural monument. Legend says the mosque’s graceful silhouette recalls the lines of a woman whose skirts fall soft to the ground.

Later Sinan raised a second mosque for Mihrimah Sultan at Edirnekapı, one of the highest points in Istanbul. Though relatively compact in scale, it stands out for its exquisite lightness and brightness. Its slender minaret, the many windows ringing the dome, and its refined interior give the mosque a special airiness. Legend holds that some of the patterns and ornaments were worked to evoke Mihrimah Sultan’s long hair.

Thus two magnificent works of architecture said to be dedicated to one love arose in Istanbul.

The legend’s most moving moment is the meeting of the Sun and the Moon. It is said there is a spot in Istanbul from which both the Edirnekapı and the Üsküdar Mihrimah Sultan mosques can be seen. At the spring equinox, from that point, a crimson sun sets behind the minaret of the Edirnekapı mosque while, at the same moment, the moon rises behind the mosque in Üsküdar.

Mihrimah — Sun and Moon…

This sight fills people with wonder and gives wings to their imagination: did Sinan calculate it precisely in advance, or did this beautiful legend arise later?

Whatever the truth may be, this story has become one of Istanbul’s loveliest legends, joining Architect Sinan’s art with the name of Mihrimah Sultan.

Moral: Being united with the one you love is not always granted. Sometimes a person turns that love into a work that outlives the one who felt it.

Stories are taken from open Internet sources; illustrations were created with AI.

During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, Istanbul was growing rapidly and faced a severe water shortage. The task of solving it fell to the great architect Koca Sinan (1489–1588).

One day, the sultan summoned him and asked:

“Chief architect, people pay dearly even for a packhorse’s load of water. Can Istanbul be supplied with enough water?”

Sinan requested permission to survey the surrounding country. With his assistants, he examined wells, valleys, and streams from Çekmece to Beşiktaş and calculated where dams and aqueducts could be built.

When he returned, he told the sultan:

“It can be done, but at a heavy price: It will take countless sacks of gold.”

The sultan replied:

“Tell me only that it is possible. However much gold it takes, I will give it.”

Sinan began work and created a magnificent system that brought water to the city's various squares and was completed with forty fountains. Taps were fitted so that the precious water would not be wasted.

The sultan declared the public fountains the property of the people and prohibited secret pipes into private homes. In recognition of Sinan’s service, however, he verbally allowed a private line to the architect’s house.

Years passed. Suleiman and those who had witnessed Sinan’s service died. One day, the elderly architect was summoned to the palace, where the council was investigating a complaint about the private water supply to his home.

Sinan explained that the sultan himself had granted permission. When asked for a written decree, he admitted:

“At the time, I was ashamed to ask the Ruler of the World for a document. I have no written order.”

After a long debate, the council decided not to punish Sinan for his past use of the water, but ordered the private line cut off.

Near the end of his life, Sinan fell gravely ill. When he asked for water to moisten his lips, they saw that the house tap was not running. The great architect said:

“We did not serve for profit, but for Allah’s pleasure. We await our reward in the hereafter and do not grieve that this world has denied water to our home.”

Moral: Do not place excessive trust in fame, the world, or people’s loyalty. True service is rendered not for personal gain, but for what one knows to be right.

Stories are taken from open Internet sources; illustrations were created with AI.

Every city needs sewers, bathhouses, and libraries. Sewers cleanse the city, bathhouses cleanse the body, and libraries cleanse the soul.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet

Moral: One must care for the cleanliness of the soul as well as of the city and the body. The library is a place that cleanses the soul.

Stories are taken from open Internet sources; illustrations were created with AI.