Ilhamija was one of the few poets who wrote in the Bosnian language at the time, and he was well known by his sincere piety and righteous life. He was the role model of his time with his words and deeds, and because of the lyrics of his poem “Cudan zeman nastade (There Was a Strange Zeman)”, he came into conflict with the vizier at the time, Dzelaludin-Pasha, who ordered Ilhamija to come to Travnik from Zepce, where he was executed back in 1821.
Except for the Bosnian language, he also wrote poems in Arabic and Turkish with notes of sincerity and truth. According to the legend, Dzelaludin-Pasha called Ilhamija to come in Travnik to give up of on his protest poetry, which he refused and became one of the thinkers who paid the ink on the paper with their lives. In his honor, thousands of tourists annually visit his mausoleum in Travnik, where they greet the great poet and give some charity.
Esad Bazdalic, 57-year-old mausoleum keeper from Travnik, said that Ilhamija is very appreciated in Travnik and that his character and work is fascinating many visitors who visit his mausoleum.
“His life is not famous, very few details are known, but the visitors of Travnik and his mausoleum are fascinated with details of Ilhamija’s life that are familiar to everyone and the fact that he was killed for his poetry. On the place of Ilhamija’s execution today is hospital, and his body was transferred to this location in 50’s, in this mausoleum with Recep Dedo,” said Bazdalic.
Ilhamija, according to legend, before his execution said that on the place of his execution people will heal, and the first Ilhamija’s grave was in the mausoleum near the former railway station and the former hospital in Travnik, which was destroyed in 1959, for regulation of that area.
His remains with the tombstones were transferred in the mausoleum in today’s Potur-mahala, and on the headstone, which has dervish turban, are engraved verses in Turkish.
While sitting in a room where Bazdalic was telling the story of Ilhamija, visitors came and greeted Ilhamija and briefly interrupted the conversation by greeting Bazdalic, who is known in Travnik as a treasury of information about Ilhamija. Bazdalic said that extraordinary many people attended the last farewell of Ilhamija, and that it was raining all the time.
The legend of his journey to Travnik tells about Ilhamija’s sincere piety.
“Ilhamija came in Travnik from Zepce on his horse, and while he was passing through Zeljezno Polje, Topcic Polje, Nemila and other places, people greeted him and asked him to pray for them. The only prayer that Ilhamija made for these villagers was that winter is winter, and summer is summer,” added Bazdalic, who often holds little lectures for curious about lhamija and his life in the mausoleum on Fridays after the Friday prayer.
Ilhamija’s tomb in Travnik was reconstructed after the war, and the works on the construction of the fountain in the complex of mausoleum are currently taking place. Bazdalic said that Ilhamija was part of the history of BiH, not only in Travnik, and expressed hope that his words will be passed, and that Ilhamija will be a role model for great people for long time and for poets to write about the truth of present times.
(Source: E. M./Klix.ba/ photo radiosarajevo)
