The historian Sadeddin Efendi recounts that Sultan Selim I did not sleep most nights, in his book Taj al Tawarikh [The Crown of Annals]. The ruler would read and discuss scholarly subjects with his courtier Hasan Can, Sadeddin Efendi’s father. One morning, after a night when Can had been unable to stay awake and attend the sultan, Selim asked him: “What did you dream?” Hasan Can was confused at first, but he eventually realized that the dream had been seen by another Hasan – Hasan Aga, the doorkeeper. In the dream, a group of Arabs with glowing faces arrived at the palace door. Four resplendent figures stood closest to the door, each armed and with a flag in his hands. The one holding the sultan’s white flag knocked on the door, and when Hasan Aga opened it, the standard-bearer said: “These are the companions of the Messenger. He sends his greetings and says, ‘Tell him to rise and come. The care of the Haramayn [ the holy cities of Makka and MAdina ] has been bestowed upon him.’ This is Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, this is Umar al-Faruq, and this is Uthman Zinnurayn. I am Ali ibn Abu Talib. Give my greetings to Selim Khan.”

When the sultan heard these words, his face reddened and he began to weep. Turning to Hasan Can, he said: “Didn’t I tell you that I would not act without an order. My ancestors were blessed with saintly wisdom – yet, I do not resemble them.”

Following this event, Selim launched a campaign against the Mamluk sultanate. Egypt and the Hijaz soon came under Ottoman control, and Selim’s authority over the new territory was officially proclaimed on February 20, 1517.