Bir Selim gelir emaneti alır, son Selim gelir emaneti verir
In a recent sohbet, the esteemed scholar Yavuz Bahadıroğlu reflected on the legacy of the Ottoman sultans who bore the name Selim. “One Selim comes and takes the trust (emanet); the last Selim comes and hands it over”—a short yet profound observation on the cycle of power, responsibility and renewal within the dynasty.
The saying begins with Sultan Selim I, known as Yavuz, who expanded the empire’s frontiers and secured its Islamic mantle. Those who followed inherited this trust in varying degrees, facing internal reform, external pressure and the challenges of modernization.
In this aphorism the Royal Ottoman Society sees a timeless lesson for stewardship today. The trust a ruler receives is not a personal possession but a collective charge—to be preserved, exercised wisely and handed on. Bahadıroğlu’s words invite us to reflect on the responsibilities of leadership, past and present, within the Ottoman tradition and beyond.
