He was born in Plovdiv (Filibe), where his father, Süleyman Bey, was a consul. This is where his title Şehbenderzâde, meaning "son of a consul", comes from. He has taken his first education from the religious official (müftü) of Plovdiv, until he moved to İzmir with his family. Later he entered Galatasaray Lycee. Upon the end of his education, he started to work as a government official in Beirut. Due to a political Problem he ran away to Egypt from Beirut. In 1901 he returned to İstanbul, but later he was arrested and exiled to Fizan. Here his interest in Sufism grew and he started to believe in the Sufi thought of wahdat al-wujud (وحدة الوجود, "unity of being"). His entry into Sufism changed his views greatly and the influence of Sufism on his works are very clear.