Ismail Hakki Bursevi

İsmail Hakkı Bursevî

His tomb

İsmail Hakkı Bursevî's Tomb in Bursa
Born a Sunday 1653
Aytos, Ottoman Empire, now Bulgaria
Died 1725 (aged 71–72)
Bursa, Anatolia, Turkey
Resting place Bursa Turkey
Other names İsmail Hakkı Üsküdar
Ethnicity Turkish people
Occupation Author, Translator, Sheikh, Musical composition, Poet
Religion Islam
Jurisprudence Sunni
Movement Sufism
Main interest(s) Theology, Ethics, Mysticism
Notable idea(s) Translating Arabic books into Turkish
Notable work(s) Commentaries of the Koran, Ibn Arabi, Rumi, Attar, Najmuddin Kubra
Sufi order Jelveti
İsmail Hakkı Bursevî
(Bursalı İsmail Hakkı)
Born 1653
Aytos, Ottoman Empire
Died 1725 (aged 71–72)
Bursa, Ottoman Empire
Genres Ottoman classical music Turkish makam music
Occupation(s) Lyrics author, composer

Ismail Hakki Bursevi (Turkish: Bursalı İsmail Hakkı, Iranian: Esmã’īl Ḥaqqī Borsavī) was a 17th-century Ottoman Turkish Muslim scholar, a Jelveti Sufi author on mystical experience and the esoteric interpretation of the Quran; also a poet and musical composer.[1] İsmail Hakkı Bursevî influenced many parts the Ottoman Empire but primarily Turkey. To this day he is revered as one of the ‘Büyükler’, the great saints of Anatolia. He is regarded as an eminent literary figure in the Turkish language, having authored more than a hundred works.[2] Translations of some of his works are now available for the English-speaking world.[3][4]

Life

mosque
İsmail Hakkı left all his money (ten purses) to pay for the construction of this mosque at İsmail Hakkı Kuran Kursu, Tuzpazarı, İsmail Hakkı Cd., 16020 Osmangazi, Bursa, Turkey

İsmail Hakkı was born in 1652[1] or 1653 in Aytos, Thrace although his parents came from Aksaray, Istanbul. His mother died when he was aged seven.[5]

c.1663 he was sent to Edirne (Adrinaople), to receive traditional education under the scholar ʿAbd-al-Baqi,[1]

In 1673, age 21, he went to Istanbul to the public classes of Osman Fazli, the head Sheykh, of the Jelveti order, who initiated him into that discipline.[1]

İsmail Hakkı's name then came to be always given a suffix, such as Hâlvetî, Bursevi, or Üsküdari[1] so as not to confuse him with Ismail Hakki Ankaravi, a famous commentator on the Mathnawi.[2]

In 1675, age 23, Osman Fazli sent him, with three assistant dervishes,[2] to Skopje, Macedonia, to establish a ṭarīqah (a monastery)for teaching Jelveti philosophy).[1] Some welcomed them and İsmail Hakkı married the daughter of a Sheyks, however he offended the townsfolk by severely berated them for what he considered lax behaviour. Despite Osman Fazli explaining that was not the Jelveti way he did not rein in his zeal and his antagonists forced them to leave, which displeased his wife.[2]

In 1682 he was invited to Strumica, Macedonia to teach public classes. He also wrote books.

In 1685 Ismail Hakki was appointed the Sheykh of Bursa.

In 1695–1697 Sultan Mustafa II requested Ismail Hakki accompany his military campaigns against the Habsburg Empire. Ismail Hakki was in several battles until severely wounded. Osman Farsli foresaw the end of the Ottoman line[2]and Bursevi defined the reason for its decline as the estrangement of spiritual and political powers, represented in his discourses by the Sheikh and the Sultan, thus formulating a Sufi interpretation of the decline paradigm.[6]

In 1700 Ismail Hakki performed the Hajj, the pilgrimage, but on returning from Mecca the caravan was slaughtered by Bedouin brigands. Ismail was left to die but managed to reach Damascus.[2]

In 1700 he returned to Bursa

In 1717 he returned to Damascus and wrote twelve more books

In 1720 he returned to Üsküdar, the Anatolian part of Istanbul, where he began teaching again. However he was twice attacked by fanatical mobs and decided to return to Bursa.[2]

In 1722, at Bursa he bequeathed his books to public libraries, left all his money for the construction of a small mosque and entered into retreat.[2]That mosque is now within the Ismail Hakki Kur’an Kursu.

In 1725 he died in serenity. His tomb is at the rear of the same mosque.[5]

Major Works

İsmail Hakkı wrote ca 130 works, in Turkish and Arabic, on Islamic sciences, Sufism, Tasawuf, Islamic philosophy, morality and tefsir. In most of his works he wrote in the style of Yunus Emre.

The most famous of his published works are:

Teachings

His tomb inscription expresses his sentiments

As a Sufi of Jelveti order, Ismail Hakki Bursevi put all his energy and resilience into being of ‘bearer of light’.

The plaque on his tomb includes these inscriptions:

"Only the perfect servant knows the secret of the ‘Samadaniyya'"
"Only those who have burnt into their hearts the love of tawhid bring light to the tomb of Ahmed."

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yazıcı, Tahsin. "Esmāʿīl Ḥaqqī Borsavī". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ryan, Christopher (2000), Biographical Notes on İsmail Hakkı Bursevî collected and translated, retrieved 7 Nov 2016
  3. 1 2 Rauf, Bulent (1985–1991). Ismael Haqqi Bursevi's translation of and commentary on Fusus al-Hikam by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, translated into English. Oxford, England: Ibn Arabi Society Publications. ISBN 0950952710.
  4. 1 2 Rauf, Bulent (1980). Ibn 'Arabi's Kernel of the Kernel by Ismael Haqqi Bursevi, translated from the Turkish. Cheltenham, England: Beshara Publications. ISBN 0904975088.
  5. 1 2 Inscription on his tomb at İsmail Hakkı Kuran Kursu, Tuzpazarı, İsmail Hakkı Cd., 16020 Osmangazi, Bursa. Accessdate = 26 February 2006
  6. ↑ Tabur, Merve (2011). İsmâil Hakkı Bursevî and the Politics of Balance (Thesis). Boğaziçi University.
  7. ↑ Elias, Jamal (2010). "Sufi tafsir Reconsidered: Exploring the Development of a Genre". Journal of Qur'anic Studies. 12: 41–55. doi:10.3366/jqs.2010.0104.
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