İsmail Hakkı Bursevî

İsmail Hakkı Bursevî (Turkish: Bursalı İsmail Hakkı, , Persian: Esmā’īl Ḥaqqī Borsavī) was a 17th-century Ottoman Turkish Muslim scholar, a Jelveti Sufi author, best known for his masterwork Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan on mystical experience and the esoteric interpretation of the Quran; also a poet and musical composer. 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. Translations of some of his works are now available for the English-speaking world.

Life

İsmail Hakkı was the son of Muṣṭafā, who was in turn son of Bayram Čawush, who was in turn son of Shah Ḵhudā-bende. İsmail Hakkı was born in 1652 His mother died when he was aged seven and on the suggestion of Shaykh Osman Fazli around 1663 he was sent to Edirne (Adrinaople), to receive a traditional education under the scholar ʿAbd-al-Baki, a relative of the Shaykh. founder of the Jelveti order.

In 1675, age 23, Osman Fazli sent him, with three assistant dervishes,

In 1700 Ismail Hakki performed the Hajj, the pilgrimage, but on returning from Mecca the caravan's members were slaughtered by Bedouin brigands. Ismail was left to die but managed to reach Damascus. (4637 pages, 4 vols. Boulaq, 1859) Rūḥ al-Mathnawī, a commentary on verses of the Masnavi (Istanbul, 1870–1872) A commentary on the Fusus al-Hikam by ibn ʻArabi, translated into English (Oxford, 1985–1991)