116 chapter 3
al-taliha ila ’l-amal al-saliha (“An errant soul’s summons to virtuous works,
through manifest signs and splendid proofs”); Hâfiz al-insân ‘an lâfiz al-imân
wa Allâh al-hâdî ilâ sirât al-jinân (“The individual’s protector from faith’s rejec-
tor, as God is the guide for the heavenly paths”), on apostasy (ca. 1508); Hall
ishqâl al-afkâr fi hill amwâl al-kuffâr (“The solution for intellectual difficulties
concerning the proper disposal of infidel properties”), on the correct distribu-
tion of holy war booty, with special reference to concubines (1509); and Wasîlat
al-ahbâb bi ijâz, ta ’lîf walad harrakahu al-shavq li arz al-Hijâz (“The means of
the beloved for authorization, written by a son whom desire has driven to the
land of the Hijaz”), on the importance of the Hajj, a work written in order to
justify the author’s self-imposed exile (1509).47
Dawat al-nafs, Korkud’s most interesting work for our purposes, was com-
pleted in Arabic in 1508.48 He composed it in Manisa and sent it to the court
in order to ask his father to release him from his duties as a governor, as he no
longer aspired to the throne and wished to follow a career in the ulema (or
a kind of honorary retirement as müteferrika). This voluminous Arabic work,
full of hadiths, Quranic quotations, and scholarly commentaries, is focused on
demonstrating that being an effective ruler is incompatible with being a pious
and proper Muslim, while also criticizing the imperial order being crystal-
lized in the early period of the sixteenth century. Korkud’s reasoning is heavily
influenced by al-Ghazali’s arguments against the ruler’s revenues and on the
advantages of seclusion.49
In his preface, addressed directly to his father Bayezid II, Korkud stresses
the ephemeral quality of this world and the importance of salvation of the
soul, as opposed to earthly power. He defines the muflis (the “bankrupt”) as
anyone who, despite following the precepts of religion, is doomed to hell
because of his sins (T197–98). He then proceeds to enumerate the five main
reasons he decided to resign his candidacy for the Ottoman throne. The
necessity of administration (urf ), he states, leads to: (a) committing murder
not covered by the Sharia—Korkud explicitly refers to siyaset punishment,
i.e. “administrative” execution, noting that the only case for permissible mur-
der of a Muslim would be retaliation for murder, adultery, or apostasy, adding
that, according to all the ulema, ordering someone else to commit murder is
a grave sin even if the sinner does not commit the murder in person (T200);
47 On the last three works, see al-Tikriti 2005a; al-Tikriti 2004, 136–154 and al-Tikriti 2013;
al-Tikriti 2005b, respectively.
48 Al-Tikriti 2004, 196ff gives an extensive English summary of the Arabic text. On Korkud’s
ideas, see also Fleischer 1990, 70ff.; al-Tikriti 2001; Ivanyi 2012, 112–116.
49 Cf. Laoust 1970, 95–104.