126 chapter 3
should be careful to manage his temper so as to exhort him effectively regard-
ing his duties. This exhortation is to be considered a duty in the framework of
the “commanding right and forbidding wrong” precept, which is praised as the
most virtuous form of Holy War. Finally, there is a long section on the personal
life of statesmen and especially of the sultan: he is adamant that the sultan
needs to avoid drinking wine, not so much because it is a sin but because78
drinking would impair one’s judgment in decision-making, lead to neg-
ligence in rulership, and cause failure to protect the realm, which might
result in the loss of one’s authority (zavâl al-dawla).Another trend had much stronger Sufi connotations. As noted above, Ibn
Arabi’s theory of the “Pole of the world” (kutb), i.e. of a head of the mystic hier-
archy who governs world affairs, whether secretly or not,79 was used by dervish
fraternities opposed to the imperial project. Other authors, however, relied
heavily on this theory in order to imply that, in their era, this role belonged
or at least was related to that of Süleyman (who, after all, was not immune
from messianic claims himself, as has been seen). Dizdar Mustafa b. Abdullah,
about whom we know only that he was the commander of the fortress of
Çankırı, wrote in 1542 Kitâb sulûk al-mulûk (“Book on the paths of kings”),
in which he tried to educate the ruler on the main principles of Sufi tradi-
tion. In this, he placed great emphasis on the notion of the “Pole of the world”,
exhorting the sultan to enhance his secular authority (saltana, khilâfa, mulk)
via the spiritual one (wilâya). More bluntly, his contemporary, the anonymous
author of al-Adliyya al-Sulaymâniyya (“Süleymanic justice”), who was probably
an immigrant from the East, also extolled the role of the secret “Pole”, urging
Süleyman to cooperate with him. He assures Süleyman that, in his fight against
the heretical Kızılbaş, he would be aided by the present Pole, who is now a
Hanafi (previous ones had been Shafi’is; as Hüseyin Yılmaz notes, this is prob-
ably a reference to the Mamluk era). The author uses several passages from the
Quran and the hadith tradition to show that the Ottoman dynasty is chosen by
God; then, he exhorts the virtue of justice, urging the ruler to avoid oppression
and to value compassion instead. He also stresses the need for consultation,
illustrating his point with historical anecdotes. Furthermore, the sultan should
follow the Sufi path in order to improve his level of devotion (zuhd) and piety
78 Yılmaz 2005, 65–67.
79 See İnalcık 1993, 211–212; Ocak 1991, 74–75.