232 chapter 5
forces now regarded the Sunna, rather than the “old law”, as the main frame-
work of binding rules. On the other side, among the same circles there arose
a different current of thought, one that explicitly advocated, for the first time,
innovation and change as a legitimate and even imperative demand. The two
trends did not necessarily have different aims (and, for both sides, monetiza-
tion and the decay of the timariot system were, by then, accepted facts), but
they differed in their ideological framework and legitimizing argumentation.
Hezarfen’s work, with its sharp contrast between form and content, represents
this balance nicely.