310 chapter 7
Because, he explains, the history of particular incidents is subordinate to the
inherent qualities of any one specific state in its maturity, an intelligent man
who can grasp these qualities will understand that state’s course and develop-
ment. This beginning sets the scene for what will follow, i.e. the exposition of
a theory of history where universal laws govern various societies and states.
One part of the first section of the preface is based almost verbatim on Kâtib
Çelebi’s Düstûrü’l-amel.65 Omitting the specific evidence on the numbers of
the Ottoman army and the development of the budget deficit, Na’ima copies,
in a slightly shorter form, his predecessor’s analytical analogy between the
human body and society (ictima ’-i beşeriyye, devlet), with the three ages of man
corresponding to the rise and decline of any given state. In the same way, he
copies Kâtib Çelebi’s simile of the four humors of the body with the four class-
es or “columns” of society, namely the ulema, the military, the merchants, and
the peasants.66 For the latter, Na’ima expands the medical simile in a rather
unexpected way, saying that just as “dry” diseases like melancholia and anxiety
occur when black bile is dominant, so does the excessive ease and luxury of the
peasants (vüs’at-ı hal ve tereffüh-i re’aya i’tidalden birun olsa) produce strife, dis-
obedience, and rebellion. However, just as the amount of black bile is seldom
changed in the body unless caused by other humors, the peasants also never
harm the state on purpose (re’ayadan memlekete zarar mutasavver değildir);
it is just that “sometimes they get excited and easily erupt with protests and
proclamations”.
Now, omitting Kâtib Çelebi’s excursus on the situation of the peasants and
the causes of their oppression, Na’ima embarks on a short analysis of the mer-
chant class, the yellow bile of society. When balanced with the other three
humors, yellow bile increases the appetite of the body; in the same way, mer-
chants, in an average situation, cause order and well-being in society by trad-
ing and bringing forth an abundance of goods. But bile is harmful if there is
less or more than normal; likewise, whenever “the merchants and the rich” be-
come either oppressed or greedy and profiteering, they are detrimental to the
harmony of society (cemal-ı memleket) because they weaken and impoverish
the people. As for the military, Na’ima repeats Kâtib Çelebi’s analysis, stress-
ing explicitly that an army always swells in number when a state is in the age
of decline; again, he follows his predecessor verbatim in his examination of
finances (always using the medical simile) and of luxury and pomp as a sign of
decline. As for Kâtib Çelebi’s conclusions, Na’ima refers to the need for a skilled
65 Na ’ima 1864–1866, 1:27–33; Na ’ima – İpşirli 2007, 1:21–25; cf. Thomas 1972, 73–76, with a
detailed concordance between the two texts.
66 On Na ’ima’s formulation of the humor theory cf. Ermiş 2014, 48–59.