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My sultan, you should give all posts to beys or judges with this condition, that
“I will not dismiss you. Be safe from the fear of dismissal. But if I perceive any
oppression from your part, I will not be satisfied with dismissing you: certainly, I
will cut off your head and give your post to someone else. Be aware of this”; warn
them like this. The people of our days are sinful Muslims: they do not fear God,
they are not ashamed of the Prophet; they always say “today is the day”, and
know nothing of tomorrow. The tyrants hear of the Afterlife and of the End of
Days as if they were legends. That is why they are inclined to oppression and cor-
ruption. Most of the people are addicted to their whims: one is a dog of the cof-
feehouse, another of the tavern. They do not think of the bright-eyed Azrail and
do not come around to reason. They follow this custom of the English Franks,
tobacco, but forget God’s orders and the words of the Prophet. They do not sub-
mit to the highest leader; they do not humiliate themselves before the glorious
Sharia, they do not keep the laws of the caliph of this era. What has happened to
the orders of the religion, to Islam? From the time tobacco appeared, neither is
our sword sharp nor does (even) one job go well for us.21 Kâtib Çelebi (See Chapter 7)
From Düstûrü’l-amel li ıslahi’l-halel (“Course of measures to redress the situation”):24
Let it be known that, according to another view, the state (devlet), which means
realm and kingdom, consists of human society. Those who discern the secrets
of the nature of beings can see that its theoretical and practical situation, if
examined carefully, is clearly similar to the individual state of man; these two
states are equal to each other ... First of all, the natural life of man is measured
along three degrees: these are the age of growth, that of stagnation, and that of
ageing and decline. The timing of these three stages is appointed according to
each individual’s realities ... Now, the social state of man, which consists of the
state (devlet), is also divided into three stages: growth, stagnation, and decline.
In the same vein, societies differ from one another as far as these three stages are
concerned, which is why some past societies passed into decline quickly, while
others passed into stagnation because of the disastrous lack of the necessary
measures, just like a young man may have an accident. Others, like this great
state [of the Ottomans], have a strong disposition and healthy foundations and
consequently continue their life with stagnation coming quite late. These stages
have specific signs, either in their individual or social form; those who want to24 From the Turkish translation in Kâtib Çelebi – Gökyay 1968, 155–157.