Samples of Translated Texts 513
... The goal of peace is desirable and orthodox according to Shari’a and rea-
son. It affords opportunity not only in defeat but even in times of victory. By se-
curing their position, it is known through experience that peacemakers never
lose capital but are instead triumphant and enriched with immense profit ... It is
said that His Grace Abdurrahman bin ‘Avf of the noble elect gained many riches
from commerce. To those who inquired, “How did you earn this much wealth?”
he supposedly enjoined: “I did not buy or sell living things; I did not sell on cred-
it; in seeing profit I was content with what I received”. You see, that there is no
greater investment than peace is indubitable. Never has the man been seen who
was injured by peace. And when something like this occurs, it has been proven
one thousand times that one can mitigate any equivocation or delay when the
least opportunity shows itself ... It is plain to reputable men that the adversary’s
demonstrations, which now assumed the form of goodwill and lenience, were
not due to weakness or fear. Rather, it is written in the works of philosophers and
especially in the Nasihatname Aristotle composed for Alexander that
warfare while peace may be feasible is in no way preferable or permissible. In the
opinion of Christian states, this rule is at all times held as a guiding principle.
They therefore always prefer and promote the way of peace ... It is recorded in
popular histories and known in common parlance that in the conflicts between
various states for six or seven hundred years, peacemakers have always
benefitted ...
... Although it is a difficult matter to winter a year on the Mediterranean Sea,
with favorable winds the Russians endured both summer and winter seas for
three years ... Such things are the greatest of prodigies, for they are outside the
natural conditions of the world. They can occur only once in two or three hun-
dred years, like the campaigns of Sultan Süleyman Khan (Who Resideth in
Paradise) to the land of Yemen ... In short, these types of freak occurences ap-
pear rarely and subside, like floods or like the great tempests they call hurri-
canes. They cannot last forever. Consequently, the Russians could turn fortune in
their favor because they made such provisions but once in forty years. They can-
not always prevail or spoil the general welfare. Ultimately, though, the scoun-
drels, ignorant of this fine philosophical point, heed not the cosmic prodigies
that have occurred in all regions of the world for a thousand years.29 “Koca Sekbanbaşı” (See Chapter 9)
From Hulasatü’l-kelam fi reddi’l-avamm (“The summary of the discourse to refute the
rabble”), translated by William Wilkinson:33
33 Wilkinson 1820, 240–245.