“Political Philosophy” and the Moralist Tradition^85
However, the aims of each person in this association vary, and this can lead
to a situation where the more powerful enslave the weaker. As such, there must
be a power (tedbir) that keeps everybody to their own houses, ranks, and limits,
preventing tyranny and oppression; this power is called governance (siyaset),
and it can be procured either by a wise law (kanun-i hikmet), called then divine
governance (siyaset-i ilahi), or by other means. A law of God (namus-ı ilahi) is
needed,46 together with a ruler and coinage (as seen above). Here, Kınalızade
discusses a possible objection (to which we will revert in the next chapter),
which, as we saw, had been troubling Ottoman authors ever since Ahmedi:
what about Cengiz Han, for instance, who had imposed his own law ( yasa)
instead of God’s? The answer he gives is that such a state is subject to continu-
ous changes of fortune, and so its law is prone to collapse (K413–414).
Thus, in the field of the regulating principles (takdir-i evza ’), a person has to
be placed higher than others by the inspiration of God (ilham-i ilahiyle ayruk-
lardan mumtaz ola). This person was called by the ancient sages namus (Greek
νόμος, “law”) and his orders namus-ı ilahi; respectively law-giver (şari’) and
Sharia by the Muslim ones. Similarly, when it comes to issuing orders (takrir-ı
ahkam) a person also has to be exalted with God’s confirmation (te’yid-i
ilahiyle); the ancient Greeks called him “the absolute king” (melik-i ale’l-ıtlak,
hakim ale’l-ıtlak) and the Muslims imam. This is the classical formulation, as
found, for example, in Amasi (Y129); Kınalızade, writing after the establish-
ment of the Safavid state in the east, adds that this ruler is named caliph by
the Muslims and imam by the Shi’a. The arrangement produced by the ruler’s
government is called divine government (siyaset-i İlahi) if it is made according
to necessity and wisdom; then, its driving force (vazı’) is law (namus). Tursun
notes here that these names are used by wise people (ehl-i hikmet), while
religious people (ehl-i şer’) call them “Holy Law” and “Prophet” respectively. If
the arrangement cannot be as perfect as that, it must be regulated in the man-
ner of pure reason (mücerred tavr-ı akl üzere) and is called kingly government
or kingly law (siyaset-i sultani ve yasağ-ı padişahî dirler ki, örfümüzce ana örf
dirler). Although a prophet is not necessary in every country, a king is; if the
king’s power dies, order dies, too.47
46 On the term nâmûs and its history see Rosenthal 1958, 116–118, 145 (on Avicenna’s
views) and 212–213 (on Tusi and Davvani), as well as the relevant entry (“Nâmûs”) in the
Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd edition) by M. Plessner.
47 On this point, somewhat awkwardly (but always following his model, Davvani), Kınalızade
inserts an excursus (K418–450) on love (mahabbet). There are two ways to avoid the dan-
gers of oppression and fighting inherent to any human society, he says: on the one hand,
rules of justice and kingly government, aimed at both high and low (amme-i havass u
avamm); on the other, love, which is reserved only for special individuals (havass u efrad