The word marifet means knowledge and enlightenment in Arabic, and in Islam means reaching God through spiritual discovery and inspiration. This is a key concept in the mystic belief of vahdet-i vücut (which might be compared to cosmotheism), whereby the universe is seen as one with God, and refers to knowledge of God and His attributes, and the nature of the universe. A possessor of such knowledge is known as ârif. The Marifetnâme (Book of Enlightenment) by Ibrahim Hakki Erzurûmî (1703-1780) was an encyclopaedic work that caused a stir in Ottoman Turkey when it was written and continued to exert an influence for long afterwards. Ibrahim Hakki was a scholar of wide interests who whose work encompassed mysticism, linguistics, science and what today we would call sociology. He was the son of Dervis Osman Efendi and Serife Hanife Hatun, and a descendant of the Prophet on his fathr'sd side. His wife was Firdevs Hatun.

In 1747, while he was deputy to a dervish sheikh, Ismail Fakirullah, Ibrahim Hakki paid his first visit to Istanbul, remaining for several months. In Istanbul he was received by Sultan Mahmud I, who gave him permission to work in the palace library and was so impressed by his intelligence and knowledge that he appointed him head of the dervish convent of the Abdurrahman Gazi Pious Foundation in Erzurum. Ibrahim Hakki paid a second visit to Istanbul in 1755, and upon his return retired to Hasankale, where he completed his Marifetnâme in 1757, dedicating it to his son Ahmed Naîmî. He made three pilgrimages to Mecca, the third in 1768, and during these journeys travelled widely in both Arabia and Egypt, meeting many scholars and expanding his knowledge. His experiences in those countries and his research in Istanbul were sources for numerous other books. Ibrahim Hakki inherited his love of reading, scholarship and mysticism from his father, who was his first teacher. He wrote poetry that treats of the intellectual and practical aspects of mysticism, and is lyrical at times.

He describes the discovery of the New World based on works like Kâtip Çelebi's Cihânnümâ and Tarih-i Hindi Garbi (History of the West Indies) printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika. In the section on the human body he repeats the medieval theories of Ibni Sina (Avicenna), and in his chapters on morality discusses human behaviour. Scattered around the book are poems woven with mystic ideas, and it ends with a kiyâfetname concerning the art of understanding a persn'st character from their physical attributes. The Marifetnâme is written largely in plain Turkish with some words from the Erzurum dialect, and in short sentences. The book was widely read over a long period and there are many precious manuscript copies in libraries and collections.

he also attached great importance to teaching, as we see in this quatrain addressed to his pupils: 'Having attained wisdom teach others / Disseminate its benefits to the people / To exert influence is to achieve perfection / Thus you will find all understanding within yourself.'

* Ismail Bakar is a librarian.

The copy of the Marifetnâme illustrated here is in Sadberk Hanim Museum