Ismail Hakkı Bursevi's understanding of divine names: The example of Rısa'a-i Asma-i Seb'a

In the field of Sufism, the commentaries written by Sufis have an important place. Because the human being, who is the caliph of Allah (swt), may desire to make an effort to reach marifatullaha. For this reason, it is important for a person to know the names and attributes of Allah (swt). İsmâil Hakkı Bursevî (d.1137/1725), who is known for his tafsir Rûhu'l Beyân, wrote many works on the divine essence. One of them is his work titled "Risâle-i Esmâ-i Seb'a". In this work, Bursawî interprets the divine names that the disciple should recite in the stages during the course of the journey. The disciple becomes moralised with the morals of the names that he recites in the course of the asr-u sulûk. It is aimed that the seven essences will be manifested on the disciple until he reaches the seventh and final stage, the nafs-i kâmil. However, in order for a person to become moralised with these names, he must first recognise them. Since this goal will continue for Muslims until the Day of Judgement, our subject will always remain topical. Many works of Bursawī, who belonged to the Jalwatiyya order and especially followed the line of Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabī (d.638/1240), have been studied as a contribution to the world of science. However, I have not come across a study of his Risāla-i Esmā-i Seb'a in as many sources as I could reach. Although there are many copies of this work, we have taken Suleymaniye Library Pertev Pasha Collection, nr 637 as a basis. In addition to this work mentioned in our thesis, we have also analysed Bursawī's understanding of spiritual evolution and his perspective on other essences in his Kitāb al-'Esmās.