Sufi culture in the works of foreign travelers

Travel book is a type of writing in which a traveler generally depicts the places she has visited with words, in a style that will arouse interest, curiosity and enthusiasm in the reader. Travel books are also portraits of the time they belong to in terms of historical, cultural, social, religious, anthropological and geographical aspects, and they illuminate the dark sides of history. According to the classical classification in the History of Sufism, we examine Sufism in three periods. The Zühd Period, which was based on the understanding of faqr in the periods of the Prophet, the companions, the Tabi'in and tebeu't Tabin, the Period of Sufism, which started approximately in the 8th century AD, and finally the Period of Sects covering the 12th century and later. The travel books that we have examined contain information about the period of the sects. In this study, many non-Muslim travelers such as Reinhold Lubenau, Jean Thévenot, Chardin, Tournefort, Nicolas de Nicolay, Heinrich Bart, Breüning were also examined in addition to Muslim travelers such as Shibli Nomani and Ibn Battuta, and their perspectives on Sufism and Sufism were reflected.First of all, elements of Sufi culture were tried to be examined in the travel books classified according to centuries. In this context, an attempt was made to compile and present the lodges, sects, Sufis and miracles mentioned in the works, taking into account the traveler's travel route. The oldest travelogue containing Sufi information that we can find belongs to Abu Dülef, who lived and traveled in the 10th century. It only mentions the grave of Abu Yazid Bistami. For this reason, we did not give it a separate place in our study. The richest work in terms of Sufi culture is Ibn Battuta's Travelogue.