Persian Poetry, Sufi Authority, and Ottoman Multilingualism: İsmāʿīl Ḥaḳḳī Bursevī’s Qurʾān Commentary, the Rūḥ al-bayān

This paper explores the functions of Persian poetry in Ottoman Sufi İsmāʿīl Ḥaḳḳī Bursevī’s most well-known work, his encyclopaedic tafsīr, the Rūḥ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān (The Spirit of Elucidation in Qurʾānic Interpretation). I argue that Bursevī (Ar. Burūsāwī) uses Persian poems alongside traditional sources for Qurʾān exegesis and teachings in his own order to ‘translate’ complex Sufi concepts to a broad audience of interested in both Persian literature and Sufism, and by doing so, bolsters his own religious authority in his order and beyond. I build on Shahab Ahmed’s argument that through Rūmī’s Maỿnavī ‘the meaning of the Qurʾān is perceived and produced and illuminated by fiction, and the meaning of fiction is perceived, produced and illuminated by the Qurʾān,’ by demonstrating that Bursevī extends this intertwining of fiction and the Qurʾān to a recognizably Sufi, Persian literary corpus which highlights his multilingualism and erudition and positions him and his order within an established canon. This paper has four parts. In part one, I briefly sketch Bursevī’s life and education. In part two, I introduce his tafsīr, the Rūḥ al-bayān and Bursevī’s method of interpretation. In part three, I analyse examples of his use of Persian poetry in the commentary. In part four, I assess these findings with a view of Bursevī’s authority construction and questions about his audience.