A Critical Edition of the Risāla Ḥablullah al-Metîn fī Akīde eš- Šayḫ al-Ekber Muḥyī l-Dīn by Ḥusayn b Ṭuʿma al- Beytumānî / Hüseyin b Ṭu’me el-Beytümānî’nin Risâle Ḥablullahi’l-Metîn fî Akīdetiş-Şeyhi’l-Ekber Muhyiddîn Adlı Eserinin Tahkikli Neşri

Abd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nāblusī who is a strict follower of Ibn al-Arabī, is accepted as one of the leading sufis of his time. The treatise “Risāla Ḥablullah al-Metîn fī Akīde eš- Šayḫ al-Ekber Muḥyī l-Dīn” -which was written by one of his students- shows the position of a significant sufi movement in Damascus gathered around the views of Ibn al-Arabī in the 18th century. It is understood from the beginning of the risalah that Nâblusî had a special lecture circle in Damascus in order to teach theological views of Ibn al-Arabī. In this circle, Ibn al-Arabī’s views were read and tried to be proved as they are appropriate to Sharia’h. This shows us the most important feature of sufi environment in Damascus at that time; that al-tariqah and al-sharia’h were taken together, in other words they were compromised. For this reason, in Sufi environments of Damascus we cannot witness rituals / practices which appeared in other sufi movements. The fact that the author criticizes behaviours of some sufis of his time -which they exhibited with the aim of reaching Allah although they contradict to Sharia’h- also confirms this situation. Due to this sensitivity, when he was asked about his opinion, he was attentive to evidence it with the verses of Quran and narrations of Prophet (pbuh), to present his loyalty to Islamic legal texts. The author who was one of the significant sheikhs of Damascus, wrote the aforementioned manuscript-as he also stated at the beginning- in order to correct misperceptions, to teach his disciples authentic knowledge about faith before they take sufi training and to express the true belief sytem of sufis in the light of evidences. We understand that he recommends his disciples to reach the khawas rank which Ibn al-Arabī reached, to be able to divide the faith of awam (commons) and khawas (exclusives). The author emphasizes the importance of conversation with righteous believers in order to settle true principles of faith in the hearts of disciples and explain the truth in the face of their troublesome situations and discourses. After applying the true faith, the author concludes his treatise by mentioning righteous deeds which a sufi disciple needs, by documenting them with the verses and ahadith.