The Human-Nature Relationship: An Analysis Of Hacı Bektaş Veli’s Makalat

Hacı Bektaş Veli is one of the important philosopher of Turkish Islamic culture. It is known that he contributed to establishment of Bektashism order and guild of janissaires. He also trained a large number of caliphes and dervishes. In his work, named Makalat, Veli presents his views regarding the human and cosmos in addition to relationship between human and nature. Makalat means as a word “articles” . This work is named Makâlât-ı erba’în (in other words El- Makâlâtu’l-erba’ûn) which means “Forty Articles”. The work was written originally in Arabic language but then it was translated to Turkish. Knowledge about his writing belongs to himself is suspicious with the exception of Makalat. The Work, which is divided in eight part, also dwells on depiction of human. While stating that there are four type of people, it also presents that they all have different types of worships, demands and situations. Among the significant specialities of human, the work indicates that there are science, wisdom and heart. It is also stated in the work that people who don’t feel by heart everything in life are placed secondary line after animals. At the same time, Veli expresses that the human is the ultimate and greatest one among the things what God created. He displays many shared features between human and nature via instances in the work. In present study, Hacı Bektaş Veli’s views are explained through Makalat in terms of relationship of human-nature and the types of human. The aim of the study is to find out the analogy between human and nature by revealing Hacı Bektaş Veli’s human depiction. The study is a theorical one which rests upon literature research. While, his Makalat work is handled as primary resource, at the same time the study is strengthened by utilising from secondary resources on this work.