Bulent Rauf (

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

1911 – Chisholme House,

Roberton, Scottish Borders Roberton is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the B711 and near to the A7, from Hawick, from Galashiels, and from Langholm. It is situated by the Ale Water, the Alemoor Loch and the Borthwick Water, and nearby are B ...

1987) was a Turkish-British mystic, spiritual teacher, translator and author. From 1945 to the early sixties, he was married to Princess Faiza, sister of King

Farouk of Egypt Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1 ...

. Bulent Rauf dedicated many years of his life to teaching the Islamic concept of "the one Absolute Unity of all existence" ''(

tawhid Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam (Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single m ...

)''. Among other things, the British mystic and author

Reshad Feild Reshad Feild (born Richard Timothy Feild; 15 April 1934 – 31 May 2016) was an English mystic, author, spiritual teacher, and musician, who, as Tim Feild, originally came to prominence as a founder member of folk-pop group The Springfields. He ...

, who portrayed him as "Hamid" in his well-known book ''The Last Barrier'', considered him to be his 'teacher'. However, Bulent Rauf himself emphasized the Islamic view that

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

was the final

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, and that each person is taught directly by their own life with no intermediary. Rauf's chief literary work was the complete rendering into English of Ibn 'Arabi's ''Fusûs al-Hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom)'', incorporating the four volume Ottoman commentary attributed to Ismail Hakki Bursevi. Bulent Rauf was instrumental in founding the Beshara School for Esoteric Education in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1975, which has been attended by hundreds of students from all over the world. He lived at Chisholme and Turkey from 1975 until his death and was a consultant to the school throughout that period. Bulent Rauf was the first president of the

Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society The Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society (MIAS) is a research foundation dedicated to studying the works of Medieval Andalusian philosopher Ibn Arabi. MIAS publishes its own academic journal twice a year, Suha Taji-FaroukiA Movement of Sufi Spirituality in ...

, which is dedicated to making known the work of the Sufi mystic

Ibn Arabi Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , ' Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influen ...

, and encouraged translation and publication of his writings. Rauf led the society until his death in 1987. The 2012 documentary ''In Search of Oil and Sand'' tells the story of Bulent Rauf's creation of the amateur movie ''Oil and Sand'', together with members of the Egyptian royal family and their friends, in the weeks leading up to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

Published works

*''Addresses'' *''Addresses II'' *''Ismail Hakki Bursevi's Translation of and Commentary on Fusus al-Hikam by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi'' Four volumes ( etc.) *''The Kernel of the Kernel'' *''The Last Sultans''

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rauf, Bulent 1911 births 1987 deaths