This volume contains an Ottoman Turkish manual of divination. Like many other such works, it is attributed to Cafer es-Sadık, the sixth Imam of the Shia. Part of the divination material consists of circular tables, each listing names (e.g. of Caliphs, chieftains, tribes, animals, trees and birds). The remainder consists of quatrains or du-beytiler. Although these poems are wholly in Ottoman Turkish, each page is headed with the name of an Arab poet (e.g. İmru l-Ḳeyis, Ebū Nuvās, Ḥassān, el-Mütenebbī). The manuscript is undated but was likely copied in the 10th-11th centuries AH (16th-17th centuries CE).
Falname - فألنامه.
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or 16556
- Dates of Creation
- 16th century-17th century
- Language of Material
- Turkish
- Physical Description
- 1 text 53 ff Materials : Paper, some folios worn with repairs to inner margins. Foliation : European and Ottoman, 54 ff. Dimensions : 310 mm x 210 mm. Ruling : Headings and text and tables frames in red, about 22 lines per page (variable). Script: Nesih, with headings in sülus, some of which have been vocalized. Ink : Main text in black ink, with copious use of red for headers and highlighted text. Binding : Modern binding, dark red morocco, faced with embroidered patterned textile.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Purchased at Bonhams auction, 10 April 2008, Lot 32.