Sefine-yi nefise-yi Mevleviyan - سفینۀ نفیسۀ مولویان

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 14327
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1141
  • Language of Material
    • Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • 1 text 442 ff Material : Polished European laid paper,. Foliation : European, 442 ff; Ottoman foliation in three parts in red; additional 7 folios that are blank or only margined. Dimensions : 302 mm x 171 mm. Ruling : Double-ruled margins; rubrics; text block measures 208 mm x 97 mm; 29 lines with catchwords. Script : Nestalik. Ink : Main text in black, with red for some foliation, and gilt used for illumination. Watermarks : Various throughout. Binding : Original brown morocco, rebacked, with flap; gilt lozenge and cross-line central medallions, and blind-tooled chain-link borders.

Scope and Content

This volume contains the biographies of Sufis of the Mevlevi Order by Mustafa Sakıp Dede, himself a Mevlevi şeyh and also author of a Divan. Sakıp died at Kütahya in 1148 AH (1735-36 CE). The present manuscript therefore dates from his lifetime. The Sefine comprises three volumes; manuscript copies are relatively scarce. In the present copy, the text of parts 1 and 3 is preceded by a table of subjects as found in the printed edition as well. The contents of the volume are: tables (ff 4v-5r); part 1 (ff 6v-183r); part 2 (ff 184v-342v); tables (ff 343v-344r); part 3 (ff 345v-442r). The text contains small illuminated unvanlar on ff 6v, 184v, and 345v; all are identical in form, but the first has additional floral motifs and four colours, while the others are in gilt and black only. The colophon of the text is found on f 442r and states that the work was copied by Hafız Osman us-Settari un-Nakşibendi from Muharrem to Şeval 1141 AH (August 1728 to June 1729 CE). The date Recep 1135 AH (April-May 1723 CE) found on f 183r probably refers to the composition of part 1.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Purchased by the British Library from Dr. K. Schwarz on 19 November 1986.

Related Material

For more information on the work and its author, see GOW, p. 270, and the sources cited there; OM I, p. 50; SO II, p. 62; GOD IV, pp. 140-46; and Arı, Ahmet, 'Sâkıb Dede: Mevlevî şeyhi, şair,' Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Date of access: 9 September 2021. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sakib-dede.

Bibliography

The Sefine was printed at Cairo in three parts in 1283 AH (1867 CE).