[Mecmua] - [مجموعه]

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 16405
  • Dates of Creation
    • 10th century
  • Language of Material
    • Arabic Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • Several texts 60 ff. Material: Good off-white paper, above average in thickness. Foliation: European, 60 ff. Dimensions: 246 x 150 mm; text area 134 x 68 mm. Pricking and Ruling: 5 lines per page. Script: Calligraphic nesih throughout, larger calligraphic sülüs on the top and bottom lines on ff 2-49. Final supplication in muhakkak. Binding: The volume has been incongruously rebound in brown calf with gilt tooled margins in European style.

Scope and Content

This volume contains a prayer book bringing together Quranic verses, litanies, and supplications in elaborate calligraphic script. The text opens with six chapters (sureler) of the Quran, five of which are commonly found in such devotional compilations, as well as the less common Sure-i Mücadele. This is followed by litanies assigned for each day, beginning on Friday. Following the litanies is a commentary of the 'Supplication of Ukkaşe ibni Mihsan' (died around 11 AH/632 CE), who was a Companion of the Prophet, followed by the content of the prayer itself. The Quranic verses and litanies are entirely in Arabic, while the commentary on the supplication of Ukkaşe is in Ottoman Turkish. The text ends with an incomplete explanation of the 'Supplication of the Treaty' in Ottoman Turkish. It appears to have been added subsequently and is in a much rougher hand. The full contents of the compilation are as follows:. 1v-10r: Yasin (Sure 36); 10r-18v: Fetih (Sure 48); 18v-25r: Vakıa (Sure 56); 25r-32v: Mücadele (Sure 58); 32v-38v: Mülk (Sure 67); 38v-40v: Nebe (Sure 78); 40v-42r: el-Vird li-yevmi'l-Cum'a (Litany for Friday); 42r-43r: el-Vird li-yevmi's-Sebt (Litany for Saturday); 43v-44v: el-Vird li-yevmi'l-Ahad (Litany for Sunday); 44v-46r: el-Vird li-yevmi'l-İsneyn (Litany for Monday); 46r-47v: el-Vird li-yevmi's-Sülesa (Litany for Tuesday); 47v-48v: el-Vird li-yevmi'l-Erbi'a (Litany for Wednesday); 48v-50r: el-Vird li-yevmi'l-Hamis (Litany for Thursday); 50r-51r: Şerh-i Dua-i Ukkaşe (Commentary on the Supplication of Ukkaşe; 51v-60r: Dua-i Ukkaşe (Text of a supplication made habitually by Ukkaşe); 60v: Şerh-i Dua-i Ahdname (Introduction to a supplication called Dua-i Ahdname); The volume features calligraphic nesih and larger calligraphic sülüs on the top and bottom lines between ff 2-49. The Dua-i Ukkaşe between ff 51v-60r is written in large muhakkak. The combination of sülüs/muhakkak and nesih is a common feature of tenth century AH/sixteenth century CE Qurans, and is also common in earlier Mamluk and Ilkhanid works. The calligrapher does not sign his name, however based on his work, his identity may be Derviş Ali or one of his contemporaries. An illuminated heading of good quality can be found on 1v. There are also small headings for each text. f 60r has a concluding illumination while f 60v does not. There is gilded framing for the wider text area throughout the text. In the Quran and litany sections, the central calligraphic nesih sections and the calligraphic sülüs at the top and bottom each have individual gilded framing, as well as gold roundels separating each verse or prayer. Although the volume is undated, it is likely from around the tenth century AH/sixteenth century CE.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Sam Fogg Ltd. in March 2007

Related Material

Readers with interest in Ottoman devotional compilations and adaptations of Arabic litanies and supplications can consult the British Library's collection of Delailü'l-hayrat produced in Ottoman domains (for example Or 6314), commentaries of the Delail in Ottoman Turkish (for example Or 15654 and Or 15741), and illustrated devotional compilations (such as Or 4251, Or 13977, and Or 16278). For further reading on Ottoman devotional compilations, see Alexandra Bain, 'The late Ottoman En'am-i șerif: sacred text and images in an Islamic prayer book' (PhD dissertartion, University of Victoria, 1999); Guy Burak, 'Prayers, Commentaries and the Edification of the Ottoman Supplicant,' in Historicizing Sunni Islam in the Ottoman Empire, c. 1450-c. 1750 (Leiden: Brill, 2020): 232-252; Sabiha Göloğlu, 'Depicting the holy: Representations of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem in the Late Ottoman Empire' (PhD Dissertation, Koç Üniversitesi, 2018); Christiane Gruber, 'A pious cure-all: the Ottoman illustrated prayer manual in the Lilly Library' in The Islamic manuscript tradition: ten centuries of book arts in Indiana University collections (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010): 116-53; and 'Special Issue: From West Africa to Southeast Asia: The History of Muḥammad al-Jazūlī's Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt (15th-20th centuries),' Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 12:3-4 (2021).