[Four Ottoman Hurufi texts]

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

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 12680
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1244
  • Language of Material
    • Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • 4 texts 94 ff Materials : Paper. Foliation : European, 94 ff. Dimensions : 210 mm x 162 mm. Ruling : No text frames. Script : Nestalik. Ink : Black ink.

Scope and Content

This volume contains the following four Hurufi works :. (I) ff 1v-29v : An Ottoman Turkish version of the Jāvidānnāmah (جاوداننامه) of Faẓlullāh;. (II) ff 30r-67r : Beşaretname of Refii, a mesnevi poem treating of the mystical meaning hidden in the letters of the Qur'an composed in 811 AH (1408-09 CE);. (III) ff 67r-71r : Gençname, another mesnevi by Refii, copied in 1244 AH (1828-29 CE);. (IV) ff 71r-94v : Fakırname, a mesnevi by Misali, but the text is identical to that of the Feyzname of the same author. The last section of the poem has been omitted. This work was copied by İcri in Şeval 1244 AH (April-May 1829 CE). Works I and II also appear to be of the same date as III and IV.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Purchased by the British Museum from Dr. Oskar Rescher in November 1961.

Related Material

Other translations of text I can be found at Or 5960, Or 10895 text I, Or 10896, and Or 11199. Another copy of text II can be found at Add MS 5986. For more information on the Beşaretname, see Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, pp. 164-65. For more information on Refi'i, see Kut, Günay, 'Refîî: Hurufi şairi,' Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Last accessed: 10 August 2021. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/refii.