[Divan-i Vusuli] - [ديوان وصولى]

This volume contains the collected poetry of Vusuli, a poet who is mentioned by Hasan Çelebi and Aşık Çelebi, neither of whom provide much information about him. It is nonetheless clear that he lived during the reign of Murad III, to whom several of his kasideler are dedicated. According to Aşık Çelebi, Vusuli's given name was Küçük Balı Paşaoğlu Mehmet Bey. The Divan, which has become disordered in the binding process, opens with a preface in elegant prose (ff 1v-6r). After this come kasideler (ff 6v-8v), and then gazeller, which are imperfect at the beginning. Some interpolated folios are plainly part of the end papers. These include some poems, including one by Gazzali, arranged according to the appropriate makamat (ff 19r-v); a tahmis by Ali on a gazel of Vusuli (ff 30r-v); a prayer, followed by poems of Ulvi, Nesimi, Hayreti, Zati, İshak, Baki, Lami'i, and others (ff 39r-46v); poems of Nami, Şemsi Efendi, İzzeti, Ahmet Paşa, Yemini, Kerimi, and Azeri, together with two tracts, Esrarü'l-Azam (f 58v), a religious work, and the Bahr-i tavil by Ziyai (ff 65-67v), an exercise in composition in which each section begins with a particular letter of the alphabet. The interpolated folios end on f 73v and the Divan of Vusuli continues, breaking off on f 81v with a gazel in nun. This is followed by an Arabic document entitled 'Contratta sopra da casa della Sorella di Mahometto, Figlio de Baba Hagie. Al contrario datagli da mio parle una obligatione da quale ho la copia Ao. 1747 Iuny.' and four pages from the Acts of the Apostles, taken from the Ottoman Turkish Bible (printed at Rome?). On the last folio there is the following note: 'Dieses Türkische Buch ist nach Eroberund der Stadt Ofen in Ungarn durch einen Marquetender von dannen anhiro gebracht worden.'. The manuscript was likely copied in the 17th century CE.

Unrestricted

Purchased by the British Museum in 1921.

For more information on the poet, see Hasan Çelebi's Tezkiratü'ş-şuara (Or 7062 ff 256v-266r) and Aşık Çelebi's Meşairü'ş-şuara (Or 6434 ff 80r-v), as well as GOD II, pp. 558-59.