Şerh-i Divan-i Hafız - شرح ديوان حافظ

This volume contains the Ottoman Turkish commentary on the Divan of Hafız by Sudi. Sudi was a native of Bosnia, during the latter part of his life he was employed as preceptor for the pages in the palace of İbrahim Paşa (Grand Vezir 1004-10 AH/1595-1602 CE). He left, apart from the current work, commentaries upon the Şafiye, Kafiye, Mesnevi, Bustan and Gulistan, the last two of which Haj. Khal. calls the best of all commentaries on those works. He died in either 1000 AH (1591-92 CE; according to the Fezleke and Naima) or 1001 AH (1592-93 CE; according to Hammer). The latter date, however, is too early for two of Sudi's works were written subsequently, including the present work, which was composed in 1003 AH (1594-95 CE), according to a chronogram in other copies, as well as the commentary on the Bustan, which was apparently finished in Şeval 1006 AH (May 1598 CE). A somewhat earlier date for the commentary on Hafız is found in the chronogram on f 6 of the current work, by the same hand as the main text, according to which it was completed on 13 Zulkade 1002 AH (31 July 1594 CE). In a preface that does not occur in some of the other recensions, Sudi says that he wrote this commentary at the request of a dear friend and benefactor, now deceased, Mehmet Efendi, Şeyh of the Haram in Medine, who had begged of him to explain the natural sense of the poems of Hafız, without entering into Sufi interpretations. The full name of the friend mentioned above is Mehmet İbn-i Bedreddin el-Akhısari, with the mahlas Munşi. He was born in Akhısar, in Saruhan Province, and is chiefly known as the author of a tefsir of the Qur'an entitled Nezil el-tenzil. He was appointed Şeyh of the Haram of Medine in Rebiülahir 982 AH (July-August 1574 CE), when he took up residence in the city. He died in Makkah in 1001 AH (1592-93 CE). The commentator's preface is followed by an Ottoman Turkish translation of the Persian preface of the editor of the Divan, Gülendam. The present manuscript contains the first half of the work; it comes down to the end of the letter dal. The commentary gives, after each verse, some short verbal and grammatical explanations, followed by an Ottoman Turkish paraphrase. It was written more than 20 years after the commentary of Şem'i, which is occasionally the object of the author's strictures. A tabulated index of the beginning of the gazeller can be found on ff 1-7. This manuscript was likely copied by various hands in the 17th century CE.

Unrestricted

Acquired by the British Museum from Baron von Kremer.

See Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, pp. 158-59.

A copy of the latter half of the work can be found at Or 12177. For more information on Sudi, see Fezleke I, p. 7; Hammer, Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches, IV, p. 205. For Sudi's Şerh-i Bustan, see Flügel, Vienna Catalogue I, p. 541. For information on Şeyh Mehmet İbn-i Bedreddin el-Akhısari, see Hulasatu'l-eser, Add MS 23370 f 157; Naima I, p. 40; and Fezleke I, p. 7. For more on the Nezil el-tenzil, see Haj. Khal. II, p. 380, and VI, p. 339. For more on the Persian preface, see Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, p. 628v.

Sudi, Şerh-i Sudi (Bulak: İskenderiye Tabhanesi, 1250 [1834]). The first portion of the work, extending to the middle of the letter taa', has been incorporated into Hafiz and Sudi, Bosnavi, Die Lieder des Hafis, Hermann Brockhaus ed. (Osnabrück: Biblio-Verlag, 1969).