Author
Birgivi Mehmet Efendi, approximately 1523-1573.
Publication Date
[Kayseri] ; [1729]
Subject
Manuscripts, Arabic, Manuscripts, Arabic /
Michigan, Manuscripts, Arabic / Michigan /
Ann Arbor., Islam, Islam /
Doctrines, Islam / Doctrines /
Early works to 1800., Muslims, Muslims /
Conduct of life, Muslims / Conduct of life /
Early works to 1800., Islamic ethics, Islamic ethics /
Early works to 1800., Headpieces (layout features)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
No
Manuscript
Unknown
Pages Count
209
Physical Dimensions
209 leaves : paper ; 208 x 143 (133 x 59) mm
Library
HathiTrust Digital Library
Record ID
006781938
Library Location
University of Michigan
Notes
About: Elegant, glossed copy of the sermons and homilies of Birgivî (Birkawī, Birgilī) Mehmet Efendi. | Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 516
Origin: As appears in colophon on p.419, copied by al-Sayyid Sulayman Adīb al-Qayṣarī (Süleyman Edip el-Kayserî / Kayserili Süleyman Edip) with transcription began in Kayseri and completed in Erzurum 6 Rabīʻ II 1142 [ca. 29 October 1729]. A statement on p.420 in name of Muḥammad al-Dahrī (Mehmet Dehrî) and attested by Ibrāhīm Aḥmad Saʻudī (İbrahim Ahmet Suudi) and Aḥmad Yaqīn [Baqiyah?] al-Shanṭūrī (Ahmet Yakin [Bakiye?] Şentûrî) may claim that half of the book [?" [The rest?] Al-Shantauri.”
Accompanying materials: a. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda (paginated pp.1-2) -- b. Insert with glosses (paginated pp. 73-74).
Former shelfmark: From inner front cover and spine label, "IL 241" (likely supplied by Yahuda, see acquisitions slip).
Binding: Pasteboards covered in quite dark brown leather; Type II binding (with flap, though now lost) ; doublures (board linings) in comb marbled paper (red, pink, blue, yellow, green, etc.) with hinges in shell marbled paper (blue and brown); upper and lower covers carry gold-stamped mandorla (filled with vegetable composition employing cloud bands and with both vertical and horizontal symmetry, compare Déroche class. NSd) along with gold-tooled border in a series of s-shaped stamps framed by gold fillets; sewn in dark blue thread, two stations; worked chevron endbands in red and likely another color difficult to discern due to damage, only headband remains; Overall in quite poor condition with flap lost, upper cover (along with front flyleaf and opening leaf) fully detached, lifting and losses of leather, abrasion, staining, etc. ; Repairs (now split) to spine in light brown leather; housed in box for protection.
Support: European laid paper with 13 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 24-25 mm. apart (horizontal), and grapes (raisin) under cartouche and crown watermark (see p.10, 15, etc.); Dark cream in color, well-burnished, thin and translucent though sturdy.
Decoration: Illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān) at opening on p.4, consisting of a rectangular piece with empty gold cartouche flanked by floral accents in white and pink on a gold field and surrounded by border in blue with white crosses, surmounted by a scalloped semi-circular piece (dome) filled with swirling floral vegetable design reminiscent of arabesque in white, lavender, pink, orange, etc. on fields of blue and gold, set into a well of pink with white crosses and surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue and pink; basmalah also flanked by floral accents; written area surrounded by gilt frame; keywords, section headings, and abbreviation symbols rubricated; textual dividers in the form of red inverted commas.
Script: Nastaʻlīq (talik); fine Turkish hand in a medium to bold line; serifless with characteristic descent of words to baseline, sometimes more exaggerated, elongation and thickness of horizontal strokes.
Layout: Written in 17 lines per page; frame-ruled.
Collation: i, 20 V(200), IV+1 (209) ; final leaf left blank ; almost exclusively quinions; foliation in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inserts).
Colophon: "Scribal", triangular, reads "And the Muhammadan way began in the protected Qaysariyya and was completed in the guarded land of Rum, and I am the one in need of Him, Glory be to Him, the Most High, Mr. Suleiman Adeeb Al-Qaysari, may God improve his condition on the sixth day of Rabi` al-Akhir in the year one hundred and forty-two of the year 1142."
Explicit: “And the purity of the hearts, you must study it and read it until you know the truth of our article, and we say, Praise be to God who has guided us to this, and we would not have been guided if God, our Lord, had not guided us. Let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us. Grant us mercy from You. Indeed, You are the Giver. O God, may your blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, the Master of Messengers, and upon his family and all his companions. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.”
Incipit: “Praise be to God who has made us a moderate nation, the best of nations... After all, reason and transmission are compatible, and the Qur’an and Sunnah are identical... So I wanted to classify the Muhammadi method and I wanted to explain the Ahmadi biography so that every traveler’s work would be presented to it...”
Title from inscription on 'title page' (p.3).
Ms. codex.
Possibly an effaced ownership statement on 'title page' (p.3) now covered by a slip of paper ; oval seal impression possibly dated 1263 [1846 or 7] (reads “He is the One who remains and I am His slave”) accompanies colophon on p.419 ; extensive marginal glosses; occasional corrections and notabilia (side heads); collation marks and statement on p.419 (“The interview has taken place”).
