Summary View

Country

Turkey

City

Istanbul

Institution

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi

Collection

Darülmesnevi

Shelfmark

153

Contents

Work 1: Manṣūrnāme (Niyāzī-i Ḳadīm, fl. late 14th or early 15th century)

LOC subject headings

Sufi poetry, Turkish

Islamic poetry, Turkish

Masnavis

Author

Niyāzī-i Ḳadīm, fl. late 14th or early 15th century

نيازى قديم

Show other names

İlyās b. İlyās Şücāʾü’d-dīn Niyāzī

Dervīş Niyāzī

ﺍﻟﻴﺎﺱ ﺏ ﺍﻟﻴﺎﺱ ﺷﺟﺎﺀﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻧﻴﺎﺯﻱ

ﺩﺭﻭﻳﺶ ﻧﻴﺎﺯﻱ

Niyāzī-i Ḳadīm (authorised)

نيازي قديم (variant)

Biographical notes

Possible author of the Manṣūrnāme, who lived during the reign of Bāyezīd I (d.805/1403). He had three poetry collections (dīvān) in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, none of which are extant. Niyāzī-i Ḳadīm was the brother of Mollā Vildān who was one of the poets of the period. He became a disciple of Şeyḫ Hācı Ḫalīfe (d. 894/1489). Biographical dictionaries do not attribute a Manṣūrnāme to him. The work may thus belong to another unknown Niyāzī.

Title

Manṣūrnāme

منصورنامه

Notes

A mes̱nevī of 1066 couplets which tells the life story of Ḥallāj, al-Husayn ibn Manṣūr (d. 309/922), his Sufi doctrine, his miracles and death. The various copies of the work show significant variation. A section of 500 couplets is in common with Eşrefoġlı’s Naṣā’iḥ, which may be its source of origin. Scholars have argued that Niyāzī edited the content of the story first written by Eşrefoġlı. Two other recensions of the work may belong to Aḳḳoyunlu Aḥmedī (d. after 884/1480) and the 16th century [1500-1599 CE] poet Mürīdī. On the other hand, many of the Manṣūrnāmes attributed to Mürīdī in the catalogues are identical to the one by Niyāzī. The oldest copy of Niyāzī’s Manṣūrnāme dates from 894 AH [1489 CE] and has only 537 lines, half of the length of the second oldest copy. It is almost identical to the recension under the name of Aḥmedī.

Main language of text

Turkish

Foliation

1a-26a ff.

Columns

2

Ruled lines

19

Bibliography

Editions

Niyazi, İlyas b. İlyas Şücaüddin. Mansur-name: Hallac-ı Mansur'un Manzum Menakıbnamesi. Edited by Tatcı, Mustafa. Ankara: Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, 1994.

Studies

Hickman, William. ‘The Counsels’: A previously unrecognized poem on al-Hallaj by Eşrefoğlu Rumi. Edited by Leiser, Gary. London: Routledge, 2015. (Turkish Language, Literature and History (Festschrift in Honor of Robert Dankoff))

Hickman, William. "Who Really Wrote the Ottoman Turkish Story of Hallaj?" Der Islam. 1, no. 93 2016: 170-81.

Massignon, Louis. "La legende de Hallace Mansur en pays turcs." Revue des Etudes Islamiques. , no. 46 1941: 67-115.

Massignon, Louis. "Recueil de textes inedits concernant l’histoire de la mystique en pays d’Islam." In Librairie orientaliste Paul Geunthner. Paris: 1929, 152-154.

Tatcı, Mustafa. "Mansurnâme." TDVİA. 28 2003: 17-18.

Show filiations

Ankara Etnografya Müzesi Kütüphanesi 17833

Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzesi 255

Berlin Staatsbibliothek 2776

Atatürk Kitaplığı 892

Atatürk Kitaplığı 502

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 1261

Bayezit Devlet Kütüphanesi 677

Cumhurbaşkanlığı Köşkü 8662

Bursa İnebey Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 4486

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 3355

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 824

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 22

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 6309

Fatih Millet Kütüphanesi 778

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 3685

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 4866

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3922

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3627

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 96

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 857

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 761

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 9109

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 9488

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 392

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 766

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3572

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 3912

Work 3: Vesîletü’n-Necât (Süleyman Çelebi, -1422?)

LOC subject headings

Masnavis

Muḥammad, Prophet, -632 (Biography)

Islam (Apologetic works)

Author

Süleyman Çelebi, -1422?

سلىمان چلبی

Show other names

Suleyman Celebi b. Ahmad Pasha b. Mahmud l-Bursevi

Sūlaymān Chalabī

Süleyman Çelebi, -1422? (authorised)

Sulaymān Chalibī, -1422? (variant)

Süleyman Çelebi, d. 1421 (variant)

Süleyman Çelebi, d. 1422? (variant)

Süleyman Dede, -1422? (variant)

Süleyman, of Bursa, -1422? (variant)

Biographical notes

There is no much information about his life. The information found in the scholarship is partial and relies on the biographical material such as Latifî’s Tezkiretü’ş-Şuarâ and Mustafa Âli’s Künhü’l-Ahbâr. Modern scholars agree that he was born in Bursa around the mid fourteenth century and was both, the son of Ahmed Paşa and a descendant of Şeyh Mahmud who in turn was the son of Edebâli, author of a commentary on the Fusûsü’l-hikem. Although the evidence is inconclusive, it has been suggested that he could have been the preacher of the Grand Mosque of Bursa during the reign of Bayezid I. His actual dates of birth and death are unknown. Most biographies agree that Süleyman Çelebi wrote the Vesîletü’n-Necât after he listened a sermon and witnessed how the audience followed the misleading argument of the preacher. The orator misspelled a Qur’anic verse regarding the prophets and announced that there is no difference between Jesus and prophet Muḥammad. Accordingly, Süleyman Çelebi wrote his work in order to reject these opinions and to declare the superiority of the prophet Muḥammad over all other prophets.

Title

Vesîletü’n-Necât

وسيلة النجاة

Notes

Most of the existing scholarship regards Sūlaymān Chalabī’s Vesîletü’n-Necât as the first Turkish example of the genre of mevlid. It is the only work written by the author. It is in the mathnawi format and written in a simple Turkish. One verse that appears in some of the copies of the text reveals that Vesîletü’n-Necât was composed in 1409 [1409 CE] when the author is sixty years old. Sūlaymān Chalabī probably inspired from the earlier Arabic and Turkish siyar texts. In this respect, Tahir Alangu finds similarities between the introductions to Vesîletü’n-Necât and Âşık Paşa’s mathnawi Garibnâme (composed in 1332 [1332 CE]). Also, he draws attention to the similarities especially of the parts on the birth of the prophet Muhammad in Vesîletü’n-Necât with a siyar text translated by Erzurumlu Mustafa Darîr bin Yusuf in 1388 [1388 CE]. F. Lyman MacCallum divides the texts into nine sections: A song of invocation and praise to Allah; A brief request (always carefully observed in recitals) for prayers for the author, “Süleyman the lowly”; A discourse on the “Light of Muhammad”, or the prophetic succession; The birth of Muhammad; The “Merhaba”, a triumphant chorus of welcome to the new-born Prophet; Further recital of the marvels attending the birth; The miracles of the Prophet; The “Miradj” or heavenly journey of the prophet; Concluding confession and prayer. From the time it had been written until now, Vesîletü’n-Necât has become one of the most popular siyar text. During the Ottoman period, especially after the reign of Murad III (r. 1574-1595) reading Vesîletü’n-Necât aloud became an important part of the mevlid celebrations conducted by the palace. Vesîletü’n-Necât has been read aloud in other occasions too, such as births, funerals and circumcision ceremonies.

Main language of text

Turkish

Foliation

38-41 ff.

Columns

2

Ruled lines

19

Bibliography

Editions

Çelebi, Süleyman. Vesîletü-n-Necât: Mevlût (Mevlid). Edited by Alangu, Tahir. İstanbul: Yeditepe Yayınları, 1958.

Çelebi, Süleyman. Vesîletü’n-Necât: Mevlid. Edited by Ateş, Ahmed. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1954.

Çelebi, Süleyman. Süleyman Çelebi ve Mevlid-i Şerif. Edited by Aymutlu, Ahmet. İstanbul: Berksoy Matbaası, 1958.

Chelebi, Süleyman. The Mevlidi Sherif. Translated by MacCallum, F. Lyman.. London: J. Murray, 1943.

Kahraman, Ahmet. Süleyman Çelebi ve Mevlid-i Şerif. İstanbul: Toker Yayınları, 1972.

Çelebi, Süleyman. Mevlid (Vesîletü’n-necât). Edited by Pekolcay, Necla. İstanbul: Dergâh Yayınları, 2013.

Timurtaş, Faruk Kadri. Şeyhî ve Husrev ü Şîrin'i: inceleme-metin. Istanbul.: Edebiyat Fakültesi Basımevi, 1980.

Studies

Pala, İskender. Mevlid: Vesîletü’n-Necât (Kurtuluşa Giden Yol). İstanbul: Kapı Yayınları, 2012.

Show filiations

Ankara Etnografya Müzesi Kütüphanesi 17833

Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzesi 255

Berlin Staatsbibliothek 2776

Atatürk Kitaplığı 892

Atatürk Kitaplığı 502

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 1261

Bayezit Devlet Kütüphanesi 677

Cumhurbaşkanlığı Köşkü 8662

Bursa İnebey Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 4486

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 3355

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 824

Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi 22

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 6309

Fatih Millet Kütüphanesi 778

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 3685

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 4866

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3922

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3627

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 96

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 857

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 761

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 9109

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 9488

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 392

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 766

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3572

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 3912

Physical Description

Number of folios

41 ff.

Seal

Waqf seal and record of Şeyḫ Meḥmed Murād شيخ محمد موراد on 1a ff.

History

Date of copy

possibly 18th century