Summary View

Country

United Kingdom

City

London

Institution

British Library

Collection

Oriental Manuscripts

Shelfmark

4453

Contents

Work 1: Kitābu Evṣāfı Mesācidi’ş-Şerīfe (Ahmed Fakih, active 13th century)

LOC subject headings

Travel writingHistory

Author

Ahmed Fakih, active 13th century

Aḥmed Faḳīh

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ

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Ahmed Fakih, active 13th century (authorised)

Ahmed Fakih, 13th cent (variant)

Fakih, Ahmed, active 13th century (variant)

Biographical notes

Name of five different Sufis and poets, with periods of activity ranging from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

Author

Aḥmed Faḳīh I (d. 618/1221)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ

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Aḥmed Faḳīh I, d. 618/1221 (authorised)

ﻪﻴﻘﻓ ﺪﻤﺣﺍ (variant)

Biographical notes

A Turkmen abdāl dervish renowned for his intoxication. He is probably from the village of Asbust near Tabriz. He is the disciple and son-in-law of Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī (d.635/1238) and the spiritual teacher of Aḫī Evrān (d. during the reign of Orḫān Ġāzī. In his hagiography entitled Hıżır-nāme, Muḥyiddīn states that Aḥmed Faḳīh is one of the first aḫi members in Anatolia and names him “ḳutbu’d-dīn” (the pole of religion). This title is also used by Yūnus Emre (d. 1320), who refers to Aḥmed Faḳīh in his poetry. Aḥmed Faḳīh’s grave is in the musoleum next to the Ḫoca Faḳīh Mescidi to the west of Konya. On the inscription here, Aḥmed Faḳīh is referred to as “melikü’l-abdāl seyyidü’l-mecẕūbīn ḳutbu’ş-şarḳ ve’l-ġarb (the prince of the abdāl, the head of the intoxicated, the pole of the east and west).” He has a second grave in Asbust, which is more likely to be a visiting site (maḳām).

Author

Aḥmed Faḳīh II (d. 650/1252)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ

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Aḥmed Faḳīh II, d. 650/1252 (authorised)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ (variant)

Biographical notes

Believed to have come to Konya from Khurāsān, this Aḥmed Faḳīh is known to be a disciple to Bahāʾ al-Dīn Walad (d. 628/1231), Jalāl al-dīn Rūmī’s (d.672/1273) father. Aflākī devotes a large section to him in his Manāqib al-‘ārifīn, where he is portrayed as an intoxicated figure who performed miracles.

Author

Aḥmed Faḳīh III

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ

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Aḥmed Faḳīh III (authorised)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ (variant)

Biographical notes

This Aḥmed Faḳīh has a tombstone in Konya-Akşehir. We have no information on his life.

Author

Aḥmed Faḳīh IV / Ḫāce Faḳīh-i Ḳaramānī(fl. thirteenth century)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ/ ﺧﻮﺍﺟﻪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪِ ﻗﺮﻣﺎﻧﻲ

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Aḥmed Faḳīh IVḪāce Faḳīh-i Ḳaramānī, fl. 13th century (authorised)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ (variant)

Biographical notes

The biographical dictionary of Sehī Bey contains an entry on this Aḥmed Faḳīh, who is said to have sayings in Turkish, Persian and Arabic, as well as splendid ghazals. His grandson Seyyid Aḥmed built a lodge in Karaman in his name, as well as in the names of his son Seyyid İbrāhīm ‘Arab and his father Seyyid Aḥmed.

Author

Aḥmed Faḳīh V (fl. Second half of the fourteenth – first half of the fifteenth century)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ

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Aḥmed Faḳīh V, fl. Second half of the fourteenth – first half of the fifteenth century (authorised)

ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﻘﻴﻪ (variant)

Biographical notes

Unlike the two Aḥmed Faḳīh who lived in the thirteenth century [1200-1299 CE], this Aḥmed Faḳīh was a person who abided by religious law and was married with children. He is the author of Kitābu Evṣāfı Mesācidi’ş-Şerīfe. From this work we understand that he travelled to Mecca, Medina, Damascus and Jerusalem. It is also more likely for this Aḥmed Faḳīh to be the author of Çarḫ-nāme, as opposed to the two wandering extatic dervishes who lived in the thirteenth century [1200-1299 CE]. The language of the work also points to the late fourteenth [1300-1399 CE] and early fifteenth [1400-1499 CE] centuries. Thus, it is not possible to claim that Aḥmed Faḳīh was the first author to produce works in Anatolian Turkish and that Çarḫ-nāme is the first of such works.

Title

Kitābu Evṣāfı Mesācidi’ş-Şerīfe

ﻛﺘﺎﺐُ ﺍﻭﺻﺎﻑ ﻣﺳﺎﺟﺪِﺍﻟﺸﺮﻳﻔﻪ

Notes

A mes̱nevī of 339 couplets in which Aḥmed Faḳīh recounts the pilgrimage he undertook with a group of friends. The poet describes the cities of Damascus, Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina in detail, in particular the holy sites. The name of the poet appears five times in the work, three times as Aḥmed and twice as Faḳīh. The fact that some folios were lost in the only extant manuscript of the work suggests that the work may have been more voluminous.

Main language of text

Turkish

Foliation

ff. 1b-17a

Columns

2

Ruled lines

13

Bibliography

Editions

Faḳīh, Aḥmed. Kitâbu Evsâfı Mesâcidi’ş-Şerîfe. Edited by Mazıoğlu, Hasibe. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1974.

Studies

Bayram, Mikail. "Anadolu’da Te’lif Edilen İlk Türkçe Eser Meselesi." In Destursuz Bağdan Üzüm Yiyenler. Konya: Kömen Yayınları, 2004.

Gencei, Turhan. "Çarhnâme Müellifi ve Tarihi Hakkında Notlar." Türk Kültürü. XXV, no. 286 1987: 74-77.

Günşen, Ahmet and Enfel Doğan. "Eski Türkiye Türkçesinin kurucularından Ahmed Fakih ve Kitâbu Evsâfı Mesâcidi’ş-Şerîfe’nin dili üzerine." In Uluslararası Eski Anadolu Türkçesi Araştırmaları Çalıştay Bildirileri. Özkan, Mustafa, ed. İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi, 2013, 225-266.

Işık, Hidayet. "Hoca Ahmed Fakih’in tarihî-dînî kişiliği ve Konya’da Hoca Fakih Türbesi." Yeni İpek Yolu: Konya Ticaret Odası Dergisi: Konya Ticaret Odası’nın Kuruluşunun 120. Yılına Armağan. 5 2002: 177-186.

Köprülü, M. Fuad. "Selçukîler Devrinde Anadolu Şâirleri II: Ahmed Fakîh." Türk Yurdu. 4, no. 22 1926: 289-295.

Mazıoğlu, Hasibe. "Anadolu’da XIII. Yüzyıl Ürünlerinden Yeni bir Eser." In X. Türk Dil Kurultayında Okunan Bilimsel Bildiriler. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1963, 75-79.

Mazıoğlu, Hasibe. "Geçmişin Türkçesinden Örnekler." Tarih Dergisi. XIII, no. 145 1963: 25-30.

Pala, İskender. Ansiklopedik Divan Şiiri Sözlüğü. Istanbul: Kapı Yayınları, 2004.

Sertkaya, Osman F.. "Ahmed Fakih: Anadolu’da Türkçe Eserler Veren Mutasavvıf Şair." İlmi Araştırmalar. , no. 2 1996: 131-140.

Önder, Mehmet. "İlk Türkçecilerden Ahmed Fakih Hakkında Yeni Bilgiler." Türk Yurdu. 49, no. 276 1959: 51-51.

İz, Fahir. "Aḥmed, Faḳīh." EI2. XII 2004: 50-50.

İz, Fahir and Günay Kut. "Ahmed Fakîh." In Başlangıcından Günümüze Kadar Büyük Türk Klasikleri I. İstanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, 1985, 264-268.

Work 2: 4 poems (ġazel, ḳasīde) (Anonymous)

Author

Anonymous

Show other names

Anonymous (authorised)

Title

4 poems (ġazel, ḳasīde)

Notes

A no longer extant manuscript which used to be located at Istanbul University Faculty of Literature Department of Turkish Language and Literature (No 4453) contains five poems by Aḥmed Faḳīh, four of which also appear at the end of the manuscript containing Kitâbu Evsâfı Mesâcidi’ş-Şerîfe. The total number of couplets for these poems is 69. The poems are in praise of the holy city of Jerusalem, thus suggesting that they may have been written during Aḥmed Faḳīh’s two month stay in the city.

Main language of text

Turkish

History

Date of copy

15th century