Add MS 7851

This volume contains the history of the Abrahamic prophets by Qāẓī Nāṣir, son of Burhān, of Ribāṭ Oghūz. In the frequent pieces of verse inserted throughout the text, the author refers to himself simply as Nāṣir Rabghūzī (see ff 68v, 77v, 288v, as well as in the last verse of the epilogue). His Nisbeh, Rabghūzī, is derived by contraction from his place of birth or residence, Ribāṭ Oghūz. In the subscription, his name is written as Nāṣir al-Dīn Rabghūzī, and is preceded by honorific titles describing him as an eminent divine.

The preface contains a panegyric in prose and verse on a powerful prince, Emīr Nāṣir al-Dīn Tuq Bughā, whose honorific titles fall only short of the regal style. The text states that, although of Mongolian extraction, he became a Muslim, and was engaged in devotion day and night. From him, the author of the text received, in 709 AH at the beginning of the year of the dog (1309-10 CE), a message stating the prince’s eager desire for a history of the Prophets, and requesting him to write one for his use. The present work was composed in compliance with that wish, and we learn from the epilogue that it was completed in the ensuing year, 710 AH (1310-11 CE), and “was sent to His Highness Nāṣir al-Dīn Tuq Bughā Beg, to be liked or disliked, as best he thought.”

The Emīr, who is described by Rabghūzī as young in years (f 26), is probably the same that Ibn Batutah met around 733 AH (1332-33 CE), in the camp of Termashirin near Nakhsheb. The traveler calls him al-amīr taqbughā (الامير تقبغا) and says that he was then nāᵓib or regent, in the absence of the Sultan.

Rabghūzī’s story of the Prophets is a rich repertory of narratives from Islamic tradition that do not appear, in their entirety, in the text of the Qur’an. The language of the text also indicates that these texts were likely intended to be enjoyed by listeners as well as a means of knowledge transfer. They include, among others, the story of Noah’s daughter and her three counterfeits.

Contents: Creation (ff 3r-5r); Adam (ff 5r-15r); Abel and Cain (ff 15r-17v); Seth (17v-19v); Idrīs (ff 19v-21r); Hārūt and Mārūt (ff 21r-22v); Nūh (ff 22v-28r); ᶜuj bin ᶜanaq (ff 28r-28v); Hūd (ff 28v-31r); Ṣāliḥ (ff 31r-37v); Ibrāhīm (ff 37v-47v); Ismāᶜīl (ff 47v-53v); Isḥaq (ff 53v-56v); Lūṭ (ff 56v-61v); Yaᶜqūb (ff 61v-65r); Yūsuf (ff 65r-111r); Mūsá, wanting at the beginning (ff 111r-131r); Dāᵓūd (ff 131r-137r); Sūlayman (ff 137r-151v); Yūnus (ff 151v-158r); Ilyās (ff 158r-161r); Jirjīs (ff 161r-163v); Luqmān Ḥakīm (ff 163v-165r); ᶜuzayr (ff 165r-166r); Zakariyā, ᶜīsá and Maryam (ff 166r-168v); ᶜīsá (ff 168v-172v); Zulqarnayn (ff 172v-178r); Aṣḥab al-kahf (ff 178r-179v); Aṣḥab al-fīl (ff 179v-181r); the birth and life of Muḥammad صلعم (ff 181r-193v); Muḥammad’s صلعم prophetic mission (ff 193v-200r); merits of Abu Bakr, ᶜumar, ᶜuthmān and ᶜalī (ff 200r-202r); the predication of Muḥammad صلعم (ff 202r-208v); the Miᶜrāj (ff 208v-219v); the Ḥijrah (ff 219v-221r); the first battle of Badr (ff 221r-222v); the Battle of Uḥud (ff 222v-225r); the taking of Makkah (ff 225r-230r); the victory of the Greeks over the Persians (ff 230r-232r); the Battle of Tabūk (ff 232r-234r); false accusation against ᶜayshah (ff 234r-235v); the death of Muḥammad صلعم (ff 235v-238v); the death of Abu Bakr (ff 238v-239r); martyrdom of ᶜumar (ff 239r-239v); martyrdom of ᶜuthmān (ff 239v-241v); martyrdom of ᶜalī (ff 241v-242r); martyrdom of Ḥasan (ff 242r-243r); and martyrdom of Ḥusayn (ff 243r-248v).

The early date of Rabghūzī’s work gives it a great linguistic value. It forms an intermediate link between the Old Turkic language, including that of the Uyghur of the Qudatqu Bilig, and the Chagatai found in the poetry of Alisher Navoiy and Babur. Although written two and a half centuries after the Qudatqu Bilig, it preserves, with slight phonetic changes, much of its archaic vocabulary. A striking feature of the dialect of Rabghūzī is that it preserves in many words a dental consonant in a medial or final position that has since been replaced by an i in Chagatai, albeit as a sibilant such as z, while the corresponding sound in the Qudatqu Bilig is a t or d. Another peculiarity of this dialect, as represented in our manuscript, is the frequent substitution of f for a medial or final b or v.

Lastly, there is the use of archaic vocabulary and some morphological forms, such as the dative in –kar; the adverbial suffix –in or –un; and verbal nouns in –ikli.

The copyist of the manuscript, Ḥājī Muḥammad bin Dūst Muḥammad Ḥājī Vezīrī, states at the end of the text that this copy was completed on the 27^th day of Ramaḍān, but the exact year, which was written further down on the page, has since been lost. It is presumed, from the calligraphy, that the text was copied in the 15^th century CE, although the writing on ff 1-3 is in a later hand.