Or 14491

(1) ff 2v-9r: Tercüme-yi Kaside-yi Bürde

This volume contains an Ottoman Turkish commentary of the Kasidetü’l-Bürde (‘The ode of the mantle’), the renowned Arabic poem in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. The work was composed by Muhammed b. Saîd el-Bûsîrî (Born 608 AH/1211 CE, died between 694 and 696 AH/1294 and 1297 CE), a celebrated Egyptian poet of Amazigh ancestry. The original title of the poem is el-Kevakibü’d-dürriye fi medhi hayri’l-beriyye. According to the last lines of the text, this version is by Zihni and was completed by him in Zilkade 1239 AH/July 1824 CE.

(2) ff 10v-200r: Tercüme-yi Şifa-yi şerif

This is an Ottoman translation of Kadi İyaz’s (died 544 AH/1149 CE) eş-Şifa bi-tarifi hukuki’l-Mustafa. Often known simply as the Şifa, it is a famous Arabic work on the qualities and special merits of the Prophet Muhammad.

The text begins on f 14v, and is preceded by a list of contents (ff 10v-13r). Other contents include an owner’s note on the birthdates of his children on f 1v and reflections by another owner on 2v and 200v.

The end of the translation is followed by a short poem explaining the reasons for translating the Şifa into Ottoman and mentioning that the translator lived in the town of Biga, in southwest Anatolia. This is then followed by the same couplet which can be found at the end of text one in this manuscript (Tercüme-yi Kaside-yi Bürde), stating that the translation was executed by Zihni and that he completed the work in Zilkade 1239 AH/July 1824 CE. The two translations in this manuscript were thus more than likely executed by the same personality, Zihni of Biga, in the thirteenth century AH/nineteenth century CE.

The colophon on f 200r states that the copy was completed on 8 Şaban 1249 AH/21 December 1833 CE.