Or 16238

This volume contains selections from the Divan of the Ottoman poet and scholar Mehmed Şerif Sabri (died 1055 AH/1645 CE).

Born and educated in Edirne, Sabri served as a kadı in various locations throughout the Ottoman Empire. He was also a leading poet of the eleventh century AH/seventeenth century CE and a nedim (courtier or boon companion) of Sultan Murad IV (1032-1049 AH/1623-1640 CE). He was seen as a master of belagat and was especially skilled in creating unique mazmunlar. Although he had an original style, the influence of Nef‘i and Şeyhülislam Yahya can be detected in his work.

The edition prepared by Çeçen has 21 kaside, 1 mesnevi, 6 müseddes, 7 tarih, 210 gazel, 3 kıta, 7 nazm, 41 matla, and 9 müfred. The present copy opens with seven of these twenty-one kasideler eulogising Sultan Murad (ff 2-11), Şeyhülislam Yahya Efendi (ff 11-14 and 14-21), Şeyhülislam Hüseyin Efendi (ff 21-25), Ali Rızayi Çelebi (ff 25-27), Ömer Hvace Efendizade Abdullah Efendi (ff 28-32), and Canpoladzade (ff 32-33). This is followed by selections of müseddesler (ff 33-36), gazeliyat from elif through ye (ff 36-93), and finally metali (ff 94-97). 98-99 are blank. The mesnevi, tarihler, kıtalar, nazmlar, and müfredat are left out entirely.

As in another copy held by the British Library (ff 137v-179v of Add MS 7930), the present copy opens with a kaside eulogising Sultan Murad IV. However, in other copies, including Or 1155 (97v-133v) and the edition printed in Istanbul in 1296 AH/1879 CE, this kaside is preceded by another in praise of the Sultan’s horses, a kind of kaside known as rahşiye. The present copy ends with the penultimate metali section of the fuller version, though it leaves out the final few beyitler.

Begins:

Geçti kılıçtan fiten-i rüzgar * seyf-i Yedu’llahi olup aşikar / Nakş ber-ab oldu cihanda yine * zahir olan fitne-çu hatt-ı ‘izar

Ends:

Hvab-ı dü-çeşmimi alan nergis-i pür-füsunudur * Ah ki baht-ı tali‘im dahi onun zebunudur

There is a small gilt and polychrome unvan on f 2. A short poem can be found on f 99. Though the present copy is undated, it is probably from the 13th century AH/19th century CE.