[Divan-i Sabit] - [ديوان ثابت]

This volume contains the Divan of the well-known Bosnian poet Alâeddin Ali (born around the mid-eleventh century AH/seventeenth century CE, died in 1124 AH/1712 CE), whose mahlas was 'Sabit.'. Alâeddin Ali was born in the Bosnian town of Užice (Turkish: Uziçe). After coming to Istanbul, he came under the patronage of Kaptan-ı Derya Seydizâde Mehmed Paşa, and through him, became a sponsored candidate on the ilmiye track (mülazım) in 1089 AH/1678 CE. In the same year, he married into the Lalizade family. He went on to become a müderris, and later a kadı in Çorlu, Burgaz, and Kefe. He obtained this latter post by writing a kaside in praise of the Crimean Khan Selim Giray in 1098 AH/1687 CE. In 1103 AH/1692 CE, he was appointed as the müftü of Tekfurdağı (Tekirdağ), a position which he remained in for eight years. He was awarded high-ranking Mevleviyet kadılıks on three separate occasions between 1112 AH/1700 CE and 1119 AH/February 1708 CE, to Saraybosna, Konya, and Diyarbekir respectively. After serving in the latter position for two years, he returned to Istanbul, and died on 3 Şâban 1124 AH/5 September 1712 CE). He was buried in the Topkapı Maltepe Cemetery. Sabit put together his Divan during his eight years in Tekirdağ. It consists of 39 kaside, 6 müzeyyel gazel, 3 tahmis, 44 tarih kıtası, 355 gazel, 2 terciibent, 45 kıta, 24 rubai, 182 müfret and 5 lugaz. It is a highly original piece of work, since Sabit combined the poetry style of the classical period and the later styles of the likes of Nâbî and Nevizâde Atâyî. He himself influenced the likes of Nedim, Süruri, Sümbülzade Vehbi, Enderunlu Vasıf and İzzet Molla. His work was highly popular for its realistic perspectives on positive and negative aspects of daily life, including sexual themes, its use of popular idioms, proverbs, and common phrases, and its all-round realism and humour. Over sixty copies of the Divan survive around the world, demonstrating its contemporaneous popularity. However, after the mid-nineteenth century CE Sabit's work began to fall out of popularity and was even criticised because its content was not in keeping with the values espoused in the Tanzimat, Constitutional, and Republican periods (see Karacan and Özyildirim for more). Other contents of the volume include lines of verse added by an owner on 1r, and poetic verse on the back endpaper. The volume also carries a number of marginalia. The volume is undated, but is probably from the 13th century AH/19th century CE.

Unrestricted

Purchased at Bonhams, 19 January 2011, part of lot 25

Copies of the Divan can also be found at Or 10883 and Or 12578. For more on Sabit, see Turgut Karacan, 'Sâbit,' TDVİA (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sabit--divan-sairi); Ali Emre Özyildirim, 'SABİT, Alâaddin (Ali),' Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (http://teis.yesevi.edu.tr/madde-detay/sabit-alaaddin-ali).

An edition was produced by Turgut Karacan based on eight copies of the Divan: Bosnali Alaeddin Sabit, Divan (Sivas: Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi, 1991).