Kitab-i Hadis-i Erbain - كتاب حديث اربعين

This volume contains a collection of mesneviler comprised of the following works:. (I) (ff 3v-58v) : A versified translation of the Forty Traditions (احاديث اربعين) made by Hakani Mehmet (died 1015 AH/1606-07 CE). The text ends in the right-hand margin;. (II) (ff 58v-70v) : Hilye-i Hakani, which is written in the margin, with commentary being on the remaining part of each folio. The poem deals with the personal appearance of the Prophet صلعم;. (III) (ff 70v-73r) : Çihar Yar-i Güzin, a poem by Cevri on the appearance of the first four Caliphs (the Rashidun), written in 1050 AH (1640-41 CE). The descriptive sections in Arabic upon which the Ottoman Turkish paraphrase is based are each written inside a gilt circle. This poem is provided with a marginal supplement of ahadith with Ottoman Turkish paraphrasing;. (IV) (ff 73r-80r) : Tuhfetü'l-İslâm, another versified translation of the Forty Traditions by Merdümi (died 971 AH/1564 CE). The poet states that he was the Kadı of Belgrade for ten years;. (V) (ff 80r-84v) : İptida-i Tercüme-yi Ahadis-i Erbain, a similar work by the same author, beginning in the margin;. (VI) (ff 84v-85v) : Ahsenü'l-hadis, a work on the same subject by Okçuzade Mehmet Şahi (died 1039 AH/1630 CE). This text is also found in the margins;. (VII) (ff 85v-87v) : A poem concerning the virtues of the Sūrat al-Raḥmān, which continues in the margins. Ibn ᶜabbās is mentioned twice as the principle authority by the author of this text, Seyit Ahmet İbn-i Mustafa also known as Lali. The text of this poem is written in a different hand from that of the other works in this volume. This final text is followed by a series of anonymous münacat in verse (ff 88r-92r), a terkibibent by Veysi (ff 92v-94r), and a Remelname by Cevri (ff 95r-96r) dated in 1284 AH (1867-68 CE). All of these are in different nestalik hands. At the start of the work on ff 1r-3r, there are various na't, a genealogy of the Prophet Muhammad صلعم, and a poem by Şeyh Rıza. The main text of the manuscript was likely copied in the early 18th century CE.

Unrestricted

Purchased by the British Museum in 1914.

Other copies of the Ahadis-i Erbain by Hakani can be found in Or 8036 text XX and Or 14243. Another copy of text VI can be found at Or 13412. For more information on Hakani Mehmet, see HOP III, p. 193; OM II, p. 163; and Karahan, Abdulkadir, İslâm-Türk edebiyatında Kırk Hadis (İstanbul : İbrahim Horoz, 1954). Other copies of text 2 can be found at Or 7143, Or 7144, Or 7243 inner margins ff 181r-197r, Or 7265 text 4, Or 11128 text 4, Or 12178 text II, Add MS 5989 text 1, and in Add MS 7936 text 1. For more information, see Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, pp. 244 and 257.

The Hilye-i Hakani was printed in Istanbul in 1293 AH (1875 CE). The Ahsenü'l-hadis was printed in Istanbul in 1314 AH (1893 CE).