[Kasideler of Nef'i]

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Add MS 7935
  • Dates of Creation
    • 17th century
  • Language of Material
    • Persian Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • 1 text 138 ff Materials : Paper. Foliation : Western, 138 ff. Dimensions : 203 mm x 114 mm. Script : Nastaliq.

Scope and Content

This volume contains the kasideler or laudatory poems of Nef'i. Nef'i (Ömer Efendi) was born in Hasankale (today Pasinler, near Erzerum), and followed the vocation of an accountant. He became a panegyrist and a favourite of Murat IV, and one of the most brilliant poets of his reign. But he also made many powerful enemies with his biting satires. One of those roused the wrath of the Grand Vezir Bayram, and the poet was surrender by Murat to the vengeful Grand Vezir, who had him strangled in the palace in 1044 AH (1634-35 CE). The same event is recorded as 1045 AH (1635-36 CE) in the Fezleke. The kasideler are arranged according to subjects as follows:. ff 1v-9r : Four kasideler in praise of the Prophet Muhammad صلعم, the first three of which are in Persian;. ff 9r-65v : Kasideler in praise of the Sultans, particularly Ahmet I, Osman II (f 29v), and Murat IV (f 40v);. ff 65v-107r : Kasideler in praise of the following Grand Vezirs: Murat Paşa (1015-20 AH/1606-12 CE) (ff 65v-70r); Nasuh Paşa (1020-23 AH/1611-15 CE) (ff 10r-80v); Mehmet Paşa (Damat) (1023-29 AH/1614-21 CE) (ff 80v-88r); Halil Paşa (1026-37 AH/1617-28 CE) (ff 88r-90r); Ali Paşa (1029-30 AH/1619-21 CE) (ff 90r-92r); Hüseyin Paşa (1030-32 AH/1621-23 CE) (ff 92r-94v); Hafız Ahmet Paşa (1034-41 AH/1624-32 CE) (ff 94v-96v; 99v); Mehmet Paşa (1041-46 AH/1623-29 CE) (ff 96v-99v; 99v-101r); Hüsrev Paşa (1037-41 AH/1619-24 CE) (ff 101r-105r); Bayram Paşa (Kaymakam 1038-46 AH/1620-29 CE, thereafter Grand Vezir) (ff 105r-107r);. ff 107r-138r : Kasideler in praise of Mustafa Paşa, Mufti Es'ad Efendi, and other dignitaries, wıth a few kıt'alar at the end. Some of the text was copied diagonally. The manuscript was likely copied in the 17th century CE.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from the collections of Claudius Rich.

Other Finding Aids

See Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, pp. 192-93.

Related Material

For the Divan of Nef'i, see Or 7169. For Nef'i satirical verses, see Or 7170. For more information on Nef'i and his extrajudicial execution, see Naima I, p. 586 and Haj. Khal III, pp. 38, 631. For alternate dates of death, see the Fezleke II, p. 183. See also Hulasatu'l-eser, f. 61; Osmanlisches Dichtkunst III, p. 234; and Gibb, Ottoman Poems, p. 208. A Sakiname by Nef'i is also referred to in the Leipzig Catalogue, p. 547.

Bibliography

The Divan-i Nef'i was printed in Bulaq in 1252 AH and lithographed in Istanbul in 1269 AH.