This volume contains a collection of anecdotes on curious instances of fal in which passages taken at random from the Divan-i Hafız, as well as the Qur'an, the Mesnevi, and the poems of Jāmī, were found to give answers of striking fitness to the enquirers. The author of the text is given as Hüseyin el-Kefevi. Having been present, in İstanbul, at a meeting of literati in which notable faller from the Divan-i Hafız formed the topic of conversation, the author was easily prevailed upon to put into shape some notices on the same and kindred subjects, which he had previously collected. He dedicated his work to the reigning Sultan Murat İbn-i Sultan Selim (982-1003 AH/1574-95 CE). The work is divided into a large number of short narratives with rubrics giving the names of the persons to which they relate. The author states, incidentally, that he had left the medrese to which he was attached in İstanbul in order to visit his native Kefe (also known as Feodosya, Crimea) in 985 AH (1577-78 CE) (ff 88v, 139v). Hüseyin Kefevi was appointed Kadı of Jerusalem in 1007 AH (1598-99 CE), and, in the next year, was transferred to Makkah in the same capacity, where he died in 1010 AH (1601-02 CE). He left, in addition to the Razname, notes on Buhari and Muslim, and an Ottoman Turkish commentary on the Gulistān, in which he criticizes his predecessors Şemi and Süruri. The date of the composition of the original work is not provided in the text, but it must fall between 994 AH (1585-86 CE), the year in which Üveys Paşa was appointed as Governor of Egypt (f 177v), and 1003 AH (1594-95 CE), the date of Sultan Murat's death. The text contains an unvan and three small illustrations that have since been obliterated. It is imperfect towards the end. The manuscript was likely copied towards the close of the 16th century CE.
Razname - رازنامه
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or 1144
- Dates of Creation
- Late 16th century
- Language of Material
- Turkish
- Physical Description
- 1 text 198 ff Materials : Paper. Foliation : European, 198 ff. Dimensions : 203 mm x 121 mm. Ruling : Gold-ruled margins. Script : Nesih.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from the collection of Alexandre Jaba.
Other Finding Aids
See Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, p. 133.