Walters Ms. W.665, Two works on Islamic beliefs and practices

W.665

Two works on Islamic beliefs and practices

Vernacular: ترجمة الوقايه

Vernacular: اعتقاديات

Authority name: Şemsi Paşa, 1846 or 7-1908

As-written name: Aḥmet bin Muḥammed Şemsī Pāşā

Name, in vernacular: احمد بن محمد شمسي پاشا

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 988 AH / 1580 CE; author's full name as given in Īḍāḥ al-maknūn (vol. 2, col. 714) [see bibliography] reads: al-Wazīr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Qazal Aḥmad. He is known as Shamsī Pāshā al-Rūmī al-Ḥanafī.

This codex comprises two works on Islamic beliefs and practices by the Ottoman writer Aḥmet bin Muḥammed Şemsī Pāşā (d. 988 AH / 1580 CE), entitled Tercümet ül-Viḳāye (Translation of Viḳāye) and Iʿtiḳādiyāt (Beliefs), as inscribed in the titlepieces on fols. 2b and 29b, respectively. Both texts were copied in black nastaʿlīq script in the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. On fol. 2a is a note of approval by the famous Ottoman jurist Abū al-Suʿūd (Ebussuud) Efendi (d. 982 AH / 1574 CE). The first composition, Tercümet ül-Viḳāye, is a versification of the well-known Ḥanafī compendium of law, known as Wiqāyat al-riwāyah, by Maḥmūd ibn Ṣadr al-Sharīʿah al-Maḥbūbī (fl. seventh century AH / thirteenth CE). The brown leather binding has a central oval medallion with pendants and cornerpieces with arabesques on a gold ground.

10th century AH / 16th CE (an uncertain date on fol. 34b: O650?)

Turkey

Book

Theological

The primary language in this manuscript is Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928).

Paper

Dark cream-colored laid paper

Foliation: i+35+i

Fols. 1-33 marked with Hindu-Arabic numerals

Catchwords: On versos, written obliquely

15.5 cm wide by 26.0 cm high

fols. 2b - 28a: 8.5 cm wide by 16.5 cm high

fols. 29b - 34b: 8.5 cm wide by 16.5 cm high

1. Columns: 2
2. Ruled lines: 11

1. Columns: 2
2. Ruled lines: 11
3. Framing lines in gold, blue, and black

1. Title: Tercümet ül-Viḳāye
2. Author: Şemsi Paşa, 1846 or 7-1908
3. Incipit: بسمليله اولور عنايت حق * ...
4. Text note: Main text preceded by a number of notes, including an approbation or recommendation note by Abū al-Suʿūd Muḥammad
5. Hand note: Written in nastaʿlīq script in black ink with headings in gold, red, and blue
6. Decoration note: Double-page illuminated incipit with titlepiece and interlinear illumination (fols. 2b-3a); framing lines in gold, blue, and black

1. Title: Iʿtiḳādiyāt
2. Author: Şemsi Paşa, 1846 or 7-1908
3. Incipit: اولا ايده لوم خدايه سپاس * ...
4. Hand note: Written in nastaʿlīq script in black ink with headings in gold, red, and blue
5. Decoration note: Double-page illuminated incipit with titlepiece and interlinear illumination (fols. 29b-30a); framing lines in gold, blue, and black

Upper board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding
3. Form: Binding
4. Text: Tercümet ül-Viḳāye and Iʿtiḳādiyāt
5. Label: This brown leather binding is decorated with a central oval medallion with pendants and cornerpieces with arabesques on a gold ground.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Approbation (recommendation) note in the hand of Abū al-Suʿūd Muḥammad
3. Form: Text page;erased seal
4. Label: On this page is an approbation (recommendation) note in Arabic in the hand of Abū al-Suʿūd Muḥammad, the famous Ottoman jurist (d. 982 AH / 1574 CE).

fol. 2b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Tercümet ül-Viḳāye
5. Label: This incipit page with illuminated titlepiece is inscribed Tercümet ül-Viḳāye in white ink on a gold ground with black arabesques surrounded by polychrome design. Illumination is present between the lines of text.

fol. 29b:

1. 
2. Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece
3. Form: Incipit; titlepiece
4. Text: Iʿtiḳādiyāt
5. Label: This incipit page with illuminated titlepiece is inscribed Iʿtiḳādiyāt in white ink on a blue background with gold arabesques surrounded by polychrome design. Illumination is present between the lines of text.

The binding is original.

Brown leather (with flap); central oval medallion with pendants and cornerpieces on a gold ground; light brown endpapers

Approbation (recommendation) note on fol. 2a in Arabic signed by Abū al-Suʿūd Muḥammad; erased seal underneath with the number 712

Several notes on fol. 1a concerning Abū al-Suʿūd Efendi (d. 982 AH / 1574 CE) and Şemsī Pāşā; the note on the right, signed Abū al-Suʿūd al-ḥaqīr, mentions that the work was submitted to him for approval (imẓā); other notes are quotations from Khizānat al-adab, probably by ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Baghdādī, dated 1180 AH / 1766-7 CE and signed Rasmī, as well as Tarīkh-i Ḥasan Begzāde (probably Hasan Bey-zâde târîhi)

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

For Tercümet ül-Viḳāye see İsmail, Paşa. Īḍāḥ al-maknūn fī-al-dhayl ʻalá Kashf al-ẓunūn ʻan asāmī al-kutub wa-al-funūn. İstanbul: Milli Eǧitim Basımevi, 1945-7: vol. 2, col. 714 under Naẓm.

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.