179

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.395, cont.)

(1) ff. lb-6b Vesiletii n-necat fi mevlüdi n-nebi ‘aleyhf s-salat 3>LaJI 4-Ju. oL*uJI a\ : ... j A selection of 132 couplets, divided into nine chapters, from the popular poem in mesnevf rhyme in praise of the Prophet Muhammad by Siileyman Celebi (d. 826/1422), Imam at the Great Mosque of Bursa. The name of the author, ‘Siileyman ’, is mentioned in f. 6b:3. The work, also simply known as Mevlid or Mevlad - the title ‘Mevludu n-nebC occurs in a heading preceding the text on f. lb - was completed in 812/1409. Ever since the 16th century, the poem has been recited as part of the celebration of Muhammad’s birth (on 12 RebC'ii l-evvel). The main subjects of the work are a discourse on the Light of Muhammad, his birth, the wonders preceding it, his virtues, the miracles attributed to him, the mi'rac (his journey to heaven), and his last illness and death. (For other copies, complete and fragmentary, of the same work, see Codices Or. 1205(4) and 12.397 (1 2 3) 12.441(1), 14.555(5), and 25.769, below.)

Begins (lb, after a besmele, as in Ate§’s edition, p. 92:1): ¥>ï >• oaJuI <lU>. jaJjI * Vjl a) oajI j5j jjj.il 4_U| Ends (6b, as in Ate§’s edition, p. 147:60): *1/1 * jjjjLA J^l 0ALU | Colophon (ibidem): L>^-h Lull L jjj fll Catalogue entries: Götz II, 501, where other MSS are mentioned; see also Fihris 5077-84 (IV, pp. 260-1); Yardim 3507.

Editions: by Ahmed Ate§ (Ankara 1954) in Latin script with facsimile plates; among the more popular versions in Latin script are those by Tahir Alangu (Istanbul 1958) and Ahmet Kahraman (Istanbul 1972). Translations: into many languages, see the articles by Burrill and Pekolcay; an English translation was made by F. Lyman MacCallum, The Mevlidi Sherif by Siileyman Chelebi (London 1943). Literature: Kathleen R.F. Burrill, ‘Siileyman Celebi, Dede’ in Ef; Necla Pekolcay, ‘Siileyman Celebi’ in IA\ by the same: Mevlid (Ankara 1993); see also