187

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.398)

Cod.Or. 12.398 Gz/m ‘u l-hikayat 0 L, ^ An undated copy of a collection of versified stories in Azeri Turkish by Dem$ Abdulkerim b. §eyh Ahmed, who used the pen-names of ‘Aciz and ‘ Acizf. The title is found on the bottom edge. The name of the author is mentioned in f 15b: 11 (‘Abdulkerfm), f. 15b: 17 (‘Acizf) and f. 188a: 16 (ibn-i §eyb Ahmed); his mahlas is also found in other verses (e.g. ff. 197a: 10; 240b: 13, 260b: 10). The author may be identical with a sparsely-documented poet of the same namp mentioned by Caferoglu in PhTF II, p. 654. Another, incomplete, manuscript copy of this work - the first and last lines are different - is preserved in the collection of the Academy of Sciences at Baku (Sultanov 1005, where the name of the poet, however, occurs as ‘Abdullah). The collection contains 82 numbered stones’ (hikayet), mostly of a religious-mystic nature with subjects ranging from the ascent of the Prophet to heaven (‘hikayet-i mi'racii n-nebV, la-20b) to the ‘Four Friends’ of the Prophet (‘hik&yet-i gdrydr', 255a-260b); some address or describe molla’s and dervishes mentioned by name, some seem to be of a vaguely autobiographical nature (e.g. the sixth hikayet-i ? ehir\ describing a visit to Mecca, 38a-40b). Almost all poems are prayers or end in prayers as well as in the line: enbiyadan evliyadan yd ilah! sen bizi ayirmagil ey padi§üh'. Most sections are of the mesnevi format, but occasionally passages in mono-rhyme, or entire kastdes, are found. The work is preceded by a table of contents (third and fourth unnumbered flyleaves). A few marginal corrections and additions. Bound in embossed brown leather with flap, blind tooled insets in Oriental style; glazed white to pale yellow paper; various watermarks (clover with letter AC anchor); the titles ‘manzüm Cdmïu l-hikdydt' (on bottom edge) and 'Mïracu n- nebi 'aleyhi s-selam’ (on top edge); (4)+261 folios, original numbers 1 to 100; 201x120 mm and 161x85 mm; 17 lines; catchwords; ta'ltk; without a date and the name of a copyist; headings and borders (except ff. 38b-39a) in red- red circles around titles and numbers in the table of contents; an owner’s seal with an only partly legible legend is found on the opening page below the title of the first story (see plate); an owner’s inscription of Franz Taeschner (‘Ms. Nr. 79’) occurs on the second flyleaf, recto. Begins (la, see plate):