258

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.419, cont.)

and, nearing his fiftieth birthday in 997 (1588-9), had become tired of his job. Retiring for long periods to the village of Kömenek near Tokat, he had begun to ponder ‘some strange questions’ to which 'ulema had not yet found answers. These are the subject of the treatise, and are appended to a petition to Sultan Murad III for the trusteeship and government of Jidda so as to be close to the Holy Cities in his old age (this was only granted ten years later.) The curious questions addressed range from ‘the extreme rarity of scholars, saints, shaykhs and sweet-voiced reciters and singers in the current age’ to ‘why the natural lifespan of man is said to be 120 years.’ The epilogue (ihatime, 22a) discusses man’s choice of occupation and ends in a long mesneviA striking theme in most chapters is the contemporary decline of the Ottoman Empire, which also occurs in other works by the writer. For more details on the contents, see Fleischer’s article.

Begins (lb, see plate): , AiJUlS j <_i jL*-« J_i n*»ö JLu jIaI* 3 *** ^ J- “"" -W ... f*lll ^*« 4) Ends (25a-b): jt31 aLI * jliS 4±>l u i IIIc. J-» * jlü aLI uiul j^I >» * <i*jl f j~i >■« u «IV» iS3*3^ *1** Catalogue entries: see N. Atsiz, Ali Bibliyografyasi (Istanbul 1968), p. 47 (five items). Literature: Cornell Fleischer, ‘Mustafa ‘All’s Curious Bits of Wisdom , in Festschrift Andreas Tietze, WZKDM 76 (1986), pp. 103-9. (2) ff. 26b-40b Vaki‘a-name An uncomplete copy of a popular work in the ‘mirror for princes’ genre by Üveys b. Mehmed who used the pen-name of Veysl (d. 1037/1628). The title is not mentioned in the manuscript; it is also known as ‘Ifabname’. After elaborate introductory sentences in praise of God, Who had offered mankind just rulers, the author, who introduces himself with the impersonal ‘el-'abd el-fakir’ (27a: 1),