A unique qasida al-burda copied by Muhiddin Al-Amasi, Turkey, 15th-16th century

Arabic manuscript on polished cream paper, 28 leaves plus 4 flyleaves, 6 lines to the page, written in fine naskh script in black ink, verses separated by segmented gold florets, remargined, ruled in gold, 16th century illuminated headpiece in colours and gold, outer margins decorated with an interlace of large split palmettes outlined in gold, some with later colouring, reserved against different coloured grounds, red morocco binding with gilt-stamped central medallions filled with saz leaves and flowerheads    

Ex-collection Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi

Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi, Fatih Devri Hattatlari, 1953, p.46-47

In generally good overall condition, some wear to binding, a few stains and minor smudges, as viewed.
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Muhiddin al-Amasi came from a family of distinguished calligraphers. His father was Celal Amasi and his brother was calligrapher Mehmed Cemal Amasi (for a manuscript copied by the latter see Sotheby's 5 October 2011, lot 103), both well-known in Isfahan and Herat. Muhiddin al-Amasi’s exceptional talent, particularly in naskh script was so highly revered that his aunt’s son, Shaykh Hamdullah, was to refer Muhiddin al-Amasi to copy a Qur’an for Suleyman the Magnificent which he himself refused. Muhiddin al-Amasi was to refuse it as well, as mentioned by Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi: ‘In due course one thousand flori was paid for this job but following Suleiman’s invitation Muhiddin refused to leave Amasya and said: It would be very difficult for us to leave our homeland for any duty whatsoever’ (E. Ayverdi, Fatih Devri Hattatlari, Istanbul, 1953, p.48).

The poem in the present work’s colophon also praises Muhiddin al-Amasi’s hand. After publishing this poem in his Menakıb-i Hunerveran (‘Epic Deeds of Artists’), Mustafa Ali, the well-known Ottoman historian, counted him among the leading ‘seven masters of the Rumis’ which in his opinion were ‘…Shaykh Hamdullah of Amasya, Dede Chelebi, Muhiddin of Amasya, Jamal of Amasya, Abdullah of Amasya, Ahmed Karahisari and Sherbetchizade Ibrahim’ (E. Akin-Kivanc, Ed. Trans., Mustafa Ali’s Epic Deeds of Artists, Boston, 2011.

Due to a eulogy written in the colophon with smaller naskh script in praise of Celaloglu and the characteristics of the script, Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi has recorded this manuscript as the only known work of Muhiddin al-Amasi which has consequently been accepted by the leading authorities on calligraphy (M. Serin, Hattat Seyh Hamdullah, Istanbul, 2007, p.19). Except for the present Qasidat Al-Burda, no other work by Muhiddin al-Amasi is known to exist in any private or public collections. Formerly belonging to the personal collection of the leading scholar and architect Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi (1899-1984), Muhiddin al-Amasi’s Al-Burda represents a prized addition to any collection of calligraphy.