An Illuminated Ottoman Compilation on Religious Instruction, Turkey, dated 881-1198 AH/1476-1783 AD

Arabic and Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 237 leaves plus 3 flyleaves, 23 to 31 lines to the page, written in naskh script in black ink, various words and sentences picked out in red ink, headings in white within illuminated panels, verses separated by gold dots pointed in blue and red, various charts, diagrams, illustrations and illuminations throughout, opening illuminated headpiece in colours and gold with polychrome flowers, leather binding with gilt-stamped foliate medallions and cornerpieces, red doublures, with flap

In generally good overall condition, repairs to binding and tears to spine, some mild stains and smudges, illumination bright, some old paper repairs, as viewed.
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The contents of this manuscript compendium are as follows:

Selected Qur'an surahs from: surah al-an’am; surah al-sajdah; surah yasin; surah al-dukhkhan; surah al-ahqaf; surah al-fath; surah al-najm; surah al-rahman; surah al-waqi’a; surah al-hashr; surah al-mulk; surah al-muddaththir; surah al-qiyamat; surah al-insan; surah al-nabaa, surah al-‘imran; surah al-baqarah; surah al-‘imran and surah al-an’am.

Sirr al-masun by Imam al-Ghazali; a chapter on selected verses; the collected verses in praise of God (al-hamd) to be read on Fridays; collected verses extolling God (al-tasabuh) to be read on Saturdays; the collected verses for forgiveness (al-istighfar) to be read on Sundays; the collected verses for peace (as-salam) to be read on Mondays; the collected verses for trust in God (al-tawakul) to be read on Tuesdays; the collected verses for acclamation (al-tahlil) to be read on Wednesdays; the collected verses praying for God to be read on Thursdays; selected verses to be read on Friday; the number of verses in the Qur’an; the number of words; letters and points in the Qur’an; on the recitation of the Qur’an; on the praise of God (tasbihat); the names of God (al-asma’ al-husna) arranged according to a certain order.

The total number of Prophets
The names of the Prophet
The hilye and the tomb of the Prophet
The genealogical tree of the Prophet (as-shajarah al-nabawwiyah)
al-hisb al-a’zam by ‘Ali al-Qari
dala’il al-khayrat by al-Jazuli
ward by al-Imam al-Nawawi
al-ward al-a’la by Ibn al-‘Arabi
hizb al-bahr by al-Shaykh al-Chadhili
hizb al-nasr, the party of victory
The cited verses arranged according to a certain order
Diagram of shajarat al-iman ta’rif al-tasawuf (a treatise on Sufism) by al-Imam al-Ghazali
Sayings related to the faith (al-iman)
Translation of the Forty Sayings (hadith)
waza’if al-da’awat wa al-azkar by al-Mufti al-Khadimi
What the Prophet recited when he travelled
Transmitted and cited prayers
al-shajarah al-nabawwiyah wa al-durrah al-mudi’ah, the genealogical tree of the Prophet
The names of al-ashab (The Companions) who participated in the Battle of Badr, and reputed to be 640 in number
Qasidah, a poem
The translation of al-Husn al-hasin Manzumah ‘aqa’id by Ishaq al-Zanjani
Risalah on prayers by Munla Fanari
Risalah fi ‘ilm hal Risalah Fikr-nameh

The volume appears to be a compilation in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish copied at various times and the following are the four colophons in chronological order:

1. Completed by Yusuf Ibn Hasan Ibn Abd al-Qadir and dated Sunday 2 Dhu al-Mubarakah 881 AH/1476-77 AD (This colophon is probably too early for this copy and might possibly be the date of the composition)
2. al-Nasab al-Sharif was copied by Ahmad Ibn al-Shaykh Zayn and dated Rabi al-Awwal 1004 AH/1595-96 AD
3. Completed in Dhu’l Qa’da 1035 AH/1625-26 AD
4. Translated by Muhammad Abu’l Fadlal-Fadli al-Sahawwi in Mecca in 962 AH/1554-55 AD and copied in Rajab 1198 AH/1783-84 AD

The majority of the treatises appear to have been written in the late sixteenth/seventeenth century. The purpose of such a compilation was to guide the devoted in recitation of selected verses and prayers at certain times of the day during rituals performed in mosques, madrasas and holy shrines, especially in the vicinity of Mecca and Medina, and religious ceremonies performed by Sufi orders. There appears to be a great emphasis on Sufism in this compilation as can be observed in the selection of various works by celebrated Sufis such as Ibn al-‘Arabi and al-Ghazali.

Two similar diagrams of the al-Shajarah al-nabawwiyah and Qibab al-A’imah (Domes of the Imams) are in a treaty on theology and philosophy by the mystic al-Sha’arani, see Dorothea Duda, Islamische Handschriftin II, Teil 1, Die Handschriftin in Arabischer Sprache, Textband and Tafelband, Vienna, 1992, pp.147-8, Mixt 129, and Abb.214 and 215 respectively.