Dürr-i Meknûn
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''Dürr-i Meknûn'' (''The Hidden Pearl(s)'') is a 15th-century
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...
in
prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
, traditionally attributed to Ahmed Bican. It is a compilation of highly divergent material, arranged in a time running from the "time before time" to the aftermath of the
Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
.
Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...
constitutes a dominant theme: against a background of cosmic transformation take place many sorts of changes in shape and content.


Importance

The first half of the 15th century had been crucial in the development of the
Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...
. This makes the ''Dürr-i Meknûn'', with its volume and its varied subject matter, an important source for early Ottoman culture and language. The book was deliberately written by Bican for the common people in the vernacular Turkish and he strongly advocated against the widespread use among the learned elite of
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
n. Over a hundred surviving
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
copies (it never appeared in print) testify to its popularity well into the 19th century.


Authorship and dating

''Dürr-i Meknûn'', an anonymous work, is usually attributed to Ahmed Bican. Linguistic analysis and a comparison to other works known to be from his hand seem to consolidate this tradition. Its
autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...
is unknown and might have been lost at some date. The year of writing is unclear. Stéphane Yerasimos, assuming an
eschatological Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negative world ...
mood in the work triggered by the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, dates the book shortly after 1453.Stéphane Yerasimos, ''Légendes d’empire. La fondation de Constantinople et de Sainte-Sophie dans les traditions turques.'' Parijs 1990 The
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
scholar Laban Kaptein, however, disputes this claim after a minute analysis of the work's End Times contents.


Synopsis

Bican has divided the work in 18 chapters, analogous to the 18,000 worlds created by
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
. Chapter 1: On the
heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
s, the
Throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...
, the Throne(-heaven), the Tablet and
Pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...
, Heaven and
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, The
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
and the
star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
s, and the
cherub A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...
s Chapter 2: On the respective Earths and their marvels, the creatures living thereon, and on the Hell Chapter 3: About the Earth's surface and the creatures thereon Chapter 4: On the science of
geodesy Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...
(""), on
climate zone Climate zones are systems that categorize the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome classification, as climate is a major influence on life in a region. The most used is the Köppen climate classification ...
s and the days and the hours Chapter 5: On marvelous
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
s Chapter 6: On the
sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...
s and the islands and their great variety of creatures Chapter 7: On cities, mosques, cloisters and climate zones (Among other tales, the Turkish foundation legend of Istanbul, coined here by Bican) Chapter 8: On marvelous
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
s and cloisters Chapter 9: About Süleyman’s (
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
's) throne Chapter 10: About the Throne of
Bilqis Bilqis or Balqis () is a given name. It may refer to: *Bilqis, the Arabic known name of Queen of Sheba * Balqis Sidawi (born 1935), Lebanese writer and poet * Balqees (singer) (born 1988), widely known by the mononym "Balqees", Emirati singer. *Bil ...
, and her visit to Süleyman Chapter 11: On the duration of life (The science of
physiognomy Physiognomy () or face reading is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object, or terrain without referenc ...
("") also receives a short treatment in this chapter) Chapter 12: On places destroyed by God's wrath Chapter 13: On the properties of plants, fruits and stones according to the Doctores Chapter 14: On figures,
statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...
s; some stories on cities Chapter 15: On
birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
, among them the Simurg Chapter 16: On the occult science of jafr; on what goes on in this World and the Other World; on the secret signs of jafr (jafr: Islamic numerology, compare also ‘
kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
’) Chapter 17: On the Signs of
Judgement Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the ''Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus, Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God in Abrahamic religions, God of a ...
Chapter 18: On the End Time; some
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...
s


Notes


Literature

*Laban Kaptein, ''Eindtijd en Antichrist (ad-dağğâl) in de islam. Eschatologie bij Ahmed Bîcân († ca. 1466).'' Leiden 1997. (contains facsimile of Chapter 17, manuscript Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, Cod. Or. 1301, with topic by topic analysis and translation in Dutch) *Laban Kaptein, ''Ahmed Bican Yazıcıoğlu'', Dürr-i meknûn. ''Kritische Edition mit Kommentar.'' Asch 2007. *Jan Schmidt, review of Kaptein 2007, ''Bibliotheca Orientalis'' LXIV 5-6 2007: 793–797. *Stéphane Yerasimos, ''Légendes d’empire. La foundation de Constantinople et de Sainte-Sophie dans les traditions turques.'' Parijs 1990.


External links


Website on the ''Dürr-i meknûn'', with link to integral transcription text of Bican’s didactic poem on (semi-)precious stones ''Cevâhirnâme'' (cevahir-name, cevhername)
{{DEFAULTSORT:DurrI Meknun Turkish-language books Occult books Turkish-language encyclopedias 15th-century books 15th-century Turkish books