First Sirah in Turkish: Darir’s Siyer-i Nebi and Its Illustrated Copies

A hybrid seminar by Dr Esra Egüz (Istanbul University) organised by the Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah research project based in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies. Erzurumlu Mustafa Darir was a Turkish poet and writer who lived in the 14th century. His major and most well-known text is Siretü’n-nebi, which narrates the life of the Prophet. His work indicates that he met the Sultan of Mamluk in Egypt in 1377. By narrating religious, historical, and epic events, he attracted the attention of those listening to him, and thus entered the Mamluk sultan's palace. He narrated the life of the Prophet, the battles of the Islamic army, and the conquests of Damascus, Egypt, and Iraq in the presence of the sultan for five years. As soon as he received the order to write a book about the Prophet's life, he considered the sources. Since he was visually impaired, he listened to the Arabic sirahs of Ebu'l-Hasan al-Bakri, Ibn Ishaq, and Ibn Hisham, and wrote his work based on them. He completed his work in 1388 and presented it to Barquq. The sirah of Darir has been read by the public for centuries. There are approximately 100 handwritten copies known to exist. Some of these copies were illustrated by the order of Sultan Murad III during the Ottoman period, which are now in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, New York Public Library, and Dublin Chester Beatty Library. In this presentation, Egüz will discuss Darir's Sirah and show examples of copies with miniature paintings.

Esra Egüz is an associate professor in Turkish Language and Literature Department at Istanbul University. She graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Turkish Language and Literature, as well as the Department of Art History in 2006. Having completed her master’s and doctorate studies in Classical Turkish Literature, she worked as a Research Assistant and Assistant Professor at the same university. She also has worked at Edinburgh University as a postdoctoral researcher between 2015-2016, and at Trinity College Dublin as a Turkish instructor between 2017-2019. While teaching in Trinity College, she completed her M.Phil. in Applied Linguistics.

She has published and taught in several areas including Turkish language and literature, Islamic literature, Ottoman social life, and second language acquisition. She taught many face-to-face and online courses at undergraduate, master and doctoral level. She is currently conducting her research on Turkish manuscripts in Trinity College Library.

Her research interests include, but are not limited to, Turkish language and literature, Ottoman Turkish, Ottoman literature, Islamic literatures, sufism, and Ottoman cultural history. Email rdavidso@tcd.ie for the Zoom link, or to register in person. Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: rdavidso@tcd.ie