Unveiling Forgotten Verses: A Study of Ḥusām al-Dīn Khūyī's Works in the Tübingen Manuscript
Online ZOOM lecture by András Barati | IMAFO, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Abstract This talk explores a recently rediscovered manuscript kept at the University Library of Tübingen, which contains multiple works by the 13th-century Anatolian author Ḥusām al-Dīn Khūyī. Known primarily for his prose manuals for scribes (Qawāʼid al-Rasāʼil wa Fawāʼid al-Fażāʼil, Nuzhat al-Kuttāb wa Tuḥfat al-Aḥbāb, etc.), this manuscript also includes two lesser-known poetic compositions by Khūyī. These works, written in Persian, expand our understanding of Khūyī’s literary range and his contribution to the inshāʼ literature of medieval Anatolia. The first, Ṭirāz al-Rasāʼil, is devoted to a single epistolary practice, presenting Arabic and Persian verses of supplication and oath used at the beginning of letters. The second, Rawāʼiʽ al-afkār fī badāʼiʽ al-ashʽār, is a laudatory ode dedicated to the Rum Seljuk Sultan Qilij Arslān IV (1248–54, 1256–65). Through a close examination of the manuscript's contents, this presentation will highlight Khūyī’s career, his professional challenges, and assess the significance of the Tübingen manuscript in understanding his broader literary legacy and the inshāʼ tradition in medieval Anatolia.
Please register with: https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MEAZaoWNRoaeG_0sllumYA
Poster (PDF)
This is the 4th lecture in the webinar series for the academic year 2024-25 - organised by the NoMansLand research project (FWF Y 1232) dedicated to the study of Islamic manuscripts in pre-modern Iran and Central Asia.
Convenor: Project team "Nomads' Manuscripts Landscape"
Visit our YouTube channel to watch recordings of past lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/@IFI_Media
For a list of upcoming lectures in the webinar series, please see Webinar series "Pre-modern Islamic manuscripts"