GOLESHAN-E ANWAR: THE GARDEN OF LIGHTS - POETIC COMPOSITION
YAHYA BEY DUKAGJINI (D. 1582), COPIED BY HAJJ ABDULLAH IBN FARAH KATEHDA
Ottoman Turkey, dated 1004 AH (1592 AD)

Turkish manuscript on lined paper, composed of 106 leaves (212 pages). 15 lines to the page, arranged in two columns, written in black naskh script, with titles highlighted in red and set within dedicated horizontal cartouches. The writing frame (jadwal) bordered with a gilt fillet. The opening page features an unwan finely illuminated with floral and arabesque motifs within cobalt-blue and gilded medallions, further embellished with arrow-shaped floral sprays rising toward the upper margin. At the end of the manuscript are extensive notes, commentaries, and ownership stamps, including one Persian and another from the Egyptian University.

Yahya Bey Dukagjini (c. 1498–1582), also known as Taslicali Yahya Bey, was an Albanian-origin Ottoman poet and soldier from the Dukagjini tribe, recruited via the devsirme system. He served as a Janissary, fighting in key battles like Chaldiran (1514) and Szigetvár (1566). Exiled to Bosnia after his 1553 elegy for Shehzade Mustafa, he composed a Turkish diwan and mystical mesnevis like Shah u geda. Later turning to Sufism, he held a Zvornik fief until his death around 1582.
Gulshen-i Anwar is a mystical mathnawi (poetic form consisting of rhymed couplets) composed by Yahya Bey Dukagjini in the 16th century during his exile in Bosnia.​ It is divided into 40 short 'discourses' and explores Sufi themes influenced by Rumi and Jami, emphasizing divine love and mysticism. Several poems by Yahya Bey Dukagjini from the late 16th century are preserved in Western collections, including Gencine-i Raz (The Treasury of Secrets) held at the SOAS Library (MS 14451) and another copy in the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (RAS Turkish 32).

19cm x 13cm