Devotional Miscellany

This En‘am-i Sherif is a devotional prayer book consisting of a collection of Qur’anic chapters with supplicatory prayers (du‘a) and religious poems in both Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, combined with a group of sacred images including that of Mecca and Medina, the relics and other motifs related to the Prophet Muhammad. Produced from the middle of the 11th century AH/17th century CE to the last quarter of the 13th century AH/19th century CE), such manuscripts were very popular in the Ottoman world. Executed in memory of Sultan Abdülmecid who died in 1278 AH (1861 CE), this copy was possibly commissioned by his daughter Princess Refia, whose name is mentioned in the text. It features, among the series of 45 diagrams, the only known example of the representation of hell, with a rare depiction of heaven, showing a blue sky and kiosk-like pavilions. Such manuscripts demonstrate the devotional role of illustrated prayer books, which images connect its owner or its reader to the holy sites, to the Prophets and their relics, and to the concept of afterlife.