A Plea for Chivalry in Hašt Bihišt VI: Restoring Sermon 11 of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib

Abstract

The important role that the Hašt Bihišt VI of Idrīs Bidlīsī (1457–1520) and the detailed accounts he devoted to the reign of Murād II (1421–1444; 1446–1451) played in the development of early modern Ottoman historiography cannot be denied. Although the work was popular in the Ottoman world, especially its court circles, where its handsome copies were avidly produced, it was never prepared as a critical edition in its original Persian in the modern Ottoman studies departments. The following discussion concentrates on an editorial emendation that shows the carelessness of Bidlīsī in the transmission of his quotations. The formation of the Sufi and Shiite elements within Book VI of Hašt Bihišt is only briefly discussed.