Abstract
“I am afraid that this Mecmua will fall into the hands of uneducated people after I die”: Mustafa Salim and His Mecmua”
Mustafa Salim, khadi and teacher, was the son of Mustafa
Raşid Efendi who was the chamberlain of Tevfik
Efendi, notable person of Rumeli. He died in Bursa when
he was an inspector. Mustafa Salim wrote Hüsrev ü Şirin
as well as many ghazals and historical verses. He translated
Fuzuli’s Rind ü Zahid from Persian into Turkish
under the title of Muhâvere-i Rind ü Zahid in 1804.
Mustafa Salim’s Mecmua is recorded with the number
of ŞR 494 in The İstanbul Research Institute. Regarded
as an example of mixed mecmuas by the researchers,
it consists not only of his own ghazals and histories but
also of the poems written by his father, Raşid Efendi, and
his step-father, İhya Efendi. There are also poems and
historical quatrains by other poets written in the form of
muamma, lügaz and song. Although his nickname
(mahlas) in the Mecmua was Kethudazade Mustafa
Salim, he also used Üsküdari as another nickname in his
other works.
Presenting the physical description and content of the
Mecmua, this article introduces Mustafa Salim’s poetry
with his biography, ghazals, historical verses, letters and
his delight recipes. It also presents certain excerpts of the
poems written by other poets.
Mustafa Salim’s Mecmua is important since it helps
us first of all to see Mustafa Salim’s poetry, which is
currently unknown to us. But, with the delight recipes,
the work also gives us clues about the cooking culture of
the time. With the notes and annotations, it portrays the
social life of the Ottomans. And with Mustafa Salim’s
letters of loyalty addressed to the vizier and bureaucrats
and his asking for their support, the work shows us the
aspects of Ottoman system of patronage in that time.
Keywords
Mustafa Salim, Mecmua-i Salim, Muhâvere-i Rind ü Zahid, Ottoman cookery.