The poetic trilogy about Mamluk sultans

Abstract

This article is prepared on the basis of the unpublished manuscript from Berlin State Library and devoted to the poetic trilogy about Mamluk sultans which was written by two authors — Muhammad Shams al-Din al-Ba‘uni (1378–1466) and his nephew, Muhammad b. Yusuf b. ’Ahmad al-Ba‘uni (died in 1505). One of the authors was a contemporary of Barquq (1382–1399) — the founder of the Circassian sultanate, another became a witness of the decline of Mamluk power. In spite of the fact that time of writing of the first and the last part of the trilogy is separated by nearly seventy years, the work is characterised by stylistic unity, a composition having continuity, as well as the similar position of authors in an assessment of occurring events. The first poem contains short, aphoristic in nature and, sometimes, wellaimed characteristics of Mamluk sultans from ’Aybek (1250–1257) to Barsbey (1422–1438). Muhammad b. Yusuf ’s poem is called “Worthy and wittiest words about al-Malik al-Sa‘id al-’Ashraf ’s life”. It is about sultans from Yusuf al-Malik al-‘Aziz (1438), the son of Barsbey, to Kaitbey (1468–1496). In the last part of the trilogy Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Ba‘uni told about Qaitbey and his military victories, and also about sultans al-Malik al-Nasir ’Abu al-Sa‘adat (1496–1498), ‘Abu Sa‘id Qansuh Al-Zahir (1498–1500), al-’Ashraf Janbulat (1500–1501), al-‘Adil Tumanbey (1501) and Qansuh al-Guri (1501–1516). Refs 13.

Keywords:

Arabic manuscripts, Mamluks, Egypt