“Rashahot ayn al-hayat” in the Turkish Manuscript Collections Scientific Description and Textological Study of Copies

Abstract

Rashakhot Ain аl-Hayat’ (Drops of the Source of Life), written by Fakhruddin Ali Safi ibn Husayn Vaz Kashifi Hiravi (1463-1533), a mature manakibnavis and tazkiranavis scholar who lived in the 16th century and left a rich scientific heritage. This article is a study of a rare manuscript of this work.“Where is the oldest and most accurate book of the work “ Rashakhot” kept?” "Why is there such a huge difference between a critical text of a work and a manuscript of a newly discovered author?" “How important and necessary is it to draft a new critical text or a comparative text of this work?” "Why are there differences in the texts of a work copied in different countries?" This article addresses these issues. The article also discusses rare copies of "Rashakhot" in the fund of Stanbul (Turkey), their number, descriptions and comparative textological study of them with Tashkent copies by examples.