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Islamic Studies 3 6 : 2, 3 ( 1 9 9 7 159
of a biography of Murta& Piishii, a just and brave vizier of Budim), 'Umar
Effendi, Qiidi of Novi (d. 1740), S%l$ Muwait (d. ca. 1883), author of a
chronicle of his time, and Muhammad Anwari [KadiC] (d. 193 I), the greatest
collector of historical documents on Bosnian Turkish history. The two latter
works are absolutely essential for the study of Bosnian history.
Ibriihim ibn Hiijj Ismii'il al-Most;iri, who died about the middle of the
eighteenth century, left a beautifully written biography of the great scholar
Ayyiibi-Ziide (Shaykh Yuyo). Niirall* Muniri al-Beligrdi and 'Abdall* al-
Khurrarni al-Mostai of the eighteenth century wrote on geography, and Nasiih
al-Mitr&i on mathematics and the art of fencing.
Of the many poets who wrote in Turkish the most prominent are: 'Ali
ibn ' Abdall* 'Ali al-Bosnawi (d. 1646), a philosophical-mystic poet, whose
beautiful language mirrors profound personal experience; Darwish Pasha
~ii~azid-Aghii-~Sde, who wrote patriotic poems; ThSbit UiiEewi, one of the
classical writers of the oldest Ottoman poetry; and 'Arif Ijikmat Hersekli
(d. 1903), the last great representative of the so-called diwan-literature, the most
important pre-modern literary genre in Turkish. Poems by '~li and Thiibit have
been translated into German by Josef von Hammer-Purgstall, Jan Rypka, and
Herbert Jansky .
The Bosniaks did not stop writing in Oriental languages when the
Ottoman rule ended in their country in 1878. Bosnian Muslim writers who
emigrated to those areas where the Ottoman Empire remained intact continued
their tradition. At the present time there are educated Bosniaks in the country
itself as well as in the Orient who, despite deep-felt allegiance to their
homeland, still consider Arabic, Persian, and Turkish their literary languages.
Poetry in Croatian
Although among the Ottoman diplomatic writings thsre are some (such as the
Croatian) which are composed in the tongue of the conquered peoples, as we
have noted, the Bosniaks used three oriental languages - Arabic, Persian and
Turkish - for their cultural activities. Nevertheless, a small number of literary
works were written in their native language, Croatian.
As Maximilian Braun has pointed out," the lack of development of
literature in the mother-tongue may also be attributed to the flourishing of folk-
poetry, and the lively tales which indicate a well-developed narrative art and
imply no real need for any other kind of literature.
Mainly religious-didactic works and, less frequently, love poems were
written in Croatian. This literature, meant mostly for the simple folk, was
begun by a certain Mehmed from Transylvania (Mehmed od Erdelja) with his
poem "Khirwat tiirkisi" (The Croatian Song; 1588-9). With very few
exceptions, all poems of this kind are written in a language interspersed with
countless Arabic, Turkish, and Persian words, and according to the principles
of Arabic metrics.
Of the approximately thirty poets of the Ottoman period who composed
their works in Croatian, barely three or four can stand the test of rigorous