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SMAIL BALICIT~~ Cultural Achievements of Bosnian Muslims
literary criticism. These are: Mdpmmad Hawa'i ~skiifi (1601-ca. 165 1);
Mustafa or, as Otto Blau calls him, 'Abd al-Musgfi, whose dates cannot be
ascertained; and Fejzo Softa of the nineteenth century.
From Mulpmmad HawB'i ~skiifi we get a rhymed dictionary of the
Bosnian Language for the Turks, Makbzil-i 'drif (approximately: Favourite of the
Expert); several pious poems in quatrains; a mystic poem, "Tabshirl al-'~rifm"
(Happy Messages to Searchers for Knowledge); a poetic reflection on women;
a love poem; and several comic epistles.
Blau has translated into German a beautiful amorous plaint by Mustafa
who wrote half in Turkish and half in Cr~atian.~'
The simple poetry of Fejim Softa, which forms the basis of a unique
primer of the Arabic language, is beautiful in language and thought. Each letter
is explained with a little verse of four or five lines.
All writings of the Bosnian Muslims prior to 1878 are in the Arabic
script. The national alphabet, the bosantica, which was based on the Greek
alphabet, was used mainly for private and sometimes for diplomatic
correspondence. Because of its completely independent development, the
Muslim literature in Croatian remained devoid of influence and enrichment from
the other national territories. This separate existence led to an ossification of
form and thought, and the language remained poor and stunted. Despite these
deficiencies, this literature has fulfilled three tasks: (a) it has proved that the
national consciousness of the Bosnian Muslims remained alive even during the
Turkish reign, (b) it has helped to explode the myth of the "cultureless Turkish
past", and (c) it has enriched the common Croatian literature with a new tone.
MINIATURE PAINTING, CALLIGRAPHY, AND DECORATIVE
BOOKBINDING
The Persian and Turkish arts of book-illustration were practiced in Bosnia, and
survive mainly in litanies in praise of the Prophet M@ammad (peace be on him)
and other books of prayers, especially the so-called hami'il (hamajlije), as well
as in anthologies of poems and in historical monographs. We find
representations of sacred places in Makkah, Madinah, and Istanbul; drawings of
historical buildings; portraits of 'Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet; animal-
drawings; various geometrical figures; hunting scenes and love scenes. Most
of the historically significant motifs are borrowed from Persian miniature
painting, and the style, characteristically Persian, is distinguished by its harmony
of colour.
It is difficult to determine how many Ottoman artists were Bosnians.@'
The greatest Turkish painter of Bosnian origin was Nasiih al-Silai al-Mitr&i
al-Wisobwi (d. 1547), a man of wide-ranging ability: he was a successful
fencing master, a historian, mathematician and calligrapher. His Majma' al-
Maniizil, a description of the war expedition of Sultan Suleiman to Iraq
(1533-S), contains 132 valuable miniatures. "He paints all localities in a most
characteristic way. He omits every human aspect, especially everything vulgar.