Middle East.- Islamic manuscript.- Firaki (Abdurrahrnan celebi el-Kiltahyevi) Kitab-i Kirk Sual [with an appendix of Jawahir al-Islam], Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 218ff., black naskh script ruled in red, with some words, qurtan verses, and question numbers written in red, some staining and soiling, first couple of leaves repaired with slight loss of text, contemporary sheep with flap, ruled in blind with medallions in blind, rebacked, worn, 8vo (155 x 107mm.), Ottoman Turkey, 1754.

⁂ An 18th century manuscript of two important and popular Ottoman catechism treatises, "Kirk Su'ar and "Jawahir al-Islam". - "Kirk &far [The Book of Forty Questions] was
written by Abdurrahman celebi Furaki, also known as Firati, a 16th century Sufi shaykh
from Kutahya. The book was inspired by an episode when the Prophet Muhammed
answered questions from Jewish scholars who doubted his prophethood. The number of
questions varies from three to seven or even forty in different accounts. Firald's book,
possibly attempting to be comprehensive, contains forty questions on subjects such as the creation, the afterworld, angels, religions, the apocalypse, etc. The answers are mostly based on Qur'an verses, which are highlighted with a red pen in the present manuscript. - "Kirk Sutar ends with a colophon on page 206v, followed immediately by an appendix containing
"Jawahir al-Islam" [Cevahir-ill Islam], a popular anonymous catechism here evidently
written by the same scribe, in the same style. This short treatise is composed of 34 simple
questions and straightforward answers mostly focusing on religious duties. The questions
are marked with the phrase, "Eger sorsalar" (If they ask you), written in red. The first page of the book is inscribed with the familiar invocation "Ya Kebikec" ("Oh Kabikaj"): in the Islamic manuscript tradition, it was believed that this spell would protect the manuscript from insects and worms. Although Kabikaj was originally the name of a plant that was mixed with ink to repel insects, it later became mythical and was thought to be a genie, the sheikh of bookworms, or a book-protecting angel. A magic square drawn on the last page of the book serves a similar apotropaic purpose.