Texts and Intellectual Interests

This chapter is the first of three analytical discussions related to the catalogue of manuscripts presented in Chap. 2 . It considers which texts were being copied, both of Mevlevi works and by Mevlevi scribes. The first part of the chapter looks at Mevlevi texts, particularly that of Rumi’s Masnavi, and what roles this text and its numerous manuscripts might have played in the life of the early Mevlevis. It discusses how the Masnavi was key to the formation of Mevlevi identity and the important role that manuscripts played in the samāʿ ritual. It also considers Rumi’s other texts, as well as those of his son Sultan Valad, particularly in the context of the latter’s leadership role, and how manuscripts might have supported his aims. The second part of the chapter considers ‘non-Mevlevi’ texts read by Mevlevis and what this may reveal about early Mevlevi intellectual interests in other genres such as advice literature, philosophy and astronomy.