The Stylistic Characteristics of the Tahmis of Abdullah Salahuddin Uššaki Bosniak to al-Busiri’s Poem Qaṣīda al-Burda

Abstract

The topic of this paper is the Tahmis of Abdullah Salahuddin Uššaki Bosniak to al-Busiri’s poem Qaṣīda al-Burda. For the analysis, we used the manuscript of this poem found in “Suleymaniyya” library in the “Fatih” collection of manuscripts, number 3714, entitled Tahmisi Terceme-i Kaside-i Burde. Uššaki’s poem is written in the form of tahmis, as a metapoem to al-Busiri’s famous Qaṣīda al-Burda. This way of writing suggests that one of the most dominant stylistic methods the poet employs is repetition and lyrical parallelism. There we see to what extent and with what great skill Uššaki manages to vary and repeat the elemets of al-Busiri’s poem, while at the same time avoiding redundancy and breathing new life into the poem. Since the analysed poem is an ode to Muhammad p.b.u.h., the poet, logically, also uses emphasis and metaphor to describe the Messenger p.b.u.h. and express his strong feelings.