Hilye-i Serif Tradition in Ottoman Calligraphy

The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the development of Hilye-i Serif calligraphic plate which is an innovative and unique genre that was first designed towards the end of 16th Century by the famous Ottoman calligrapher Hafiz Osman Efendi. In literature and hadith fields, hilye texts that give information about the physical features and moral characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad were known by the Arabic speaking peoples and other Muslim communities thanks to the translations of such texts written by Tirmidhi and other authors. In the Ottoman literature, the most famous hilye writer was Hakani Mehmed Bey with Hilye-i Hakani. However, it was only in the Ottoman calligraphy that this literary form was converted into a calligraphic plate with a distinct design. Hafiz Osman Efendi, composed a layout to display the description of the Prophet that would be followed and repeated in the upcoming centuries. This design became one of the most common representations of the Prophet in the Ottoman society and a substitute for the icon. Hence, the study investigates the term and genre of hilye in literature and calligraphy, how calligraphic hilyes developed; analyses the content and form of hilye plates in context of Islamic art, and discusses the hilye plates in context of iconography as a non-figural representation of the Prophet Muhammed based on their symbolism in the composition and function in society.