Abstract

Among the Turkish verse texts, the mawlid named Wasīlat al-najāt by Süleyman Çelebi has been one of the most widely read works in various geographies for centuries. The text of Mawlid, which has been produced in many manuscripts over time, has diversified, and various versions have emerged. Although there is no detailed information about its beginning and development, it is understood that Süleyman Çelebi’s mawlid had a musical performance form from an early period. In integrating Mawlid with music, various forms of performance developed over time and stated that were composed in some narratives. In some Mawlid manuscripts, it is found that various maqām names are written next to the couplet or on the mar-gin of the pages. Nineteen manuscripts of the Mawlid registered with maqām information, which have essential clues in terms of the performance of the work, have been identified and analyzed in this study. After a brief introduction of the copies, the formal features of the Mawlid manuscripts with the maqām registered, their characteristics for use in performance, and the frequency of recording the maqām names were evaluated. In the nineteen Mawlid copies investigated, the preferred maqāms for each divi-sion/chapter were listed numerically. Thus, the preferred maqāms in the performance and the maqām diversity in the manuscripts were analyzed comparatively. The performance features reflected in the Mawlid manuscripts and the transfers regarding the composition of the Mawlid were discussed through the results.