Râgıb Paşa Kütüphanesi Hâfızı İbrâhîm el-Halebî el-Medârî’nin Kuyûdâtı: İnceleme ve Değerlendirme

Ibrahim al-Halabi al-Madari (1190/1776) is considered one of the comprehensive scholars of the twelfth/eighteenth century. He excelled in various fields, including Kalam, fiqh, Sufism, logic, linguistics, astronomy, mathematics, and others, leaving behind at least one book in each discipline. Al-Halabi traveled in the late year 1153/1740 as the head of a delegation to Istanbul to meet Ragıp Pasha (1176/1763), Reîsü’l-küttâb (Foreign Minister of the Ottoman Empire) at that time. Upon Ragıp Pasha's recognition of al-Halabi's knowledge and extensive expertise, he requested him to stay in Istanbul. He appointed him as a Director (Librarian) for his library, which was named after him.

As the Director of Ragıp Pasha's library, al-Halabi's handwriting is found on numerous manuscripts in this library, especially in the fields of Kalam, Sufism, philosophy, and astronomy, where I have discovered more than thirty copies written by al-Halabi, including some of his works written in his handwriting or containing comments and annotations in his handwriting. I also found what resembles a daily notebook in al-Halabi's handwriting, containing various notes and information reflecting the scholarly state, some historical events, and natural disasters.

As the Director of Ragıp Pasha's library, al-Halabi compared many manuscripts with their original copies. Thus, what distinguishes al-Halabi's annotations the most are his corrections and improvements to the text. Moreover, his annotations include valuable comments that clarify the subject, drawings, tables to illustrate and summarize the content, and information about the book's author and sources. Additionally, historical information about the place and time of reading the book and other valuable insights can be found in his notes. This adds a special significance to the manuscripts of this library in particular.

In this article, we will explore the annotations of Ibrahim al-Halabi, the Director of Ragp Pasha's library, attempting to shed light on the nature and types of these annotations and their contribution to scientifically, historically, and geographically defining that chronological period. Consequently, we will examine their impact on enhancing the scientific value of the manuscripts in Ragıp Pasha’s library.