Abstract:

In a chapter from Esirüddin el-Ebherî’s work entitled Hidâyetü’l-Hikme, besides meteorological incidents like earthquake, winds, clouds and rain, he also gives some information about “Kavsu Kuzah (Rainbow)”. Mevlânâzâde (Mollazâde) el-Herevî has written a work to explain Hidâyetü’l-Hikme and included a one-page explanation of this particular chapter. The name of his work is “Şerhu Hidâyeti’l-Hikme”. Mevlânâzâde did not change Ehberi’s order and he examined the subjects one by one. While telling of the atmospheric incidents, he explained it by saying “ one of them is a rainbow”. Later on, this rainbow incident caught people’s attention and some scholars have written special risālahs on this particular subject. Some of them annotated the existing material and some of them have written hashiyas. Mevlânâzâde’s writings on Kavsu Kuzah (Rainbow) takes place in a chapter of “Şerhu Hidâyeti’l-Hikme” and also they have been exclusively hand-copied and titled “Risalatu Kavsu Kuzah”. Karaveys el-Kocavî is a scholar who was raised in Kocaeli, he has written a hashiya for Mevlânâzâde’s risālah titled “Kavzu Kuzah” on request and he intended to help the newer, eager and sincere students with this. He examined the sentences of the risālah one by one and occasionally gave extra information. He explained with some geometrical drawings, the creation of different angles during the reflections of a ray coming from a source of light and hitting a shiny object. In this study, we will examine and criticize the risālah while considering the differences between copies of the work. We will ensure that the subject is well explained by giving the Ebheri’s text, Mevlânâzâde’s explanatory booklet and Kocavî’s hashiya with their translations. With this modest study, we intend to contribute to both astronomy and optics sciences and Kocaeli’s cultural legacy.