Şeca'atname

The Şeca'atname was an illustrated record of the exploits of the Ottoman statesman and general Özdemiroǧlu [Osman Pasha] during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590), written by his secretary Dal Mehmed Çelebi Asafi and completed in September 1586.
The Şeca'atname deals with the event of the Ottoman-Safavid wars between 1578 and 1585. Şecāʿat is an Arabian word meaning "bravery", "boldness", "courage". There are two copies: one, unillustrated, is in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, and the other, illustrated, at the Istanbul University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. Both manuscripts were copied by ʿAli b. Yūsuf. The Book of Valor is written in Turkish, in the naskh script and uses rather plain language. It represents a developing trend in Ottoman literature, away from the Persianate aesthetic in terms of both visual idiom and language, where court histories were written by bureaucrats rather than poets, using plain Turkish rather than Persian, and employing the naskh and dîvânî scripts rather than the poetic ta'liq. Still, Asafi displayed a taste for Persian literature, and his illustrations have Persian characteristics.
Asafi joined the conflict in 1577–78, first as a secretary to Lala Mustafa Paşa, and then to Özdemiroǧlu Osman Pasha. In 1581, Asafi was captured by the Safavid Kizilbas, and kept in captivity in Qazvin and Isfahan, but was released in 1585. He was then made governor-general of Kefe in Crimea. After three years, he became governor-general of Semahi.
Asafi had a remarkable career progression, from scribe to financial official and member of a Pasha's household, to Sancak Begi, and then to Pasha.