My funeral ly as I’d ed. It made me proud t everybody I’d end came. Of tanbul at time of my deat I’d rendered extensive services to t one time or anoter of Accounts, Red Melek Pas time of my deaticized, enlivened tyard of our neiginued an active political life, I ed to tafa Agan’s Ced me. tituted a large, dignified and impressive group t included tary Kemalettin Effendi, Cary Salim Effendi tere, tive political life, my sc imagine ives, in-lahs.

    I also took pride in tion, its seriousness and its grief. treasurer o all in attendance t an imely deat kno efforts o catcion of torturers, but I do kno accursed man is noyard, among turists and calligrapormented expression as  my coffin.

    Pray, don’t t I’m infuriated by my murderer or t I’m set on a pat my soul is restless because I’ve been treac present, on a completely different plane of being, and my soul is quite at peace, urned to its former glory after years of suffering on Earth.

    My soul temporarily quitted my body, , and quivered for a iful and smiling angels  as t countless times in till a body, and began t. Ever so serenely and gently, ever so quickly s of fire, forded rivers of ligains of sno seemed no more the blink of an eye.

    e ascended ties of gatures, marse variety of insects and birds. At eacal, and ributes, summing up by saying, “An obedient servant of Exalted Allaears of joy to my eyes. I kne t ined for hell.

    My ascension, except for a feernal puzzles and dark enigmas t only t understand ed, bursting fortly one by one in thousands of colors.

    O I adequately describe te journey? t as I sensed t ting me from all ots consisted of color, I no it self t ionately embraced me and bound me to tiful leaf-green bodies, brorations and legends t I’d avidly scrutinized over tion  time, but also as if it’d some I called “memory” contained an entire ime spread out infinitely before me in botions, I understood  experienced it could persist afterival of color, I also discovered ed from a straitjacket: From noricted, and I ed time and space in wo experience all eras and all places.

    As soon as I realized tasy I kneo  time, I  tely matchless red.

    it period, red imbued all. ty of to cry out in jubilation. I aken into  of my mind recalled   Azrael and o summon me to his presence.

    ould I be able to see  able to breat of excitement.

    t red  and beautiful t it quickened my tears to t of it and be so close to him.

    But I also kne me from  bound to s and proions; and he loved me.

    My mounting joy and floears ly poisoned by a nagging doubt. Guilt-ridden and impatient in my uncertainty, I asked him:

    “Over t ty years of my life, I’ve been influenced by trations t I saime rait painted in t metyle, but I ead, I later s and Our Sultan, Your Sh,

    depicted in the infidel Franks.”

    I didn’t remember  I recalled ts.

    “East and est belong to me.”

    I could barely contain my excitement.

    “All rig is t all, of this world?”

    “Mystery,” I s, or per I  certain of either.

    By t of decision  me at t of t I’d o  in t tens of til t,  everytranspired t  I’d be reunited h my body during my burial.

    But I quickly understood t tering my lifeless body”  a figure of speece tion t filled me onis ser to ttle ery beside te lengtring.

    Let me clarify my situation: As mig—es “t feeds from trees of er deat. As claimed by Abu ?mer bin Abdülber, terpretation of t mean t tself, but as tly clarifies, it means t t from ian masters  of vieerpretation.

    From ery, and ing, c gaining speed, its sails gorging on  tacked to,  of a minaret, t book whose pages I was examining one by one.

    Still, I could see muco sucs

    all at once: On tones in an empty yard, cic Affair’s ca?que propelled by seven pairs of oarsmen ths

    ago, ly  to nurse; my elation yard; o distant neig in peace, o labor; tion of t I’d lost over forty years ago (I kno Vasfi stole it); tance t I’d dreamed about once ty-one years ago, o Istanbul by Ali Bey, tress of Gori; and my beautiful, dear Sed ared into tove in our courtyard.

    As is recorded in books and confirmed by scerrestrial  Day; and 4. er t.

    From termediate state of Berza and present time appear at once, and as long as ts memories, limitations of place do not obtain. Only  becomes evident t life is a straitjacket.  is being a soul  a body in too is being a body  a soul among t a pity nobody realizes tc ed Allao grant us souls--bodies in -souls in life.

    It IS I, MAStER OSMANYou kno tably devoted to art. ttack anyone , bony and tall. t to be just like t be-tempered, and t everytry to grab tuations, causing everyone around to tration; t like anyone or anythem.

    ter of masters Nurullarations knee to knee in ties, een-year-old apprentice (t as peevis of t masters, laid to rest ty years ago,  as tall as I am). Since ticism aimed at ters, ly strike me in t you to kno tions leveled at us are entirely unfounded. ts:

    1. t like anytive is t truly noth liking.

    2. e treat most men like morons because, indeed, most men are morons, not because ed, treating tter would be more refined and sensible.)

    3. t and confuse so many names and faces—except turists I’ve loved and trained since tices senility, but because ter and colorless as to be h remembering.

    During te, aken by God because of ried to forget t t one time caused me unmentionable agony by forcing me to imitate ters. On ts: blindness and deats besto so far from me norations and manuscripts cause your eyes to prance and floo bloom in your s. But after my deat it be kno in my old age, at till plenty t made me smile. For instance:

    1. C al in the world.

    2. S memories of iful ing well and friendships.

    3. Seeing terpieces of ters of —t be explained to tiated.

    tan’s   can no longer be made as tuation   e rarely reacers of , despite ire lives to ting trut is precisely because it makes life easier t modesty is sucue in our part of the world.

    ity I oucration in tivities, ian Governor-General’s presentation of ts: a gold-ced urquoise on a sc and one of tning fast and spirited Arabian e blaze on its nose and a silvery, gleaming coat, fully appointed  and reins, stirrups of pearl and greenis saddle embellistes. itoucration, ator-ambassadors to various apprentices. I applied purple to some of tree in tan-buttons of tatar K of gold  t

    w I was doing.

    It reasurer o t, and left he boy.

    O is to reets after  a break for so long! At sucimes, trikes one as original and stunning, as if Allaed it all the day before.

    I noticed a dog, more meaningful tures of dogs I’d ever seen. I sa my master miniaturists migree in tree ed ones of purple.

    Strolling trated over t tepping into my oing. Let’s say o turn doreet: In a Frankising, t in our stepping outside boting; in a painting made follo masters of , it’d bring us to ting, rapped, because Crations are infinite.

    t taking me to ten met reasurer to discuss one of ts and ornamented ostrics my miniaturists an; trators or treasurer’s oitution and peace of mind; tion of paint, gold leaf or oterials; ts and requests; ts, demands and disposition of tan; my eyesigreasurer’s good-for-notabby cat. Silently, ered tan’s Private Garden. As if committing a crime, but  delicacy, orees. “e’re nearing t, “tan.  be  urned off teps tone building be and ca?que s of baking bread ing from tc of their red uniforms.

    treasurer and together in one room: Angel and Devil!

    tions in tan on tortured, interrogated, beat, blinded and administered tinado—smiled sly at me. It o so recount a -ory.

    treasurer diffidently said, “Our Sultan, one year prior, ced manuscript prepared under conditions of tmost privacy, a manuscript t s meant for an ambassadorial delegation. In lighe book, his Excellency did

    not deem it appropriate t Master Lokman torian be enlisted to e t. Similarly,  venture to involve you, ry e admires. Indeed,  you ivities.”

    Upon entering tly assumed t some c I ting ration and t I’d lampooned t tattler o convince t and t I  to be laid out for torture ion for my age. And so to  treasurer rying to make amends for Our Sultan’s  from an outsider—ter t learning anytened to an account of t, about  Nusret urally, to trigues he workshop.

    “?” I asked.

    “Enisreasurer. Fixing o my eyes,  imely deat is to say, t  you?”

    “Nay,” I said simply, like a c.

    “Our Sultan is quite furious,” treasurer said.

    t Eniser miniaturists alious tious telligent. I kneten at the funeral anyway. how was he killed, I wondered?

    treasurer explained exactly ect us. Yet who could be responsible?

    “tan reasurer, “t tion sivities manuscript…”

    “urists, s ted devil found. ends to sentence o a punis sucand as a deterrent to one and all.”

    An expression of sucement appeared on to suggest rous punis Our Sultan had decreed.

    I kne Our Sultan ly cask, to cooperate—on  aste even noan t  beyond mere a boy served coffee and  for a while.

    I old t Enisivated, a man trained in illumination and book arts.  . A s ion of e, Black urned from t, ory of tion Enis after Elegant Effendi er miniaturists . rations ters  Eniser an’s illustration e from treasurer. it very ttled into Enis.

    “If turns up er miniaturists, Black’s innocence ablis once,” I said. “Frankly, ell you t my dearest curists, aking ther man.”

    “As for Olive, Stork and Butterfly,” said tionately given to tend to comb ts, places of urned. And t includes Black…” ion: “Given sucroublesome circumstances, ted us permission to resort to torture if necessary during terrogation of Black Effendi. torture ed against someone o turists guild, making suspects of tice to master.”

    I mulled tly: 1. t Our Sultan  ted torture. 2. Because all turists or, o identify t, I, too, . 3. I understood t ted my explicit or implicit approval to go aorture of my beloved Butterfly, Olive, Stork and t years, rayed me.

    “Since Our Sultan desires botisfactory completion of tivities and tly only reasurer, “ torture migers’ roying ty.”  this so?”

    “t recently,” said to ted o Our Sultan’s younger sister Nejmiye Sultan, and ended up stealing it. Since t of tan’s sister e fond of the

    piece—occurred in ted me to investigate. It became apparent t botan and Nejmiye Sultan ed no o come to ter gold- and je ted. So, I er jeripped naked and to taken out and lasaking care t t period, ted . Despite ter, ting injury came to ter je. Even tan mentioned t er e pleased  t t of the barrel.”

    I ain t treat my master illustrators more severely t for Our Sultan’s ented manuscripts, like many otable art form, belittling embellis and illustration as flirtations  for  rebuke. In order to provoke me, urists o see  upon your death.”

    as t already raining myself, I didn’t respond. treasurer  to deceased  beoe miniaturists, rations to curry favor and earn a fera silver coins.

    I caugorture t miged. t resort to flaying during terrogation, because t inevitably leads to deat impale anyone, eit’s used as a deterrent. Cracking and splintering turists  of tion. Of course, to judge by treets of Istanbul—e for master artists. So, as I imagined my dear miniaturists in a secluded corner of te Garden, ter lilies, sly and glaring efully at one anoto laug caused me agony to imagine ers  iron and terfly’s skin o conjure tterfly—o my eyes—as inado like a common tice. I just stood there dumbfounded and hollow.

    My elderly mind e under ts oernal silence. time oget made us forget everything.

    “t expert miniaturists serving Our Sultan,” I said. “Make certain no hem.”

    Pleased, treasurer rose, grabbed a number of pages from table at t of me. Next, as if tapers burned tering flames so I could study tings in question.

    I explain  like laug because t seemed t Enisructed my masters as follo paint like yourselves, paint as if you ent memories, to conjure and paint a future, o live.   this nonsense.

    “By looking at trations, can you tell me  reasurer.

    “Yes,” I said angrily. “ings?”

    “Black broug treasurer. “ on proving t e Enis.”

    “During terrogation, torture  s our late Enishte was harboring.”

    “e’ve sent for er newlywed.”

    Botrangely illuminated, a flicker of fear and ao t.

    it o turn around I knean, the orld.