Editing Murad III (section)

==Murad and the arts==
[[File:Surname-i huemayun gazi.jpg|thumb|Miniature painting of a parade of two riding ''Gazi'' (veterans from Rumelia) in front of Sultan Murat III (from the Surname-i hümayun, 16th century)]]

Murad took great interest in the arts, particularly [[Ottoman miniature|miniatures]] and books. He actively supported the court of Society of Miniaturists, commissioning several volumes including the ''[[Siyer-i Nebi]]'', the most heavily illustrated biographical work on the life of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]], the ''Book of Skills'', the ''Book of Festivities'' and the ''Book of Victories''.<ref name="Pamuk">Pamuk, Orhan. ''My Name is Red'', Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-307-59392-4}}</ref> He had two large [[alabaster]] urns transported from [[Pergamon]] and placed on two sides of the nave in the [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople and a large wax candle dressed in tin which was donated by him to the [[Rila monastery]] in [[Bulgaria]] is on display in the monastery museum.

Murad also furnished the content of ''Kitabü’l-Menamat'' (''The Book of Dreams''), addressed to Murad's spiritual advisor, Şüca Dede. A collection of first person accounts, it tells of Murad's spiritual experiences as a Sufi disciple. Compiled from thousands of letters Murad wrote describing his dream visions, it presents a hagiographic self-portrait. Murad dreams of various activities, including being stripped naked by his father and having to sit on his lap,<ref name=felek />{{rp|72}} single-handedly killing 12,000 infidels in battle,<ref name=felek />{{rp|99}} walking on water, ascending to heaven, and producing milk from his fingers.<ref name=felek />{{rp|143}}

In another letter addressed to Şüca Dede, Murad wrote "I wish that God, may He be glorified and exalted, had not created this poor servant as the descendant of the Ottomans so that I would not hear this and that, and would not worry. I wish I were of unknown pedigree. Then, I would have one single task, and could ignore the whole world."<ref name=felek />{{rp|171}}

The [[Diplomatics|diplomatic edition]] of these dream letters have been recently published by Ozgen Felek in Turkish.