.. it is known that the Holy Quran has been recited in this blessed chamber for the Prophet’s Holy Mantle (Burdah) since the first quarter of the 16th century. This tradition – which was carried out like a spiritual watch by forty assigned officials (the fortieth of which is said to have been Sultan Selim I himself) for the sake of ‘earning good and eliminating evil’ – still continues today, although from time to time in the past it ceased. The poet Yahya Kemal writes of this custom in his book Aziz Istanbul [Dear Istanbul]

I discovered a truth during my travels. This Ottoman state has two spiritual foundations: (The first is) the adhan (call to prayer), which was called at the time of Mehmed the Conqueror from Ayasofya’s minaret, and is still being called! (The second is) the Quran recited for the first time during the reign of Selim in front of the Holy Mantle (Burdah); it is still being recited. Young soldiers from Eskiseher, Afyonkarahisarm and Kars! You fought for these two beautiful things.

-ref: Aydin, Hilmi (2005). The Sacred Trusts (pg 41). New Jersey: The Light Publishing