King's Pote 246 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

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Pote Collection

Contents

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Nahj al-Balāghah.
Author: (attributed to) ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Caliph, ca. 600-661 على بن ابى طالب
Compiler: (either) Sharīf al-Murtaḍā, ʿAlam al-Hudā ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, 966-1044 or 1045 الشريف المرتضى، علي بن الحسين، 355-436 هـ
Compiler: (or) Sharīf al-Raḍī, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn, 969 or 970-1016 شريف الرضى، محمد بن الحسين
Commentator: Kāshānī, Fatḥ Allāh ibn Shukr Allāh, d. 1570 or 71 كاشانی، فتح الله بن شكر الله

Note concerning author: The two possible compilers, al-Rażī and al-Sharīf Murtażā, were brothers.

Title: Nahj al-Balāghah
Title: Tanbīh al-Ghāfilīn wa-Tadhkirat al-ʿĀrifīn
Title: نهج البلاغة
Title: تنبية الغافلين وتذكرة العارفين
Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: 24 Rajab 1078 / 9 Jan 1668 Scribe: Sayyid Farīd ibn Sayyid Hapūn سيد فريد ولد سيد هپون .

References

Browne no. 1342
Palmer no. 246
Geschichte der arabischen Literatur C. Brockelmann 1892-1902 (2 vols. plus supplements) GAL I.404-5; GAL Supp. I.705

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 419 + 220 = 639 folios (2 sections).
Dimensions (leaf): 29.5 × 18.5 cm.
Dimensions (written): 20 × 10 cm.
Foliation: Folios.

Layout

21 lines per page.

Ff.1v-2r: ruled in red, gold, black with a blue outer. Thereafter ruled in double red with a blue outer. Rubrications in red. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: Indian nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Sayyid Farīd ibn Sayyid Hapūn سيد فريد ولد سيد هپون.

Decoration

F.1v: an illuminated sarlauh (gold and lapis).

Additions:

The manuscript begins with 4 folios with a ruled table of contents (added later). F.1r: 5 seals (Sayyid ʿAlī Ḥusaynī, 1110; Shafīʿ Khān, a murid of ʿĀlamgīr; Shams al-Dawlah Ṣādiq Bahādur, 1135) and some notes (dated to the reign of ʿĀlamgīr).

Signs of collation.

Binding

Dark reddish brown leather, Indian style. Plain yellow paper doublures. Decorations: Pressure moulded turanj, two pendants and corner pieces. Condition: The upper board is detached. Dimensions: 29.5 × 18.5 × 7.5 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 609.

History

Origin: 24 Rajab 1078 AH; 9 Jan 1668 CE

Provenance and Acquisition

The "Pote Collection" arrived in England from India in 1790 and was divided between the Colleges of Eton and King's, Cambridge, with the first half alphabetically going to King's. Both halves of the collection are now housed in Cambridge University Library on permanent loan. Most if not all of the manuscripts had previously been owned by Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri Polier (1741–1795).

Gift of Edward Ephraim Pote (d.1832) in 1788.

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on E. G. Browne, "A supplementary hand-list of the Muhammadan manuscripts, including all those written in the Arabic character, preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge", Cambridge, 1922 and E. H. Palmer, "Catalogue of the oriental manuscripts in the library of King's College, Cambridge", J.R.A.S. v.3 (1867), pp.105-131 enhanced with additional descriptions and corrections by Shiva Mihan.

Availability

All manuscripts of the Pote Collection are on permanent loan at Cambridge University Library. Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures consult Cambridge University Library. Contact near_eastern@lib.cam.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript

Funding of Cataloguing

King's College Cambridge

Subjects

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