Arabic MS 618 (The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: Three treatises relating to the Wahhābi sect: 1. a letter written by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (ff. 1b-11b); 2. an anonymous treatise confirming the opinion of Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb on the right kind of prayer and invocation (ff. 12b-19b); 3. a refutation of the Wahhābi tenets by Muḥammad Abu al-Saʿud al-Sharwāni (ff. 2b-79b).1b-11bTitle: Al-Risalah al-Madaniyah fī maʿrifat bahāʾi al-uluhiyyahTitle: الرسالة المدنية فى معرفة بهاء الالهيةTitle: The Madīnite Epistle concerning the knowledge of the beauty of the DivinityLanguage(s): ArabicThe letter was written and sent to Madinah by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, the head of the Wahhābi movement. The author demonstrates the transcending power of God in connection with all created human beings, and shows that prayer must primarily be addressed direct to Him.
12b-19bTitle: Treatise on Wahhābi theologyTreatise confirming the opinion of Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb on the right kind of prayer and invocation. The unknown author contends that prayer should be addressed to God alone, either directly or indirectly through the name of the Prophet and dwells on some other points of Wahhābi doctrines, especially sepulchral constructions.
Language(s): Arabic20b-79bTitle: Treatise on Wahhābi theologyAuthor: Muḥammad Abū al-Saʿūd al-Shirwānī al-Madanīمحمد ابو السعود الشروانى المدنىLengthy refutation of the Wahhābi tenets. The words introducing a refuted sentence are واما قولك, written in red.
The colophon on (79a-79b) states that the author composed this treatise in 1211 AH (1796 CE), and that the present manuscript was transcribed nine years later, in 1220 AH (1805 CE).
Clear copy apart from one marginal note on folio 49a.
Colophon: وقد تم تبييضها على يد الفقير … محمد الى السعود الشروانى المدنى الحنفى … وذلك فى اواخر شهر رجب الفرد من عام الظفر ١٢١١ ختم بخير بجاه سيد البشره. قد تم هذه الرسالة على يد كاتبه الفقير اسحق من قضاة الديار المصرية فى سنة عشرين ومائتان والف من هجرة من له العز والشرفLanguage(s): ArabicPhysical Description
Form: codexSupport: paperExtent: 84 folios (iii+79+ii).Dimensions (leaf): 202 × 122 mm.Foliation: Modern foliation in Western Arabic numerals in pencil. Folios 1a, 12a, and 20a are blank.Collation
8 quires: i10 (ff. 1-10), ii10-1 (ff. 11-19), iii-viii10 (ff. 20-79). Catchword on every verso.Condition
A few usage stains.Layout
Wide margins. Title in the beginning in red ink. Few words are rubricated.
130 × 50 mm.
Hand(s)
Clear and minute Nastaʾliq script.
Additions:Binding
Oriental binding with flap; marble paper covers.
200 × 125 × 10 mm.
History
Origin: Procuded in 1220 AH (1805 CE).Provenance and Acquisition
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812-1880), book collector and writer on art Crawford, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1812-1880
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847-1913), astronomer and book collector Crawford, James Ludovic Lindsay, Earl of, 1847-1913
Formerly in the Crawford Library (Bibliotheca Lindesiana) at Haigh Hall, Lancashire, which was formed and developed by Alexander and James Ludovic Lindsay.
His bookplate on back paste-down: Bibliotheca Lindesiana E/6.
Crawford's handwritten label on back paste-down: Arabic MSS.
Addl.No.144618 Abdil Wahhab wa Risálatain Muhd Shirwáni.Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847-1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843-1908) Rylands, Enriqueta, 1843-1908 in 1908 to The John Rylands Library .
Record Sources
Catalogue information compiled by Abdullah al-Rashidi from Alphonse Mingana, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester University Press, 1934. Revised and expanded by Zsófia Buda.Availability
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Digital Images
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Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Subjects
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