Delhi Persian 1151 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Item a.

Ṣūfī commentary on the collected rubāʿīyāt of Jāmī (d. 898/1492) by an unnamed author, although the work is conventionally ascribed to the poet himself.

Scruffy nastaʿlīq hands.

Dated colophon (f. 20v): completed speedily by Muḥammad ʿĀbid Nūr ʿUs̲mānī, 4 Shavvāl 1179/16 March 1766. Based on the poor quality of the nastaʿlīq hand and quality of paper, which is broadly consistent with item dated later in the volume, it is possible the colophon’s details have been copied verbatim from the original unidentified source.

Dated seal with purchase (f. 1r).

First preceding flyleaf contains a fragment of Urdu text on the shariʿah. Not dated at end.

Item b.

Untitled transcript of a single letter (ff. 22r-25v) by the poet and Ṣūfī, Sharaf al-Dīn Abū ʿAlī Qalandar Pānīpatī (d. 724/1324), addressed to “birādaram” Ikhiyār al-Dīn, whose identity remains unclear. Not dated at end.

The work is followed (ff. 26r-28v) by numerous Arabic mystical formulae attributed with Persian comments to the authority of various Ṣūfī saints. Not dated at end.

Purchase note (f. 21r).

Item c.

Urdu mas̲navī endorsed by a later hand as the Ramz al-ʿāshiqīn, on the subject of the venerated impression of Prophet Muḥammad’s footprint, called the Qadam-i Sharīf, by Maʿbūd Shāh, whose name appears in the colophon.

Dated colophon (f. 43r): completed 2 Rabīʿ II RY 6 of Emperor Akbar Shāh [II], (1228?)/4 April 1813 (?).

Purchase note (f. 29r).

Item d.

Untitled account of the four-decade-long travels in the Middle East of the Ṣūfī saint, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, known as the Makhdūm Jahāniyān Jahān Gasht (d. 784/1383)

Not dated at end.

Purchase note (f. 44r).

Item e.

Arabic work on Ṣūfī traditions associated with the Khalīfah and Imām ʿAlī, entitled Maʿārij al-ʿulá fī manāqib al-Murtaz̤á, by the author named Muḥammad Ṣadr al-ʿĀlam.

Not dated at end.

Rough naskh frequently declining into awkward nastaʿlīq.

Purchase note (f. 56r).

Item g.

Untitled collection of Ṣūfī aphorisms by an unnamed author.

Dated colophon (f. 101v): completed 19 Rabīʿ II RY 15 [Emperor Akbar Shāh?], (1237?)/13 January 1822 (?).

Original margins extended.

Clear taʿlīq transcribed by various hands in varied orientations.

Purchase note (f. 85r).

Item h.

Persian retelling of the popular Arabic tale of the Meccan companion of the Prophet Muḥammad, Tamīm Anṣārī, who in the reign of Caliph ʿUmar al-Khaṭṭāb claimed to have been abducted by the king of parīs or fairies and demons, by an unnamed author.

Dated colophon (f. 115v): completed 26 Muḥarram in RY 4 of Emperor Mir[z]ā Akbar Shāh [II], (1225?)/3 March 1810 (?).

Purchase note (f. 102r).

Item i.

Fragment of the first chapter from the theosophical treatise on aspects of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Ṣūfī thought, by ʿAzīz al-Dīn Muḥammad Nasafī (d. 700/1300-1).

Not dated at end.

Purchase note (f. 116r).

Item k.

Untitled collection of Urdu religious opinions or fatāvá on aspects of lighting in mosques assembled from various sources of tradition and history, written in a dialogical style with javāb or answers following suʾāl or questions, by an unnamed author.

Substantial passages have been crossed out from folio 127 onward.

Unidentified Arabic and Persian texts written at an angle in margins, severely cropped.

Not dated at end.

Summary of contents (f. 129r) for a volume that is quite different in character than the present item.