Delhi Persian 1152 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Item a.

Arabic treatise entitled Tuḥfat al-mursilah on religious doctrine and traditions of the Prophet Muḥammad, by Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Shaykh Faz̤l Allāh al-Hindī al-Burhānpūrī (d. 1029/1620).

Not dated at end.

Rough nastaʿlīq.

Preceding flyleaves (ff. a-b) full of Arabic and Persian reference notes, quotes, and verses, mainly religious in subject.

Item b.

Fragment of an early Persian unidentified text on Naqshbandī Sufism by an unnamed author, which begins by praising the "Naqshband", Khvājah Bahāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Bukhārī (d. 1388), and goes onto assemble and comment on passages from numerous authorities and sources.

The work presently consists of five qism.

Defective at beginning, having possibly lost the beginning of the first qism and introduction. The presence of early foliation indicates the loss of a single folio.

Colophon not dated at end. The archaic quality of the naskh script and frequent use of the postvocalic dāl (written as z̲āl) supports an early fifteenth century date of production.

Item c.

Unidentified extended note on the well-known theologian, Yaʿqūb Charkhī (d. 838/1435), by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Item d.

Brief extract from the Manṭiq al-ṭayr of Shaykh Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār Nayshāpūrī (d. circa 627/1230).

Not dated at end.

Transcribed in clear naskh with rubrication.

Item e.

Untitled bio-bibliographical notice for the Naqshbandī Ṣūfī and saint, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī, by his student, Raz̤ī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ghafūr Lārī (d. 5 Shaʿbān 912/1506), possibly intended as a supplement to the Nafaḥāt al-uns.

The author’s name does not appear in the text, however.

The continuous text of the work is made up of two heterogeneous fragments: 1) ff. 60-80, undated (later), distinct scribal nastaʿlīq in thin watery ink; 2) ff. 81-99, dated, early rounded naskh hand.

Dated colophon (f. 99r): completed in Madīnah, 947/1541-2.

Annotations in margins.

Note at end (f. 99v) comparing different Islamic sects and favouring a pro-Ḥanafī consensus, in a later shikastah āmīz hand.

Item f.

Arabic work on Sufism entitled Ḥilyat al-abdāl [va mā yaẓhar fīhā min al-maʿārif va al-aḥvāl] ascribed to Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240).

Dated colophon in Persian (f. 107r, margin): completed opposite the Kaʿbah in Makkah, 947/1541-2.

Naskh with full diacritics.

Recto of first leaf (f. 100r) reproduces the undated colophon from a separate Persian translation of the same work, Ḥilyat al-abdāl.

Item g.

Untitled excerpt (ff. 107v-108r) from a collection of the dicta or fiqarāt ascribed to the Ṣūfī saint, Khvājah ʿUbayd Allāh Aḥrār (d. circa 895/1490). Not dated at end.

Commentary on passages from the Qurʾān (ff. 108v-115v) collected by an unnamed author from the works of Mawlānā Ismāʿīl al-Shīrvānī.

Dated colophon (f. 115v): completed in Jumādá II 947/October-November 1540.

Hard and angular naskh script.

Item h.

Rare untitled collection of Ṣūfī aphorisms and prayers appropriate to the time of day and occasion by Khvājah Abū Naṣr Pārsā, son of the famous Ṣūfī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd Bukhārī, known as Khvājah Muḥammad Pārsā (d. 865/1460-1). The work is referred to reverentially as Kalimāt-i qudsīyah by the scribe, although this may not be the formal title.

This work claims to have been copied directly from the author’s autograph and is, thus, rare.

Dated colophon (f. 122r): completed by Qāsim al-Hiravī, in Makkah al-Sharīf, Jumādá al-S̲ānī 947/October-November 1540.

Annotations copied from the original source copied in margins.

Folio 121 has been left unbound and has been loosely inserted between folios 120-122.

Dated note in Persian without diacritics beside colophon, quoting a rubāʿī associated with a certain Mawlānā Yūsuf "Gūshah", signed by Muḥammad Ḥusayn, 1032/1622-3.

Item i.

Rare untitled treatise intended as a comprehensive guide to Ṣūfī principles and practices ascribed to the renowned mystic and writer, Najm al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Khīvaqī, called Najm al-Dīn Kubrá (d. 10 Jum. II 618/1221).

According to Levy, the work appears to be identical to the Ṣifat al-ādāb described by Charles Rieu.

The work consists of four rukn on the soul, legitimate income, personal struggle, and remembrances.

Not dated at end.

Neat naskh hand throughout.

Lengthy note on the nature of God inserted on margins of folios 128v-129r by a later hand. Not dated.

This work is followed (ff. 129v-130r) by an additional section devoted to an excerpt from the favāʾid of the Ṣūfī, Khvājah ʿUbayd al-Samarqandī. Not dated at end, but by the same naskh hand as that encountered in item i.

Item j.

Extract from the Ṣūfī mas̲navī conventionally titled Zād al-musāfirīn by Fakhr al-Sādāt Ḥusayn ibn Ghānim (d. 720/1320), known as Amīr Ḥusaynī, written in imitation of the Ḥadīqat al-ḥaqīqah of Sanāʾī Ghaznavī (d. 1150).

Not dated at end.

Persian and Arabic annotations in margins, consisting of short excerpts from mas̲navīs, ghazals, and other reference works. Not dated.

Item k.

Untitled Arabic text of the testament or vaṣīyat of Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240).

Dated colophon (f. 135r): 947/1540-1.

Miscellaneous annotations in prose and verse added in margins.

Item l.

Brief untitled extract from a work on the first part of the tahlīl or kalimah-'i ṭayyibah by Sayyid ʿAlī Hamadānī (d. 786/1384).

Not dated at end.

Dense Arabic and Persian annotations in margin.

Item m.

Brief untitled extract from the Manāzil al-sāʾirīn by the renowned mystic and writer, Najm al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Khīvaqī, called Najm al-Dīn Kubrá (d. 10 Jum. II 618/1221).

Dated colophon (f. 136v): completed in the Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Makkah), 15 Jumādá al-S̲ānī 947/27 October 1540.

Annotations partly in Persian and partly in Arabic in the margins related to Ibn Ḥajar and other collections of prophetic traditions.

This work is followed (ff. 137r-145v) by an excerpt from the Lavāʾiḥ of Jāmī, comprising a large number of rubāʿīs, copied in scribal nastaʿlīq in faded red ink. Not dated. Included in the margins and other blank spaces are substantial annotations, including quotations from Jāmī’s Munājāt, references to Niẓām al-Dīn Badāvunī (Badayuni), Saʿdī, Mullā Nāzuk, Khvājah Afz̤al Kāshī, Sulṭān Abū Saʿīd ibn Abū al-Khayr, medicinal recipes, and a numerological grid.