Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 1163 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Miscellaneous works on Sufism, 11 works (a-k)

Contents

Summary of Contents: Collection of miscellaneous works on Sufism. Defective at end. Volume not dated, dateable to 1722-1809. Dense awkward Indian taʿlīq hands throughout. Incomplete list or fihrist of contents at beginning. Loose paper wrapper (ledger labelled Acquittance Roll for April 1834), watermarked (initials VEIC, E WISE 1831); torn and stained. Lacks binding. Stamped foliation. Folios detached, unbound, and misarranged in parts; stained, cropped, torn, desiccating, excessive wormhole damage, later repairs detaching. Condition extremely fragile. Later owner’s seal impressions and valuation notes.
1. ff. 1r-29r

Item a.

Arabic collection of traditions and pious exhortations that will benefit the believer at the resurrection by the "Zayn al-Quz̤āt" Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-Faz̤l Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, known as Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852/1449), with a later Persian translation added in margins at alternating oblique angles.

The work consists of ten bāb.

Not dated at end.

Set of two flyleaves preceding folio 1 bear dense annotations of Prophetic traditions in Arabic, Persian verses, and an incomplete list or fihrist of contents.

Language(s): Arabic and Persian
2. ff. 29r-47v

Item b.

Untitled collection of Arabic dicta by or ascribed to the Prophet Muḥammad with accompanying Persian translations and explanations by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

This work is followed by a compilation of Persian traditions (ff. 48r-57r) attributed to the saint and author, ʿAbd Allāh Anṣārī Hiravī (d. 481/1088). Not dated at end. Persian annotations in margins.

Language(s): Arabic and Persian
3. ff. 57r-64r

Item c.

Collection of a hundred sayings in Arabic attributed to the Caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, paraphrased in Persian verses in mas̲navī form by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Arabic and Persian
4. ff. 64v-67v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item d.

Collection of forty prophetic traditions followed by Persian translations and commentary by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

5. ff. 67v-71r
Language(s): Arabic

Item e.

Collection of unidentified Arabic prayers, the first of which closely resembles parts of the Jawshan al-Kabīr prayer.

Not dated at end.

6. ff. 71v-75r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item f.

Collection of unidentified Arabic prayers and Persian notes by an unnamed editor.

Folios misarranged.

Not dated at end.

7. ff. 75v-83v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item g.

Collection of unidentified Arabic prayers, prophetic traditions, Persian translations and comments by an unnamed author.

Note above the text indicates the work may relate to another entitled Fayrūz Shāhī.

Not dated at end.

Dense annotations in margins.

8. ff. 84r-113v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item h.

Litany invoking and expounding the attributes of Allāh attributed to ʿAbd Allāh Anṣārī Hiravī (d. 481/1088), followed by his lyrics or ghazalīyāt.

Not dated at end.

9. ff. 114r-157v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item i.

Extract from the ʿIshqīyah inconclusively attributed here to a certain Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Vāḥid or ʿAbd al-Vājid at the end and ʿAbd Allāh Anṣārī Hiravī (d. 481/1088) at the beginning.

Dated colophon (f. 157v): completed Saturday, 7 Z̲ī al-Ḥijjah in RY 4 (? ruler not indicated).

10. ff. 157v-162v

Item j.

Selected quatrains or rubāʿīyāt of the polymath and poet Abū al-Fatḥ Ghiyās̲ al-Dīn ʿUmar Khayyām Nayshāpūrī (d. 516/1122), otherwise known as Omar Khayyam.

Not dated at end.

The quatrains or rubāʿīyāt of other poets are occasionally inserted in the margins.

Complex page layout with text arranged in three narrow columns of diagonal text, divided by four parallel columns of vertical text, with single horizontal lines at the top and bottom.

Language(s): Persian
11. ff. 163r-165v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item k.

Extract from an unidentified Ṣūfī work in refined prose treating metaphysical love, by an unnamed author.

Defective at end.

Not dated at end.

The ultimate folio (166r) appears to be extracted from a book of household accounts.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 166 ff.
Dimensions (leaf): 206 × 130 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

History

Origin: 18th-19th centuries CE ; India

Record Sources

Based on unpublished description in Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. 3. Available on British Library Digitised Manuscripts, manuscript number: MSS Eur E207/21_f020r

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact British Library, Registering for a Reader Pass. Contact apac-enquiries@bl.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.

Bibliography

Funding of Cataloguing

BL


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