Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 1181 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Miscellaneous works on Sufism by Muhammad Dihdar Shirazi, 16 works (a-p)

Contents

Summary of Contents: This is an important kullīyāt or collection of works on Sufism, mostly by or attributed to Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd Dihdār Shīrāzī (d. 1016/1607-8), known as Fānī, and his son, Muḥammad Taqī. Although it is not dated, internal evidence and the annotations of later owners indicate the volume dates from the period in which the author flourished, and was accessed by Muḥammad Taqī for collation. The volume may have circulated among Shīʿī collectors in Kashmīr subsequently, but entered into the possession of the Emperor ʿĀlamgīr I’s associates from the very start of his reign. At some point in the early eighteenth century, the volume was purchased legally in Shāhjahānābād and thereafter circulated locally. Incomplete summary of contents added at beginning (f. 1r). Collation notes throughout. Important seal impressions, valuation notes, purchase notes, and inscriptions of owners from the reign of the Emperor ʿĀlamgīr I and earlier partially erased at beginning (f. 1r). Original folios cropped and remounted with new margins along gutter, tightly rebound in IOL red half leather binding, stamp dated 11 Dec 1935. Folios damaged by wormholes; net overlay in areas. Original Persian foliation with faint stamped and pencil foliation added subsequently.
1. ff. 1v-160r

Item a.

Commentary on the compendium of Ṣūfī teachings, the Faṣl al-khiṭāb of Muḥammad Pārsā, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

Not dated at end.

Copied by multiple hands in clear scribal nastaʿlīq, with early replacement leaves in fluent, though not calligraphic, shikastah and nastaʿlīq hands.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
2. ff. 161r-227r

Item b.

Commentary on the popular Ṣūfī treatise, Rashaḥāt-i ʿayn-i ḥayāt of ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work was written at the behest of the Timurid or Mughal minister and commander of the southern frontier, the Khān Khānān, that is, "Mīrzā Khān" ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Khān ibn Bayrām Khān Turkmān (d. 1627), after the author had earlier completed a commentary on the Nafaḥāt al-uns of Jāmī.

Not dated at end.

Copied by multiple hands in clear scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

Undated note on folio 161r indicates the work has been collated by ʿAbd al-Qādir and Abū al-Fatḥ.

Language(s): Arabic and Persian
3. ff. 228v-279v

Item c.

Persian translation and commentary on the homily Khuṭbat al-bayān traditionally attributed to the Imām and Khalīfah, ʿAlī ibn Abū Ṭālib (d. 40/661), concluding with an additional qaṣīdah in praise of ʿAlī, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work ends with a lengthy qaṣīdah in praise of ʿAlī, containing the chronogrammatic phrase ‘fayz̤-i jūd-i ʿAlī’ that records the date of completion, 1013/1604-5.

Passages in Arabic are rendered in red ink.

Not dated at end.

Copied by multiple hands in scribal nastaʿlīq with shikastah flourishes.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
4. ff. 280v-287r
Language(s): Persian

Item d.

Theological treatise, alternatively entitled Risālah-'i bihjat-i Niẓām or Risālah-'i Niẓām Shāh, on the certainty of divine existence and the creation of humankind, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work consists of a muqaddimah, three faṣl, and a khātimah.

Not dated at end.

Undated note on folio 287r indicates the work has been collated by Muḥammad Taqī, who may be the author’s son.

Copied by multiple hands in clear scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

5. ff. 288v-292r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item e.

Theological treatise attempting the reconciliation of doctrines on the unity of divine existence as propounded by philosophers, theologians, and Ṣūfīs respectively, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The words beginning the work are similar to that of the Nafāʾis al-arqām.

Not dated at end.

Undated note on folio 292r indicates the work has been collated by Muḥammad Taqī, who may be the author’s son.

Copied in neat scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

6. ff. 293v-307v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item f.

Rare treatise setting out the ten laudable virtues observed by the author, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8), in his patron, the Timurid or Mughal minister and commander of the southern frontier, the Khān Khānān, that is "Mīrzā Khān" ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Khān ibn Bayrām Khān Turkmān (d. 1627).

Not dated at end.

Copied in a bold scribal nastaʿlīq hand with occasional shikastah flourishes; naskh rubrics in red ink.

7. ff. 308v-321v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item g.

Treatise on knowledge of the soul and, through that, knowledge of God, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8), written with the support of his patron, the Timurid or Mughal minister and commander of the southern frontier, the Khān Khānān, that is "Mīrzā Khān" ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Khān ibn Bayrām Khān Turkmān (d. 1627).

Not dated at end.

Copied in neat scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

8. ff. 322v-338r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item h.

Treatise on the unique necessity of divine existence argued by means of philosophical and mystical theories, in refined prose with the inclusion of copious amounts of verse, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work opens with a fatḥ and continues with a further seven sections termed raqīqah (singular for raqāʾiq), and concluding with a khatm.

Not dated at end.

Copied by in a fluent shikastah hand.

9. ff. 339v-350v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item i.

Treatise on the necessity of divine existence argued by means of theological, philosophical and mystical theories, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work consists of ten sections headed qism.

Not dated at end.

Copied by multiple hands in clear scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

10. ff. 351v-360v

Item j.

Ṣūfī treatise on the theory of knowledge and knowledge of the divine, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work consists of seven sections termed kawkab.

Not dated at end.

Copied by in a fluent shikastah hand.

Note on collation cropped.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
11. ff. 361v-373r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item k.

Rare Ṣūfī treatise on the theory of knowledge, the soul, and incarnation as exemplified by the Messiah, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

Not dated at end.

Copied by in a fluent shikastah hand; some rubrics in naskh.

12. ff. 374v-386v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item l.

Rare exegetical treatise commenting on verses from various chapters of the Qurʾān (sūrahs 93, 94, and others) on man’s place in the universe, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

Not dated at end.

Copied in neat scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

Gauze overlay in parts.

13. ff. 387v-390r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item m.

Untitled Ṣūfī treatise on the limitations of human knowledge, relationships, and problems of existence, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

Not dated at end.

Transcribed in a rough shikastah hand written obliquely.

Gauze overlay in parts.

14. ff. 391v-397v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item n.

Esoteric Ṣūfī treatise on the sensation of 'taste' for God in the ecstatic experience, by the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8).

The work is divided into four rukn.

Not dated at end.

Transcribed in a rough shikastah hand.

Defective impression of a circular seal (f. 397v): Muḥammad Qā[s]im khādim-i sharʿ sanah 5 … [quotation from Qurʾān in outer band].

15. ff. 398v-478r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item o.

Rare collection of correspondence (consisting of twenty letters) between the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8), and his contemporaries, comprised mainly of mystics and his patron, the Timurid or Mughal minister and commander of the southern frontier, the Khān Khānān, that is "Mīrzā Khān" ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Khān ibn Bayrām Khān Turkmān (d. 1627).

The title only occurs in an endorsement on folio 398r.

Most letters commence with the basmalah.

Not dated at end.

Summary of letters added on folio 398r; collation note.

Copied by multiple hands in neat to rough scribal nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes.

Gauze overlay in parts.

16. ff. 479v-498r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item p.

Rare treatise comprised of thirty-seven meditations or epistles on Ṣūfī topics, each beginning with the Arabic formula ‘bi-ismuhu subḥanah’, by a certain Mīrzā Muḥammad Taqī Dihdār, who, according to Arberry, is the same as the commentator on the Gulshan-i rāz, Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd, known as Dihdār Fānī (d. 1016/1607-8). According to Levy, however, Muḥammad Taqī is the son of Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd.

Not dated at end.

Copied by multiple hands in awkward nastaʿlīq with occasional shikastah flourishes written obliquely after folio 480r.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 498 ff.
Dimensions (leaf): 267 × 146 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

History

Origin: 16th-17th 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 E207/2_f042r

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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