Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 979 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Translation of Suhravardi’s ‘Avarif al-ma‘arif

Contents

1 copy of Miṣbāḥ al-hidāyah va miftāḥ al-kafāyah by ʿIzz al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʿAlī al-Kāshī

Abridged Persian translation of the comprehensive Arabic treatise on the doctrines and practices of Sufism, the ʿAvārif al-maʿārif of Shihāb al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Suhravardī (d. 632/1234), by a student, ʿIzz al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʿAlī al-Kāshī (d. 735/1334-5).

The passage naming the author is missing from this volume.

At least 14 leaves have been lost after folio 2.

With the exception of the first bāb, which this volume lacks, the work is divided into ten bāb.

Not dated at end. Arberry dates the manuscript to within the translator’s lifetime and attributes annotations and corrections in the margin to the author’s hand, on the basis of a collation note at the end (f. 161r), dated Wednesday, 10 Shavvāl 734/1334. As the manuscript is written in a later form of scribal nastaʿlīq, with a few shikastah-style flourishes, the early dating is less probable, and more likely to date to the early eighteenth century.

Several owner’s notes and seal impressions erased (f. 1r). Surviving note by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Chishtī al-ʿAlavī states the manuscript was presented to a relative of the Timurid or Mughal ruler, Emperor ʿĀlamgīr I, namely, Mīrzā Jaʿfar ibn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn ibn Āṣaf Khān "Jaʿfar".

Opening flyleaf has two notes of interest: 1) binder’s name stated as Muḥammad Ḥafīẓ the ṣaḥḥāf; 2) the name of a previous owner, Muḥammad Raz̤ī or Murtaz̤á.

Boards of leather binding intact, doublures of polychrome marbled paper; spine missing.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 161 ff.
Dimensions (leaf): 251 × 153 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

History

Origin: 17th-18th 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Based on unpublished description in Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. 3.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_f016r

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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