Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 983 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Javāhir al-asrār va zavāhir al-anvār by Ḥusayn ibn Ḥasan al-Khvārazmī, fl. early 15th cent

Contents

Summary of Contents: Commentary by Ḥusayn ibn Ḥasan al-Khvārazmī (d. 830/1426 or 840/1436) on the first daftar from the Mas̲navī-'i maʿnavī of the poet, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī Balkhī. The work appears to have been commissioned by the Shah of Khvarazm, Nāṣir al-Dīn Abū al-Manāqib, and Prince Ibrāhīm Sulṭān, through the mediation of the deceased amīr, Ghiyās̲ al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Shāh Malik Bahādur.

The work is prefixed by a detailed muqaddimah or introduction divided into ten maqālah, discussing the nature of light, cosmogony, prophecy, the lives of prominent Ṣūfī saints, doctrines, terminology, and initiation.

Defective at the beginning.

Folio 100r left blank, marked with the phrase ‘ṣaḥīḥ al-bayāz̤’; miscellaneous verses added later. Folio 113r left blank. Preceding folio gives folio count as 113 varq.

Dated colophon (f. 301v): 4 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī 1051/13 July 1641. Matter following the colophon includes poems and medicinal recipes (ff. 301v-302v).

Marbled cover preserved with IOL red leather binding; net overlay on some folios; wormholes and stains.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 302 ff.
Dimensions (leaf): 229 × 133 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

Additions:

(f. 1v): circular seal of ʿAbd Allāh khānah'zād-i ʿĀlamgīr Pādshāh [RY] 22 (1678/79).

(f. 1v): inscription 'from the property of Dilīr Himmat, [regnal] year 28, transferred to Muḥammad Bāqir, 27 Jumādá al-S̲ānī [regnal] year 28 (31 May 1685)'.

(f. 1v): inscription '8 Ramaz̤ān [regnal] year 29, transferred to Muḥammad Fāz̤il'.

Seal(s):

Seal of ʿAbd Allāh khānah'zād-i ʿĀlamgīr Pādshāh, dated regnal year 22 (1678/9).

Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp.

History

Origin: 4 Rabīʿ II 1051 AH (13 July 1641) ; India

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by Dilīr Himmat and subsequently accessioned into the Imperial Library in regnal year 28 of Aurangzeb’s reign (1685).

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859; administrative deposit India Office Library, 1876.

Acquired by the Government of India in 1876

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Based on unpublished description in Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. 3.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 E207/11_f039r

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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