Or 16162 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

The Arabic text of Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, the celebrated compilation of prayers invoking blessings on the Prophet Muḥammad by Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. ca. 870/1465). This is preceded, on ff. 19v-32r, by an anonymous Persian commentary on the special virtues of this work and the manner and benefits of reciting it. For the Arabic text and its author, see M. Ben Cheneb, ‘al-Djazūlī’, EI2 II, pp. 527-8; GAL II, p. 252 and S II, p. 359.

The Persian texts, which include several errors of spelling, represent one of the less sophisticated strains of Sufism in the Subcontinent.

Commentary begins: ‘Basmalah... al-Ḥamd li-Llāh va al-salām ʿalà ʿibādih allaz̲īn aṣṭafà. Ammā baʿd... Īn taz̲kirah īst dar bayān-i khavāṣṣ-i tamām-i Dalāʾil al-khayrāt va niṣf va rubʿ va subʿ va baʿz̤-i ṣalavāt-i ān. Bar z̤amāʾir-i ṣafī-'i ūlī al-abṣār va dilhā-'i vāfī az kibār-i nāmdār mustaṭar...’

Commentary ends: ‘Ān-jumlah az khwāndan-i īn durūd va ba-qārī ḥāṣil gardad. Va ba-jumlah muhimmāt-i dārayn va murādāt-i kawnayn bī ṣaʿb (sic) barasad ammā vuz̤ūʾ va istiqbāl-i qiblah sharṭ ast va kalām dar miyān-i khwāndan nakunad’

Other contents: f. 1r, pencilled inscription ‘Vaẓāʾif’; 2r, description: Dalāʾil al-khayrāt va ghayruh; 2v, verses in Panjabi and an apotropaic formula in Persian; 3r, two didactic anecdotes in Persian, two bayts in Urdu, and a bayt in Arabic; 4r, an Urdu ghazal by Z̲awqī, and two Persian rubāʿīs; 5r-v, instructions in Persian on how to obtain one’s desires, or relief from problems, by reciting Qurʾānic Sūrahs and invoking the mediation of Shāh Bū ʿAlī Qalandar and others; 6r, verses in Persian attributed to Shāh Ẓuhūr Allāh; 6v, an occult diagram including the names of the Archangels and the text of Qurʾān 39:53; 7r, a table containing two- or three-word phrases describing physical characteristics of the Prophet Muḥammad; 10r, two notes in Persian, on the number of Sūrahs, letters and words in the Qurʾān, and on the merit of reciting particular Sūrahs after each of the five daily prayers; 10v, a formula invoking the angels Hārūt and Mārūt, and prayers and invocations for specific needs and occasions; 14v-16r, instructions on invoking Sayyid ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī by eleven different titles, to gain his help, protection, etc.; 17r, Ism-i haft Khwājagān īn hast: names of seven Sufi saints; 215v, key to the abjad numerical values of letters; 218r-v, medicinal formulae; 219r, remedies for ocular ailments. Folios 11r-14r are blank but for the text frames.

Northern India. 13th/19th century. Copied by Muḥammad Makhdūm ibn Muḥammad Ibrāhīm.

Naskhī. Mainly 9 lines. Text frames: red, red, blue. Two full-page illuminated diagrams, of reasonably good quality, of the sanctuaries (Ḥaramayn) of Makkah and Madīnah, f. 53r and 53v. Rather thin beige paper, heavily sized. Worm damage, not affecting readability but including small holes in the pigment of the illustrations and in the covers of the volume. Rather thin beige paper, heavily sized. 226 folios. 197 x 118 mm.; text area 135 x 75 mm. Modern binding, by Yūsuf ʿAlī Ṣaḥḥāf: half black morocco, boards covered with red cloth.