Or 16274 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

A treatise ostensibly on Jihād, or warfare in defence of Islam, but largely devoted to accounts of numerous military victories of the early Muslims. According to the title page (f. 5r), the author was ‘Abd al-Ḥaqq Bīzar, a religious scholar who was attached to the Afghan Ministry of Education during the reign of Amīr Amān Allāh Khān, ruler of Afghanistan (reg. 1337-48/1919-29]. The full title of the work is here given as Kitāb / Fażā’il al-shuhadā’ – va Khasā’il al-su‘adā / dar targhīb-i jihād / musammà ba / (Tuḥfa-’i Amāniyya). As the title implies, the treatise is dedicated to Amān Allāh Khān.

Although the present manuscript appears to have been written with a view to publication in lithographed form, no evidence has been found that it was ever published. Folios 2r-4r contain a detailed list of contents including page numbers. The introductory chapters cite Hadiths; Koranic verses concerning the merit and obligation of fighting in defence of Islam; and quotations from speeches given on the battlefield by Khālid ibn al-Valīd and others.

Text begins (f. 5v): Basmala Ba‘d az ḥamd va sipās-i Parvardgār va durūd-i sa‘ādat-vurūd-i ān Bar-guzīda-’i Āfarīdgār va Āl-i aṭhār-i abrār ... Mīgūyad banda-’i sarāpā taqṣīr ‘Abd al-Ḥaqq-i ḥaqīr sākin-i Arghandī-i suflà mu’allif-i Vizārat-i jalīla-’i ma‘ārif-i Afghānistān

Ends: Dar īn fatḥ chunīn javāhir dar dast-i Musalmānān uftād ki yak dāna nigīn-rā ba panj dirham mīfurūkhtand va bīst hazār miyarzīd. Īn ākhir-i futūḥ būd ki ṭaraf-i Fārs dar khilāfat-i Ḥażrat-i ‘Umar r. karda shud. Tammat bi-l-khayr.

Other contents: f. 1r, Persian summary of a Prophetic Tradition (unverified) concerning four good and four bad innate qualities of mankind; 5r, title page.

Afghanistan, probably Kabul. Dated the month of S̲awr, 1301 hijrī shamsī / April-May 1922.

Nasta‘līq. 13 lines. Off-white paper, perhaps oriental. 155 folios. Paginated: 303 p. 204 x 168 mm.; text area 175 x 120 mm. Bound in boards covered with beige cloth faced with worn marbled paper.

Purchased from N A Majnoon, March 2006