Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 662 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Miscellaneous works on Sufism, doctrine, and ritual, 24 items (a-x)

Contents

Summary of Contents: Miscellaneous collection of works on Sufism, doctrine, and ritual by or ascribed to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī, who entitles the volume Kitāb Alifah (see item c). Defective at end. Volume not dated; item b and g dated (5 Muḥarram-17 Ṣafar 1082/14 May-25 June 1671) separately; all items share similar paper and range of scribal hands and are, therefore, likely to be the product of a single scriptorium at Akbarābād (Agra, UP, India) by several scribes under the author’s patronage. Neat ornamental naskh with occasional taʿlīq flourishes, or scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz, by at least three identified hands. Limited annotations in margins. Stamped and Persian foliation. Lacking original binding. Binding severely damaged (decorative printed paper exterior pasteboards with brown leather spine; delaminating inner matter exposing texts in Kaithi, Persian, Arabic, early Urdu), labelled. Folios mostly unbound; cropped, wormholes, later repairs. Condition very fragile.
1. ff. 1v-12r

Item a.

Untitled Sufi treatise on demonstrations of love for the Prophet Muḥammad through celebrations of his birth or mawlūd. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Copious passages in Arabic.

Not dated at end.

Other works (items b-c) transcribed in margins, by the same hand.

The work begins with a basmalah in ornamental naskh. Text in neat naskh slackening towards the end.

Notes on flyleaves.

Language(s): Persian & Arabic
2. ff. 1v-7v margins

Item b.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on the death of the Prophet Muḥammad by Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī, author of Hidāyat al-Hind, an abridgement of the Ḥujjat al-Hind.

The work begins with a basmalah in ornamental naskh.

Neat naskh with occasional taʿlīq flourishes, written obliquely in an intermediate column between items a and c.

Dated colophon (f. 7v): completed by ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Khvājah Muḥammad Qāsim at Akbarābād (Agra), 17 Ṣafar 1082/25 June 1671.

Language(s): Arabic
3. f. 1v margin

Item c.

Arabic note describing the assembly of the present volume, entitled Kitāb Alifah, as the work of Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī al-Naqshbandī.

Naskh in outermost column of margin along right edge.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Arabic
4. f. 8r margin
Language(s): Arabic

Item d.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise explaining a Prophetic ḥadis̲ on the benefits of remembering death. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Basmalah in nastaʿlīq. Neat ornamental naskh with occasional taʿlīq flourishes, written obliquely in margin.

Not dated at end.

5. ff. 12r-13r panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item e.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on the virtues of the last Friday in the lunar Hijrī month of Ramaz̤ān. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Nastaʿlīq with tendencies to combine naskh and taʿlīq; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

6. ff. 13r-13v panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item f.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on virtues in the recitation of the Qurʾān in the lunar Hijrī month of Ramaz̤ān. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Small nastaʿlīq with tendencies to combine naskh and taʿlīq; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

7. ff. 13v-19r
Language(s): Arabic

Item g.

Arabic Sufi treatise on the sanctity of the lunar Hijrī months of Rajab, Z̲ū al-Qaʿdah, Z̲ū al-Ḥijjah, and Muḥarram. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

The work begins with a basmalah in neat and expressive ornamental naskh continued throughout.

Dated colophon (f. 19r): completed by ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Khvājah Muḥammad Qāsim ibn Ḥāfiẓ Dūst Muḥammad Andijānī at Akbarābād (Agra), on the morning of Friday, 5 Muḥarram 1082/14 May 1671.

8. ff. 14r-17r margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item h.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise describing circumstances on Yawm al-Qiyāmah or the Day of Judgement. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Small nastaʿlīq written obliquely in margins.

Not dated at end.

9. f. 17r margin
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item i.

Untitled Sufi note instructing on the virtues of reciting Durūd-i Muʿaẓẓam. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Small nastaʿlīq written obliquely in the margin.

Not dated at end.

10. ff. 17r margin
Language(s): Arabic

Item j.

Arabic prayer, Durūd-i Muʿaẓẓam, in praise of the Prophet Muḥammad. This is not attributed to Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Ornamental naskh written obliquely in the margin.

Not dated at end.

11. ff. 19v-21v panel and margins
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item k.

Untitled Sufi treatise on the virtues of almsgiving or zakāt and categories of Muslims upon whom it is an obligation. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

The work is divided into three faṣl.

Substantial quotations in Arabic.

Nastaʿlīq with tendencies to combine naskh and taʿlīq; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

Author:
12. ff. 21v-24r
Language(s): Arabic

Item l.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on the sanctity of the precinct of Mecca. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Not dated at end.

Author:
13. ff. 24v-30r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item m.

Sufi treatise on the isrāʾ and miʿrāj or nocturnal journey to the Masjid al-Aqṣá and ascent to heaven of the Prophet Muḥammad, as well as the virtues of its annual commemoration in prayer and fasting. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

In one of the margins is a note referencing the Miftāḥ al-jannah (here Miftāḥ al-janān[sic] ) of Jalāl al-Dīn Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505).

Nastaʿlīq with tendencies to combine naskh and taʿlīq; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

14. ff. 30r-32r panel and margins
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item n.

Untitled Sufi treatise on the sanctity of s of Rajab, Shaʿbān (with particular emphasis), Ramaz̤ān, and Muḥarram. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Nastaʿlīq with tendencies to combine naskh and taʿlīq; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

15. ff. 32r-41r panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item o.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on the virtues of fasting and elective prayers, especially during the lunar Hijrī month of Ramaz̤ān. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Small nastaʿlīq with tendencies to combine naskh and taʿlīq; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

16. ff. 41r-42r panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item p.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on the mode of salutation of seventy thousand angels lead by Jibrāʾīl or Gabriel descending in the presence of the Prophet Muḥammad. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Small scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

17. ff. 42r-45r panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item q.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on the virtues of festivities or ʿĪd associated with the early Prophets Ibrāhīm or Abraham, Mūsá or Moses, ʿĪsá or Jesus, and finally the Prophet Muḥammad. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

18. ff. 45r-45v panel and margins
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item r.

Untitled Sufi treatise on a prophetic tradition relating to Fāṭimah, daughter of the Prophet Muḥammad. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

19. ff. 45v margin
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item s.

Untitled Sufi treatise on sleep in relation to the ritual prayers. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

20. ff. 45v-46v panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item t.

Untitled Arabic Sufi treatise on sleep in relation to the ritual prayers. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

21. ff. 46v-47v panel and margins
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item u.

Untitled Sufi treatise on the virtues of fasting in the lunar Hijrī month of Ramaz̤ān, with verses. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

22. ff. 48r-50v panel and margins
Language(s): Arabic

Item v.

Arabic Sufi treatise on the virtues and obligations of Friday. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Not dated at end.

23. ff. 51r-55r panel and margins
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item w.

Untitled Sufi treatise on the virtues the tenth day of the lunar Hijrī month of Z̲ī al-Ḥijjah in addition to Abrahamic traditions. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Scribal nastaʿlīq with tendencies to shikastah āmīz; text following into margins.

Colophon at end not dated (f. 55r): completed by Muḥammad ʿIvaz̤.

24. ff. 55r-56v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item x.

Incomplete fragment of an untitled Sufi treatise encouraging the practice of sacrifice and z̲ibḥ or ritual slaughter in association with to Abrahamic traditions. Although the author is not mentioned, it is attributable to Muḥammad Jān ibn Muḥammad Ṣiddīq ibn Ḥāfiẓ Sulṭān Maḥmūd Tāshkandī Naqshbandī based on the testimony of a note on the first page (item c).

Defective at end.

Not dated at end.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 56 ff. (+1)
Dimensions (leaf): 245 × 157 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

History

Origin: 5 Muḥarram-17 Ṣafar 1082 (14 May 1671 - 25 June 1671) AH ; Akbarābād, Agra, UP, India ; India, Agra

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 E207/29_f017r

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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