Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 805 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Miscellaneous works on Sufism and philosophy, 38 items (a-ll)

Contents

Summary of Contents: Substantive collection of miscellaneous Persian and Arabic works on Shīʿī tradition, ethics, Sufism, metaphysics, and philosophy compiled from various named and anonymous sources. All items are the work of the same scribal hand on a consistent type of thin, high-quality paper. The volume is not dated, but may be datable to the early to mid-seventeenth century on the basis of internal references in items n and hh. The Shīʿī emphasis of many works may suggest origins in Iran or particular centres of sectarian learning in the Indian provinces, such as the Deccan and elsewhere. Neat and disciplined Persian scribal naskh throughout; catchwords occasionally in shikastah. Limited annotations in margins. Stamped and faint Persian foliation. Lacking original binding. Binding damaged (patches of combed marble paper and ornamental printed paper pasted over pasteboard with brown leather edging and spine), labelled; torn and pasted over; pasteboards cracked. Folios mostly unbound, cropped, stained, extensive wormholes, later repairs. Condition extremely fragile.
1. ff. 1v-17r

Item a.

Fragment from an excerpt of a rare edition of the metaphysical treatise on the relationship of man and other spiritual beings evidently by Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8), although his name does not appear in the work.

The work is defective at the beginning.

The work is divided into four bāb.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
2. ff. 17r-17v

Item b.

Untitled Sufi treatise on the legitimacy of the congregation or jamāʿat evidently by Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8), who is mentioned at the beginning simply as Afz̤al.

The brief work mentions the opinions of a certain Mīr Sayyid Sharīf.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
3. ff. 17v-29v

Item c.

Untitled Sufi treatise on the theory of knowledge and self-consciousness by Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8).

The work comprises three discourses, each termed guftār.

Not dated at end.

Annotations in margins, occasionally in red ink.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
4. ff. 29v-59v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item d.

Philosophical treatise on the nature of the ego based largely on Arabic versions of the work on the same subject by Arisṭāṭālīs or Aristotle, the De Anima, evidently by Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8), according to Rieu, Ethé, and Levy.

The introduction is followed by three discourses termed maqālah.

Not dated at end.

5. ff. 59v-82r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item e.

Metaphysical treatise on knowledge on the nature of being and substance, evidently by Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8).

Written at the request of religious fraternities in the city of Rayy.

The work consists of eight sections termed dar-i sukhan in accordance with the title.

Not dated at end.

6. ff. 82r-82v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item f.

Untitled metaphysical treatise on thought and the power of the mind evidently by Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8), whose name appears in red ink at the beginning as Bābā Afz̤al Kāshī.

The work is followed by a short note on the soul and corporeality by an unnamed author, evidently by the same Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī.

Not dated at end.

7. ff. 82v-132v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item g.

Sufi treatise in a homiletic tone on essential and incidental aspects of life, though labelled ʿArz̤'nāmah above, the work refers to itself as nāmah-'i humāyūn. Although the author is not mentioned, the work is evidently attributable to Afz̤al al-Dīn Muḥammad Kāshī (d. 707/1307-8), and supported by Rieu, Ethé, and Levy.

Not dated at end.

8. ff. 132v-134r
Language(s): Arabic

Item h.

Untitled Arabic treatise on souls and corporeality by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

9. ff. 134r-134v
Language(s): Arabic

Item i.

Untitled Arabic treatise on metaphysics, beginning with comments on the Burhān-i Qāṭiʿ, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

10. ff. 134v-135r
Author:

Item j.

Untitled Arabic treatise on abstinence in Sufism, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Arabic
11. f. 135r
Language(s): Arabic

Item k.

Untitled Arabic treatise on the gentle qualities required in Sufism, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

12. ff. 135r-135v
Language(s): Arabic

Item l.

Untitled Arabic metaphysical treatise on the light of creation, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Author:
13. ff. 135v-136r
Language(s): Arabic

Item m.

Untitled Arabic metaphysical treatise on light, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Author:
14. ff. 136r-142v
Language(s): Arabic

Item n.

Excerpt from the philosophical treatise Asfār al-arbuʿah by Ṣadr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Ibrāhīm Shīrāzī (d. 1050/1641), better known as Mullā Ṣadrā.

This volume must date from before Mullā Ṣadrā’s death, as his name is followed by a number of laudatory phrases that pray for his continued success.

Not dated at end.

15. ff. 142v-144r
Language(s): Arabic

Item o.

Untitled Arabic treatise commenting on divine traditions or the ḥadīs̲-i qudsī by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

16. f. 144r
Language(s): Arabic

Item p.

Untitled Arabic comment on the resurrection by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

17. ff. 144r-144v
Language(s): Arabic

Item q.

Third part of an untitled Arabic treatise on the body and mind, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

18. ff. 144v-145r
Language(s): Arabic

Item r.

Untitled Arabic treatise written in answer to questions on the dissolution of marriage by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

19. ff. 145r-146r
Language(s): Arabic

Item s.

Excerpt from the fifth part or chapter of an untitled Arabic treatise on the brain by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

20. ff. 146r-147v
Language(s): Arabic

Item t.

Excerpt from the third part or chapter of an untitled Arabic treatise on literature by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

21. ff. 147v-148r
Language(s): Arabic

Item u.

Untitled Arabic treatise on the philosophy of religions by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

22. f. 148r
Language(s): Arabic

Item v.

Excerpt from an untitled Arabic treatise on the animated body, written by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

23. ff. 148r-148v
Language(s): Arabic

Item w.

Excerpt from an untitled Arabic treatise on the quality of weakness, written by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

24. f. 148v
Language(s): Arabic

Item x.

Excerpt from an untitled Arabic treatise on the opinions of some philosophers on divine substance, written by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

25. ff. 148v-149r
Language(s): Arabic

Item y.

Excerpt from an untitled Arabic treatise on the arguments of some intellectuals regarding substance, written by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

26. f. 149r
Language(s): Arabic

Item z.

Excerpt from the final portion or qism of an untitled Arabic treatise on ideas for the organisation of nations, written by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

27. ff. 149r-149v
Language(s): Arabic

Item aa.

Excerpt from an untitled Arabic treatise on divine knowledge by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

28. ff. 149v-152v
Language(s): Arabic

Item bb.

Excerpt from an untitled Arabic treatise on bodily strength and weakness, by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

29. ff. 152v-189r
Language(s): Arabic

Item cc.

Untitled Arabic treatise on the rational sciences, compiled by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Author:
30. ff. 189r-189v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item dd.

Excerpt from an untitled treatise attributed to Ākhūnd Mullā Rajab ʿAlī on the metaphysical conditions of substance and corporeality, compiled by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Author:
31. ff. 189v-228r
Language(s): Arabic

Item ee.

Arabic commentary on the celebrated Sufi treatise Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam of Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) by his disciple, Muḥammad Ṣadr al-Dīn ibn Isḥāq al-Qūnavī (d. 673/1274).

Not dated at end.

32. ff. 228r-228v
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item ff.

Excerpt from an untitled treatise metaphysical perception by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Author:
33. ff. 228v-229r
Language(s): Arabic

Item gg.

Excerpts from the Arabic collection of Shīʿī aḥādīs̲, the Kitāb al-tawḥīd of Shaykh Ṣadūq, that is, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad al-Bābavayh al-Qummī (d. 381/991).

Not dated at end.

34. ff. 229r-270r
Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Item hh.

Treatise by an unnamed editor abridging the larger treatise collecting mystical, ethical and religious comments and dicta in Arabic and Persian without any apparent order, the al-Kalimāt al-maknūnah by Muḥammad ibn Murtaz̤á, known as Muḥsin Kāshī (d. circa 1090/1679).

Not dated at end.

Author:
35. ff. 270r-277r

Item ii.

Fragment of an untitled Persian translation by an unnamed translator of the philosophical and semi-mystical legend of Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān (here written nuqṣān) related in Arabic by Avicenna, that is Abū ʿAlī Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā al-Bukhārī (d. 428/1037).

The work was commissioned by the Kakawayhid ruler of Isfahan, ʿAz̤ud al-Dīn ʿAlāʾ al-Dawlah Fakhr al-Millah Tāj al-Ummah Abū Jaʿfar Ḥusām [Muḥammad] ibn Dushmanyār, entitled here Amīr al-Muʾminīn (d. 433/1041-2).

Portions of the Arabic original are given along with the Persian translation.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
Author:
36. ff. 277v-278r
Author:

Item jj.

Untitled Arabic treatise on philosophical propositions. Although the author is not identified, the name Mīrzā Rafīʿā (alive at the time of writing) is included at the end without specifying the relationship as either author, scribe, or patron, etcetera.

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Arabic
37. ff. 278r-278v

Item kk.

Untitled metaphysical treatise answering questions on the nature of corporeal substance by an unnamed author.

Not dated at end.

Author:
Language(s): Persian
38. ff. 278v-279r
Author:

Item ll.

Untitled Arabic treatise discussing Shīʿī aḥādīs̲ or traditions concerning to the Ahl al-Bayt or family of the Prophet Muḥammad related by Ibn ʿAbbās in the works of [Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Qazvīnī] Ibn Mājah (d. 273/887).

Not dated at end.

Language(s): Arabic

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 279 ff.
Dimensions (leaf): 219 × 130 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

History

Origin: 1620 - 1640 CE ; India or Iran

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 E207/31_f005r

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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