Persian MS 953 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: An undated and unsigned copy of the Aẓhār al-Haqq (Apogee of Truth), a Persian commentary by one Sayyid Muḥammad Valī on Arabic odes (qaṣīdah) ascribed to Caliph and Shī‘ī Imām ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (b. ca. 598, r. 656–661).Author and Bibliographic antecedent: ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, b. ca. 598, r. 656–661;
علي بن أبي طالب، الخليفة، ۲۳ ق.هـ.-۴۰ هAuthor and Commentator: Sayyid Muḥammad Valī;
سيد محمد وليTitle: Aẓhār al-HaqqTitle: اظهار الحقTitle: Sharḥ Qaṣīdah Abū ṬālibTitle: شرح قصیدهIncipit: (beginning) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): ثـناء لا احصاء و بخالق لائن که بیبود را از کمال جود بوجود آورده * نامشهور را از حسن احسان بـر اوج نمود برده * مشتینی خـاک از افـلاک گذراندیه * مسجود املاک گردانیده * قطرهٔ آت بهوای خویش خوانره اذ سمک تا سماک رسانیده...Explicit: برگ ۱۲۵پ (folio 125b): بر من مصیبتها اگر بدرستی آن مصیبتها ریخته شدی بر روزها کشتندی آن روزها شبها... فالحمد لله علی احسانه قد وقع الفراغ من اظهار الحق و بيانه و الصلوة على محمد و اعوانه و السلام على عمه و اخوانه... و المامول من الفحول دعاء الخیر. تمام شد ٩.Colophon: No colophon.Language(s): PersianWhile several works under this same title, or variations thereof, survive, none comport with this work. The author may possibly be Muḥammad Ḥasan Qatīl (ca. 1755–1818); however, this attribution awaits confirmation. For another collection of poetry ascribed to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib held in the Rylands, see Arabic MS 7 and 8.
Physical Description
Form: codexExtent: 125 folios, 2 flyleaves (ff. i + 125 + i).Layout
Written in 1 to 2 columns with 16 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in hasty, dense black nasta‘līq with shikastah ligatures, with Arabic passages in a hasty naskh, and red markings.
Additions:
Bookplates and Pasted items:
Right board exterior, top bears a paper label inscribed Right pastedown:- Inverted ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘4/K’, with ‘Bland MSS No. 519’, with the name and number crossed out and and class mark ‘Arabic’ and ‘89’ written aside.
History
Origin: Probably completed in the Indian subcontinent; undated, but probably 18th century CE.Provenance and Acquisition
While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, London booksellers Howell and Stewart evidently aquired then sold it to scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865) for the latter's library at Randalls Park, Leatherhead.
After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866, and moved to Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library, Manchester.
Record Sources
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023, with reference to the volume, an unpublished handlist, accession registers, and a Persian description of the volume published by Tawfiq Subhani in 1993.
Availability
To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
Bibliography
Tawfīq Subḥānī, 'Kitāb'hā-yi khaṭṭī-i Fārsī fihrist nashudah dar Kitābkhānah Jān Rāylāndz, Manchistir' Majallah-'i Dānishkadah-i Adabiyāt va ‘Ulūm-i Insānī n.s., Vol. 1, Nos. 2-3 (1372 SH [1993 CE]): pp. 170–171, no. 12.Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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