Persian MS 986 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

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Summary of Contents: A complete copy of the Būstān (Fragrant Orchard) by Saʻdī Shīrazī (ca. 1213–1292), one of the most revered works by this preeminent Persian Ṣūfī poet, which he composed in 655 AH (1257 CE). Together with his Gulistān (Rose Garden), both the literary style and structure of the work profoundly influenced subsequent writers. The work opens with an introduction in which the author praises God and his patrons, the Salghurd-era rulers of Fars province from their capital at Shiraz, Saʿd I (Saʿd ibn Zangī, r. 1198–1226), his son Abū Bakr ibn Saʿd ibn Zangī (r. 1226–1260), and grandson Muḥammad bin Abū Bakr ibn Saʿd ibn Zangī (fl 13th c.). The text comprises ten chapters on topics such as ethics, government, love, contentment, humility, repentance, and other subjects, embellished throughout with anecdotes and tales from the author's life and travels. A scribe named Hāfiz Muḥammad Aʿzam completed the volume for the ruler of Mysore, Ḥaydar ʿAlī Khān (b. ca. 1722, r. 1761–1782), probably at the latter's palace in Seringapatam, on Wednesday, 6 Jamādi Al-Thāni 1195 AH (30 May 1781 CE).
Author: Saʻdī, Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin ‘Abd Allāh
سعدی شیرازی
Saʻdī Shīrazī
سعدی شیرازی
Scribe: Hāfiz Muḥammad Aʿzam
خافظ محمد عظم
Patron: Ḥaydar ʿAlī Khān (b. ca. 1722, r. 1761–1782)
حیدر علی خان
Title: Būstān
Title: بوستان
Explicit: برگ ۳۰۴ر (folio 304a): خدایا زعفوم مکن ناامید * بضاعت نیاوردم الا امید.
Colophon: برگ ۳۰۴ر (folio 304a): تم بالخیر کتبه العبد الفقیر محمد کاتب اللاری سنة ثمان وثلاثين وتسعماية
Colophon: Completed by Hāfiz Muḥammad Aʿzam, ‘in the assembly of [the ruler of Mysore] Ḥaydar ʿAlī Khān (b. ca. 1722, r. 1761–1782)’ on Wednesday, 6 Jamādi Al-Thāni 1195 AH (30 May 1781 CE).

In Wickens' analysis, the poet completed the work between Shawwāl and 29 Ẕu-al-Ḥijjah 655 AH (13 Oct.–20 Dec. 1257 CE), probably on 30 Ẕū-al-Qaʿdah (21 Nov. 1257 CE). See Wickens' Encyclopædia Iranica entry and his English translation.

Language(s): Persian
1. Folio 1b
Title: Introduction
Incipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): بنام خداوند جان آفرین * حکیم سخن در زبان آفرین.
2. Folio 6a
Title: بباب اول در در تدبیر ملک و رای
Title: Chapter 1: On the Wisdom of Ruling
3. Folio 18b
Title: باب دوم در احسان
Title: Chapter 2: On Philanthropy and Gratitude to Almighty God.
4. Folio 30b
Title: باب سوم در عشق
Title: Chapter 3: On Love.
5. Folio 39a
Title: باب چهارم در تواضع
Title: Chapter 4: On Humility.
6. Folio 50b
Title: باب پنجم در رضا
Title: Chapter 5: On Satisfaction.
7. Folio 50b
Title: باب ششم در قناعت
Title: Chapter 6: On Contentment.
8. Folio 55a
Title: باب ششم در قناعت
Title: Chapter 7: On Contentment.
9. Folio 69b
Title: باب هشتم در شکر و عافیت
Title: Chapter 7: On Thankfulness and Blessings.
10. Folio 75b
Title: باب نهم در توبه
Title: Chapter 7: On Repentence.
11. Folio 75b
Title: [باب دهم]
Title: [Chapter 10: Epilogue.]

This chapter lacks a heading.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Textblock of various types of tinted paper, possibly handmade in the Greater Iran, with ~8 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.
Extent: 86 folios, 2 flyleaves (ff. i + 86 + i).
Dimensions (leaf): 255 × 170 mm.

Collation

Undetermined. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.

Condition

Handle text with caution. In very poor condition, with water, insect, and mould damage and historical repairs throughout.

Layout

Written in 3 columns with 20 lines per page, two horizontal along with a third margin at the fore-edge written at oblique angles. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in clear black nasta‘līq with white subheaders.

Additions:
Bookplates: The final right flyleaf b side (f. iib): Owens College, ‘Bequeathed by Samuel Robinson, of Wilmslow, 1884’.
Left pastedown: ‘Samuel Robinson, Blackbrook Cottage, Wilmslow’.

History

Origin: Completed by Hāfiz Muḥammad Aʿzam for Ḥaydar ʿAlī Khān (b. ca. 1722, r. 1761–1782) probably at the latter's palace in Seringapatam; 6 Jamādi Al-Thāni 1195 AH (30 May 1781 CE).

Provenance and Acquisition

Inherited by Ḥaydar ‘Alī’s son and successor Tipu Sultan (b. 1751, r. 1782–1799), then very likely subsequently plundered from the palace at Seringapatam by British forces after the latter's defeat and death. Whether documentation of this volume in an inventory list of volumes selected for the East India Company by Prize Agents Charles Stewart and Samuel Ogg (BL, Mss Eur/E196) remains to be determined; however, Stewart only notes another volume of the same work in his 1809 catalogue of the collection, hence the circumstances of the volume’s arrival in Britain remain unclear (See Sims-Williams).

Subsequently acquired by Manchester merchant and scholar Samuel Robinson (1794–1884) of Wilmslow, the author of Persian Poetry for English Readers (1883), who donated it to Owens College (the original institution that evolved into the of The University of Manchester today).

Transferred to the John Rylands Library in 1975 after it merged with the University of Manchester.

Record Sources

Bibliographical description derived from Siavash Rafiee-Rad, 'Persian Manuscripts in Samuel Robinson’s Collection in The John Rylands Library' (2017).

Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to the volume in hand.

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

    A. F. L. Beeston, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Part III (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), p. 31, no. 2584 [Bodl. Ms. Whinfield 44].
    E. G. Browne, Literary History of Persia, Vol. II (London: T. F. Unwin, 1906), pp. 225–254.
    H. Ethé, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, Vol. I (Oxford: Printed for the India Office by H. Hart, 1903) col. 656, no. 1117/4 [BL IO Islamic 876, &c.].
    T. W. Haig, and J. H.Kramers, 'Saʿdī', Encyclopaedia of Islam 1st ed., Vol. IV (Leiden: Brill 1936), p. 1345.
    D. Ingenito, Beholding Beauty: Sa'di of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry. Leiden: Brill 2021.
    P. Losensky, 'Saʿdī', Encyclopædia Iranica Online (2000).
    D. N. Marshall, Mughals in India: A Bibliographical Survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1962), p. 424, no. 1609(i).
    S. Rafiee-Rad, 'Persian Manuscripts in Samuel Robinson’s Collection in The John Rylands Library', Manuscripta: A Journal for Manuscript Research, Vol. 61, No. 2 (2017): pp. 266–268, pls 7–8 [Rylands Persian MS 986].
    C. Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum, Vol. II (London: British Museum, 1881), p. 597 [British Library Add. 24944/7].
    E. Sachau and H. Ethé, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstani, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Vol I (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889), col. 525, no. 681 [Bodleian. Ouseley Add. 39 (work 15)].
    U. Sims-Williams, 'Collections Within Collections Iran Vol. 59, No. 2 (2020): pp. 1–4.
    G. M. Wickens, 'Būstān', Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 6 (1990), pp. 573–574.
    Sa‘dī, Morals Pointed and Tales Adorned: The Būstān of Saʻdī. Translated by G. M. Wickens. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.

Funding of Cataloguing

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library

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