Delhi Persian 1169 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Item a. Catalogued as no. 1386 by Storey, Arabic MSS in IOL, vol. i (1930).

Arabic Ṣūfī compendium of faith by Muḥammad ibn Faz̤l Allāh Burhānpūrī (d. 1029/1620).

Not dated at end.

Rough nastaʿlīq hand.

The work is preceded by the quotation of an entire Persian ghazal ascribed to ʿAbd al-Karīm Qādirī Ajmīrī (Ajmeri).

Item b.

Two anonymously written notes commenting on aspects of the Arabic treatise al-Tuḥfat al-mursalat ilá al-Nabī of Muḥammad ibn Faz̤l Allāh Burhānpūrī (d. 1029/1620).

Not dated at end.

Item c.

Brief excerpt from the Mavāʿiẓ of Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm Qādirī Ajmīrī treating Ṣūfī austerities.

Not dated at end.

Item d.

Fragment of treatise beginning by evoking the name of the Mujaddidī Ṣūfī leader, Shaykh Aḥmad Fārūqī Naqshbandī (d. 1624).

Apparently this extract is copied from the proceeding item (e) entitled al-Mabdāʾ va al-maʿād and, although the author remains unnamed within the fragment itself, the author is Muḥammad Ṣiddīq al-Badakhshī al-Kishmī called "Hidāyat" (fl. 1019/1610).

Not dated at end.

Item e.

Ṣūfī treatise collecting the semi-autobiographical reminiscences and dicta of Muḥammad Ṣiddīq al-Badakhshī al-Kishmī called "Hidāyat" (fl. 1019/1610), beginning by evoking the name of the Mujaddidī Ṣūfī leader, Shaykh Aḥmad Fārūqī Naqshbandī (d. 1624).

The work was completed in the avākhir of Ramaz̤ān 1019/December 1610.

The title appears at the end.

Not dated at end.

Neat miniscule nastaʿlīq with dense shikastah āmīz annotations in margins.

Alternating tinted papers (buff, pale orange-pink, pale greyish green).

Item f.

Rare discursive Ṣūfī treatise on the theme of understanding the name of Allāh as the ism-ii aʿẓam, by the Mujaddidī Ṣūfī leader, Shaykh Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Aḥad Fārūqī Naqshbandī Sihrindī/Sarhindī (d. 1624).

The work appears to lack formal organisation, preferring instead a series of comments introduced by the term maʿrifat.

The title of the work appears only in the colophon.

Dated colophon (f. 76v): completed by Khvājah Muḥammad Anbālī (Anbālaʾī) ibn Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ Naqshbandī at dawn (chāsht) on Tuesday, 7 Jumādá al-S̲ānī [year omitted], written at the request of Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm Ajmīrī. As the sayyid visited Ambala, Khvājah Muḥammad’s son, Saʿd al-Dīn, enrolled as his student.

For that reason, and by the sayyid’s order (ḥukm), the work as transcribed in a little short period.

Neat miniscule nastaʿlīq annotations in margins.

Alternating tinted papers (buff, pale orange-pink, pale greyish green).

Item g.

Rare detailed treatise on obligatory and supererogatory prayers, devotions, and obligations for those aspiring for the highest echelons of Sufism by Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Sayyid ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ajmīrī.

The work concludes with a lengthy conclusion in Arabic (ff. 135v-142v).

This copy may be the author’s brouillon.

Not dated at end.

Dense annotations and corrections in margins, possibly by the author.

The work is preceded by the quotation of an entire Persian ghazal ascribed to Shāh ʿAbd al-Laṭīf "Laṭīf" on the terminological usage or iṣṭilāḥ of Ḥāfiẓ Shīrāzī.

Item h.

Abridgement Persian commentary on chapter 73 of the Qurʾān by Shāh Ṭāʾ Hāʾ.

Written obliquely on pale orange tinted paper.

Not dated at end.

Item i. Catalogued as no. 1415 by Storey, Arabic MSS in IOL, vol. i (1930).

Arabic treatise epitomising Sufism by ʿAbd al-Rasūl ibn Muḥammad Khān al-Bījāpūrī.

The work is divided into at least three abvāb and further subdivided into numerous fuṣūl.

Colophon in Persian (f. 175r): completed in Ramaz̤ān [year omitted], in the city of Anbālah (Ambala). From the phrases praising the author, it is clear that this copy was transcribed during the author’s lifetime.

Neat naskh with a narrow nib; colophon in rough shikastah āmīz.

Error in foliation after folio 160, omitting 161 and jumping straight to 162. There is no loss of folios here and the catchwords do correspond with proceeding text.

Item j.

Untitled Ṣūfī treatise in refined prose and poetry by an unnamed author, whose authorities frequently include Rūmī Balkhī and Jāmī Hiravī.

Not dated at end.

Neat nastaʿlīq hand with naskh for Arabic quotations.

Annotations written obliquely in margins; cropped.

Item k. Catalogued as no. 1416 by Storey, Arabic MSS in IOL, vol. i (1930).

Untitled Arabic commentary on the Ṣūfī treatise, the Tabṣīrah, by its author, ʿAbd al-Rasūl ibn Muḥammad Khān al-Bījāpūrī.

Dated colophon in Persian (ff. 228r-228v): completed by Khvājah Muḥammad (warning of errors due to his lack of knowledge in Arabic) on the morning of Monday, 8 Rajab in RY 2 of Muʿaẓẓam Shāh Bahādur (=Emperor Bahādur Shāh I), 1118/16 October 1706. Written at the request of Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm. From the phrases praising the author, it is clear that this copy was transcribed during the author’s lifetime.

Beginning in crude naskh settling into a more legible hand.

Alternating tinted papers (pale orange-pink and pale greyish green).

Item l. Catalogued as no. 1414 by Storey, Arabic MSS in IOL, vol. i (1930).

Arabic treatise intended as a practical guide to mysticism by Shāh ʿAbd al-Rasūl Anbālavī, who is likely to be the same as ʿAbd al-Rasūl ibn Muḥammad Khān al-Bījāpūrī.

The author is not named in the text, but stated in the concluding statement of ownership.

Not dated at end.

Statement of ownership in Persian (f. 240v): treatise by Shāh ʿAbd al-Rasūl Anbālavī (living at the time of writing), from the property of Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Sayyid ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ajmīrī.

Clear naskh with ornamental serifs on verticals facing forward.

Item m.

Untitled excerpts from the first qism of the Ṣūfī treatise Khulāṣat al-maʿārif by Ādam ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Bahvā (d. 1035/1626), by an unnamed compiler.

Not dated at end.