RSPA 86 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

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India Office Library

Jones Collection

Royal Society Arabic and Persian

The second part of a Ḥanafī legal text book

Language(s): Arabic

Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم. كتاب البيوع. البيع ينعقد بالأيجاب والقبول إذا كان بلفظ الماضي مثل أن يقول أحدهما بِعتُ والآخر اشتريتُ.

Explicit: وهذا لأن القليل لا يمكن الاحتراز عنه ولا يستطاع اعتياره دفعا للحرج كقليل النجاسة وقليل الانكثاف بخلاف ما إذا أكان انصفر أو كانت أغلب لأنه ضرورة.

Colophon: فيه والله أعلم بالصواب تمت الكتاب هذه النسخة الشريفة الموسومة بالهداية نصف آخر وقت الفجر۵۵

William Jones has annotated the manuscript with the title and his name on f1v.

There do not appear to be any ownership seals on this manuscript, but these can be found for this manuscript in MS RSPA 85, which is the first half of the text (see colophon).

This MS is slightly differently laid out from MS RSPA 85. There are more written lines per side and the text is found within a red and blue thin-line text box. The hand is the same, however.

On the front cover of the MS, there is a smudged "W.J." next to (in Arabic script) "Hidāyah jald[ayn?] [aḥmarayn?]".

Author: al-Marghīnānī, Burhān al-Dīn برهان الدين المرغيناني

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Like MS RSPA 85, the manuscript consists of repaired brown woven paper surrounded by cream woven paper endpapers.

Extent: ff. iv+195+iv

Dimensions (leaf): 305 × 200 mm.

Dimensions (written): 230 × 120 mm.

Foliation:

European numerals in pencil.

Condition

Folios are in relatively good condition in comparison with the folios of MS RSPA 85, its sister manuscript and the first half of the same text. There is some worm damage across the MS and between ff. 100 and 103 there is a large ink stain which permeates through the folios.

Layout

Uniform layout of one column of 24 lines per page written in the coloured text box.

Hand(s)

Neat black naskh with rubrications.

Decoration

Additions:

As in MS RSPA 85, there are copious marginal annotations by an array of different hands, including on f1r before the text begins.

On f1v, William Jones has written "The Hiāyah, W. Jones".

Binding

Red European style Indian binding with circular patterned stamped border.

Accompanying Material

History

Origin:

Provenance and Acquisition

RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady Jones. According to the Wilkins Catalogue, this MS was presented to the Royal Society by Lady Jones.

The Royal Society's collection of 280 Persian and Arabic, and 86 Sanskrit manuscripts were transferred to the India Office Library in 1876.

1876

India Office Library

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on E. Denison Ross and E. G. Browne, Catalogue of two collections of Persian and Arabic manuscripts preserved in the India Office Library (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1902), p. 62 no. LXXXVI

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.