Delhi Persian 1581* (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Substantial fragment of a rare, near contemporary copy of the Persian abridged translation and commentary by the great Indian Sufi of the Suhravardī Order, Makhdūm al-Mulk Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá Manīrī or Manerī of Patna (d. 6 Shavvāl 782/3 January 1381), based on the original Arabic treatise by the founder of the order, Shaykh Z̤iyāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Najīb ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Suhravardī (d. 563/1168).

The manuscript is defective at both ends, having lost a substantial portion from the early matter (early Persian foliation misleadingly begins at folio four), and several folios at the end (ff. 373-5) are later replacements.

Partially dated colophon (f. 375v): completed in Ramaz̤ān; ‘early’ portion datable to the fourteenth century.

Naskh inclining to taʿlīq in the Indian ‘Sultanate’ style, rough nastaʿlīq in replacement leaves.

Extensive contemporaneous annotations, corrections, and rubrics in margins, probably by the original scribe.

Binding, red half leather IOL covers, stamp dated 1 Jan 1936.