Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 1082 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Ṣaḥāʼif al-maʻrifah by Abū ʻAbd Allah ʻAbd al-Razzāq ibn Ahmad al-Rāzī al-Muqrī

Contents

Summary of Contents: A treatise on sufism comprising a preface and three sections (saḥīfah), consisting of ten vaṣl and ten faṣl. The author says he has attained the wisdom in this book from his master, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ḥasan Ṭāhir, and he from a chain of 24 other Ṣufīs, going back to the Shiʻi Imams (ff. 44v-45r). The manuscript lacks the beginning and end.
Incipit: امیدوار الملتجی الی الله الواحد الاحد القوی ابوعبدالله عبدالرزاق ابن الاحمد الرازی المقری لازال فانیا عن ذاته و باقیا بربه که به حکم اشارت قوله تعالی یطاف علیهم بصحاف من ذهب و اکواب و فیها ما تشتهیه الانفس و تلذ الاعین.
Explicit: وصل دهم گر ترک رضای خود بگویی / یابی ز خدا بسی نکویی. قال الله...
Language(s): Persian

ff. 49v-50r contain an oval diagram with signs of the zodiac and the heavens around the edge, with explanations of some of the terms. The margins of both pages contain poetry and a passage in praise of prophet Muḥammad.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: ff. ii+54+wrapper.
Dimensions (leaf): 218 × 156 mm.
The dimensions vary.
Foliation:

India Office stamped foliation; Persian foliation is numbered 4-54, beginning at f. 3r.

Collation

Catchwords.

Condition

Slightly worm-eaten and damp-stained. Without binding and encased in plain wrapper.

Layout

15-22 lines per page, depending on the scribe.

Hand(s)

Copied in 6 different hands, all in nastaʻliq, in black ink, mostly with spaces left for headings.

ff. 1r-11v. Nasta'liq, compact and neat; 19 lines per page.

ff. 12r-19v. Thicker nastaʻliq; Arabic vocalised; 17 lines per page.

f. 20. 15 lines per page.

ff. 21r-28v. Neat nasta'liq; 22 lines per page; scribe, Muḥammad Murād Rāmpūrī (?).

ff. 29r-36v. Cursive nastaʻliq, some headings in red; 19 lines per page; scribe: Muḥammad Sādiq Jhajhāvī(?).

ff. 37r-44v. Thick nastaʻliq; 15 lines oer page; scribe: Bahādur Khān Jhajhāvī(?).

ff. 45r-53v. Headings and diacritical marks in red; 21 lines per page; same scribe as ff. 1-11.

Additions:

Additions include some poetry, Persian translations of Arabic words, glosses (f. 2), quotation from the Prophet (f. 24v), and marginal repetition of poetry in another hand (ff. 25r, 27v, 28r).

Seal(s):

Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp (ff. 1r and 53v).

Accompanying Material

Wrapper: East India Company Acquittance Roll dated June 1828. Watermarked ‘ J. Whatman Balston & Co. 1828 ’, ripped in the middle.

Folio i: fragment, probably from another manuscript, of court correspondence, written in black ink, nastaʻliq. Leaf dimensions: 200 mm x 119 mm/ written: 165 mm x 750 mm), 11 lines per page.

History

Origin: Undated, probably 18th century CE India

Provenance and Acquisition

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859; administrative deposit India Office Library, 1876.

Acquired by the Government of India in 1876

Record Sources

Based on A.J. Arberry's description in Drafts for Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. III, MSS Eur E207/3 , f. 12r, and R. Levy 's description, Mss Eur E207/12, f. 117r. Revised by Sheida Heydarishovir

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. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.

Funding of Cataloguing

BL

Subjects


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