Delhi Persian 1134 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Maktūbāt by Bū ʻAlī Qalandar

Summary of Contents: A collection of 148 letters, ascribed to Sharaf al-Dīn Bū ʻAlī Qalandar. All the letters are addressed to one Ikhtiyār al-Dīn. The last folio is of more recent date. This copy has no introduction and starts with the first letter (maktūb).

Author: Bū ʻAlī Qalandar بو علی قلندر

Title: Maktūbāt | Sharaf al-Dīn Bū ʻAlī Qalandar

Title: Maktūbāt

Title: مکتوبات

Incipit: مکتوب اول. بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم. برادرم اختیار الدین بداند حق تعالی با قدرت خود در عالم خود بود. از قدرت خود و از عالم خود نخست گوهری آفرید پس نظر قدرت بر آن گوهر کرد.

Explicit: ای برادر بهشت و دوزخ بر تو آرند تا بر کدام چیز ترا بدارند و اگر با عشق و حق بمانی بهشت را در خود بدانی و اگر در دنیا با کفر نشینی دوزخ را با خود ببینی. ای برادر آن روز که تو خواهی مرد بهشت و دوزخ برابر خود خواهی گذاشتن. والله اعلم بالصواب.

Colophon: تمام شد مکتوبات حضرت شاه شرف الدین ابوعلی قلندر قدس الله سره العزیز. یکصد و چهل و هشت مکتوب تحریر نموده.

The title is cited on folio 1r as the Kursī-nāmah of Ḥaz̤rat Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn Bū ʻAlī Qalandar.

Folio 172 seems to be the final page, the passage on folio 172 has been added later, by a different hand, writing in a hurry to complete the book, suggesting that it was not complete at the end. A short note on f. 172r states that the book contains 170 folios.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: ff. ii+172+iii

Dimensions (leaf): 225 × 160 mm.

Dimensions (written): 168 × 90 mm.

Foliation:

India Office stamped foliation. Persian foliation on some pages, sometimes not matching the stamped one.

Collation

Catchwords.

Condition

Some folios damaged. Slightly worm-eaten. Gauzed, remargined and rebound by the India Office Library in 1935.

Layout

19 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Naskh; copied in black ink, with headings and overlinings in red.

Additions:

F. 1r contains the author Sharaf al-Dīn's genealogy, going back 14 generations.

F. 172 has added verses on both sides.

Binding

Half-leather red India Office binding stamped 21 October 1935.

Seal(s):

Unusual partially legible circular seal in Arabic script consisting of a 4-lined central square with writing round the edge (f. 1r).

Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp (ff. 1r, 171v, 172r).

History

Origin: Undated, probably 16th century; India

Provenance and Acquisition

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859.

Acquired by the India Office Library as an administrative deposit 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 E207/2, f. 9r and R. Levy's description in teh same work, Mss Eur E207/13, f. 77r. Revised bySheida 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.

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