Delhi Persian 1136 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Muntakhab-i maktūbāt by ʻAbd Allah Quṭb

Summary of Contents: A collection of letters on spiritual matters by ʻAbd Allah Quṭb ibn Muḥyī al-Dīn. The present copy is preceded (ff. 1-18) by a numbered list of the contents of the 282 letters, and an introduction in Arabic (ff. 19v-20r).

Author: ʻAbd Allah Quṭb عبد الله قطب

Title: Muntakhab-i maktūbāt

Title: منتخب مکتوبات

Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم. ایها الاخوان اتقو الله حق تقاته و لا تموتن الا و انتم مسلمون الخ.

Explicit: یقین دانید که اسبان را زین کرده و عزم اجلاء شما را دارد مردانه باشید و پای دارید و از جا مروید، خدا شمای را یاری کناد و بر مقاومت شیاطین قوت بخشاد. حسبنا الله و نعم الوکیل.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: ff. iii+140+iii

Dimensions (leaf): 221 × 170 mm.

Dimensions (written): 150 × 90 mm.

Foliation:

India Office stamped foliation. Persian foliation starting at folio 20, not matching the stamped one.

Collation

Catchwords.

Condition

Damp-stained. Remargined and rebound by the India Office in 1936.

Layout

15 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Nastaʻlīq; copied in black ink. Headings in red.

Additions:

The letter numbers are given in the margins in red.

Verses in Persian added on both sides of folio ii.

Folio 1r contains verses of the Quran, two seals of former owners, one of which is accompanied by a note stating that the owner, Muḥammad Salām, bought the manuscript as his portion (ḥissah) from his father, Fatḥ ʻAlī. Another note gives a valuation of 1 rupee.

Folio 139r contains prayers for different situations, and 139v contains verses in Persian and Urdu.

Folio 140 contains a religious passage and verses on both sides.

Binding

Half-leather red India Office binding of 1936.

Seal(s):

Black circular seal reading … Muḥammad Khān, fidvī-i Muḥammad Farrukh Sīyar Pādshāh Ghāzī sanah 2, 1125 (1713-14 CE) (f. 1r).

Erased partially legible black circular seal, possibly reading Sayyid Muḥammad Salām, fidvī-i Muḥammad Shāh Pādshāh Ghāzī sanah 11, 1141 (1728-9 CE) (f. 1r).

Black erased oval seal (f. 1r).

Black Government of India Delhi MSS stamp (ff. 1r, 138v).

History

Origin: Undated. Probably early 18th century; India.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by ... Muḥammad Khān, an official of Muḥammad Farrukh Sīyar.

Acquired by Muḥammad Salām ibn Fatḥ ʻAlī, an official of Muḥammad Shāh from Fatḥ ʻAlī.

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 E207/3, f. 13r and R. Levy's description in the same work, Mss Eur E207/13, f. 85r. 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.

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