IO Islamic 4581 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

1 copy of Mūsh va gurbah by Muḥammad Muḥsin b. Muḥammad Ḥusain Iṣfahānī "Shāʼiq"

Author: Muḥammad Muḥsin b. Muḥammad Ḥusain Iṣfahānī "Shāʼiq" محمد محسن بن محمد حسین اصفهانی "شائخ"

Incipit: شکر و سپاس بی قیاس واجب الوجور درا ... اما بعد چنین گوید احقر عباد الله محمد محسن ابن حمحد حسین اصفهانی المتخاص باشایق غفر الله ذنوبه که هر کسی از مشاهیر مورٌ خان الخ

A copy, probably unique, and written by the author himself, of a mas̲navī poem on the fable of the Cat and the Mouse

The author in a long preface (foll. 1-6) statesthat he composed the poem in the year 1244, and dedicates it to Fath ʻAlī Shāh Qājār, فتح على شاه قاجار (reigned 1211 - 1250).

Language(s): Persian

References

For a more detailed description see Arberry 1939, pages 370-1.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 80 ff

Dimensions (leaf): 7.9 × 6.2 in.

Dimensions (written): 5.8 × 3.7 in.

Hand(s)

Cursive Persian nastaʻtīq

Decoration

Very crude and rather comic miniatures

Additions:

The manuscript is autograph

Binding

Poor leather binding

History

Origin: 19 Jumada I, 1244 AH

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on A. J. Arberry: Hand-List of Islamic Manuscripts acquired by the India Office Library, 1936–8. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (New Series) (1939), 71: pp 353-396

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.

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World