Persian MS 676 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

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Persian Manuscripts

Contents

Summary of Contents: The manuscript contains Ḥirz al-amān (ff. 1r - 102r), by ʻAlī ibn Ḥusayn al-Vaiz al-Kāshifī 1463-1532 or 1533; a work, extracted from other works, on charms and amulets, on the talismanic virtues and esoteric meaning of various sacred names, verses and some mysterious letters of the alphabet in the Qur‘ān: رساله لیست کثیر الفواید مشتمل بر خواص وآثار حروف مقطعۀ قرآنی و اسماء حسنی رباتی و سور و آیات قرآنی که از نفایس علوم خفیه است ; divided into five maqālah مقاله each subdivided into five bāb باب and each bāb divided into 12 faṣl فصل . Appended is a tract (ff. 102r - 124r) upon the influences of Quranic letters and verses, mysterious practices, etc., incorporated with talismanic tables.
1.
Author: Ṣafī, ʻAlī ibn Ḥusayn Kāshifī 1463-1532 or 1533 صفى، على بن حسين كاشفى
Title: Ḥirz al-amān
Title: Ḥirz al-amān min fitan al-zamān
Title: حرز الامان
Title: حرز الامان من فتن الزمان
Language(s): Persian
1b
Title: مقاله اول در بیان صفات و خواص حروف و ذکر و شرایط و آداب عامه و خاصه که رعایت آن در اعمال این کتاب لازم است
23a
Title: مقاله ثانیه در خواص حروف ثمانیه و عشرون
44b
Title: مقاله ثالثیه در خواص اسمای حسنی الهی
72a
Title: مقاله اربعه در خواص آیات قرآنی
88b
Title: مقاله خامسه در خواص سور قرآنی
2. 102a-124b
Title: a tract upon the influences of Quranic letters and verses, mysterious practices, etc.,
Incipit: فصل در ایجاد محبت تمام در نفوس کافه انام ار خواص و عوام
Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 124 folios, 4 fly leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 149 × 295 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Layout

23 lines to the page, Table of contents.

Hand(s)

black ink, rubrics in red, rather negligently copied in plain Indian style nasta‘līq mixed with shikastah

Additions:
  • 124v Ownership marks ناسخ هر مهر شد چون 1230 شد مزین بر کتاب, خاتم امجد علی شاه زمان عالیجناب
  • fly leaf Title and author's name بیاض المسمی بحرزالامان مشتمل بر خواص آیات قرآنی و تعویذات من تألیف علی ابن الحسین الواعظ الکاشفی
  • inside cover Bookplates Bibilotheca Lindesiana
  • inside cover Bookplates Hamilton MSS No. 593
Catchwords on every top page.

Binding

Bound at the top end

Condition

Wormholes
Seal(s):

Folio 124b bears a vermilion rectangular seal impression, intaglio-carved in nasta‘līq script in two stacked lines and surmounted by the royal emblem of Awadh, of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1801, r. 1842–1847) dated 1260 AH (1844–45 CE):

‘ ناسخ هر مهر شد چون شد مزین بر کتاب * خاتم امجد علی شاه زمان عالیجناب، ١٢٦٠ ’

‘Nāsukh har muhur shud chun shud muzayyin bar kitāb; khātim-i Amjad ‘Alī Shāh zamān-i ‘Ālījanāb, 1260’ (‘Every [prior] seal became cancelled since the book became embellished by the seal of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh in the era of his Sublime Majesty, 1260 AH [1844–45 CE]’).

53 × 45 mm.

History

Origin: Probably completed in the the Indian subcontinent; undated, but likely 18th century.

Provenance and Acquisition

Subsequently acquired by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) who served in India from 1823 to 1867, latterly as Commissioner in Delhi. He acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts from which the British Museum selected 352 after his death, now held in the British Library.

Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880), purchased the remainder in 1868.

Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).

Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library.

Record Sources

Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s and his Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.

Manuscript description completed by James White in 2017.

Subsequently amended and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to the volume.

Availability

To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.

Funding of Cataloguing

Iran Heritage Foundation

The John Rylands Research Institute

Subjects

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