Persian MS 890 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: The Ṭarab al-Majālis (Delight of Assemblies) by Ḥusayn ibn ʻĀlim Mīr Ḥusaynī Haravī (ca. 1272–1317), known as Mīr Fak̲h̲r al-Sādāt Ḥusaynī, a prose treatise on Sufism and ethics, partly in the form of counsels related by various animals and birds. It contains five sections (qism) subdivided into chapters (faṣl). Unsigned and undated, a note on folio 1a related how a woman from Kabul wrote it for a price of 15 Rupees by a student of one Mudarris Sayyid ‘Abd al-Raḥīm then gifted to the unnamed recipient.Title: Ṭarab al-MajālisTitle: طرب المجالسIncipit: (basmalla) برگ ۴پ (folio 4 b): حمد و ثناي مرخداي را جل جلاله و عم نواله آن صانعی که ذره خاک کثيف را از حضيض مرکز جهل طبيعت به نظر لطف دايره نقطه علم گردانيد آن مبدعی که قطره آب ضعيف را در قعر دریای طلمت بشریت بنور رحمت صدف دُر معرفت ساخت...Language(s): PersianPhysical Description
Form: codexSupport: Textblock of two types of thin-weight, straight-grained, externally sized and polished, natural buff, pink, pale peach, and blue-green tinted paper, probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent.Extent: 114 folios, 4 flyleaves (ff. ii + 114 + ii).Dimensions (leaf): 225 × 138 mm.Dimensions (written): 138 × 75 mm.Foliation: Modern pencilled Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides, inclusive of the original flyleaves, followed for this record.Collation
Undetermined. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.Condition
In fair condition, with moderate water and insect damage and historical repairs throughout.Layout
Written in 1 column with 15 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black naskh with red subheaders.
Decoration
Ruling: Text margins ruled with interior thin gold lines outlined with thin black single lines, surrounded by another gold line outlined with single black interior and double exterior lines, surrounded by single blue lines throughout. Horizontal section breaks ruled with thin gol outline with single black lines.
Binding
Probably bound in the
Edges trimmed, and chevron endbands of yellow and silver threads twined at head and tail.
Boards decorated with recessed scalloped mandorlas, detached pendants, and cornerpieces of paper blocked in gold.
227 × 141 × 26 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition with extensive losses to the exterior decoraton and abrasion on the surface.
Restored, probably for former owner Alexander Lindsay
Resewn at four stations. Comparatively stiff endpapers added to the beginning and end.Spine replaced with similar goatskin leather, and darlk red sheepskin leather hinges added to reconnect the textblock to the cover.
History
Origin: Probably completed in the Indian subcontinent; undated but possibly late 18th century CEProvenance and Acquisition
Previously owned by at least one person who describes receiving it as a gift from a student of one Mudarris Sayyis ‘Abd al-Raḥman on folio 1a.
Subsequently acquired from an unidentified source by Frederick Ayrton (1812–1873), who first served in the military in India, then as a civil engineer in Egypt, where he ultimately became Secretary to the Khedive ‘Abbas Pasha and later a British consular officer.
After Ayrton's death in 1874, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) obtained and sold some of his oriental manuscripts including this volume for £150 to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) and sent it to the Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (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, Manchester.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s, concisely published as Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2025 with reference to the volume in hand.
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.
Bibliography
M. Dirāyatī and M. Dirāyatī, Fihristgān: Nuskhahʹhā-yi Khaṭṭī-i Īrān (FANKHĀ) (Union catalogue of Iran manuscripts), Vol. 4 (Tehran: Sāzmān-i Asnād va Kitābkhānah-i Millī-i Jumhūrī-i Islāmī-i Īrān, 1391 S. H. [2012–13 CE]), pp. 155–158 [Mashhad Maybudī MS no. 137, &c.].Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
Subjects
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