Wadh.Minasian 635 (The Ferdowsi Library, Wadham College, University of Oxford)

Oriental Manuscripts Minasian Collection

Summary of Contents: Following the hadith quoted from the Prophet of Islam (S) saying "Whoever retaining 40 of our hadiths for the nation...", many religious scholars have used to collect and compile forty hadiths in an independent work. Such works are usually untitled and known as Forty Hadiths, or al-Arbaʿūn, or Arbaʿūn Ḥadis̱a based on their content, including the present work whose author is not known due to the missing of the copy's opening and ending folios. The first chapter of this copy, as appears, is من عرف امامه لم یضره تقدم هذا الامر او تاخر (f. 8). The following chapter is ما جاء عبدالمطلب و ابی طالب رض الله عنهما (f. 11), and then the chapter called ما جاء رسول الله (f. 13). The last chapter is باب الاربعون مما روی من حدیث ذی القرنین which is on the very last folio.

Language(s): Arabic

Hadith

Author: ‏ ‏ Unknown

Title: al-Arbaʿīn

Title: الاربعین

Incipit: ||… العمری رضی الله عنه فلما مات عثمن اوصی الی ابنه ابی جعفر محمد بن عثمن و اوصی ابو جعفر…

Explicit: … کیف استطاع ان یبلغ المشرق و المغرب قال سخرالله له السحاب و مد له فی الاسباب…||

Colophon: None.

References

Sequence Number in the Persian Catalogue:

FAW 55

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Oriental paper, plain and dark buff, varying thickness (thin, regular and thick), glossy. ⟨Water damage on papers. The last four folios have been newly written.⟩

Extent: 59 ff.

Dimensions (leaf): 24 × 17.5 cm.

Dimensions (written): 16 × 9 cm.

Layout

21 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Naskh, fairly large hand, several hands. Anonymous

Decoration

Rubricated titles and signs.

Additions: Rectangular stamp: المذنب… Oval stamp: بندهٔ آل محمد رضا

Binding

Black leather, 18 × 25 cm, front + back cover, leather + pasteboard.

Simple tooling (medallion and two half-medallion); ruled, tooled edges.

Condition

Water damage; damage to the cover's back bone; damage to the cover's decoration. Cover detached from the copy.

History

Origin: 10th-11th century AH; 16th-17th century CE ; Unknown place of origin

Provenance and Acquisition

Donated to The Ferdowsi Library by Dr Caro Minasian in 1972.

Record Sources

This record was created by Dr Mohammad Emami based on the information published in the Persian catalogue by Dr Ali Mir-Ansari (Catalogue of the Persian and Arabic Manuscripts in the Ferdowsi Library, Wadham College, University of Oxford (Minasian Collection), Tehran: Miras-e Maktoob, 2016).

Availability

Entry to the Library is permitted upon presentation of a valid university ID card (for admissions procedures, please visit Wadham College Library, Persian Studies Section). Please Contact persian.library@wadham.ox.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript.

Key to bibliographical abbreviations of alternative versions:

Libraries:

AQR: Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi; FAW: Ferdowsi Library, Wadham College, University of Oxford (Minasian Collection); GIE: Great Islamic Encyclopedia Library, Manuscripts; GIP: Great Islamic Encyclopedia Library, Photographed and Microfilmed Manuscripts; GUL: Library of Ayatollah Gulpayigani; MAJ: Library, Museum and Documentation Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly; MAL: Malek National Museum and Library; MNL: Mar'ashi Najafi Library; NLI: National Library of Iran; SEP: Sepahsalar (Shahid Motahari) Mosque and School of Tehran; TCL: Tabriz Central Public Library; UTL: Central Library of University of Tehran;

Catalogues:

ALZ: الذریعه; ARP: فهرست کتاب‌های چاپی عربی; COM: فهرست مشترک نسخه‌های خطی فارسی; DEN: فهرستواره دست‌نوشته‌های ایران (دنا); FAM: فهرست نسخه‌های خطی فارسی; FAP: فهرست کتاب‌های چاپی فارسی; FIH: فهرستواره کتاب‌های فارسی; KAS: کشف الظنون عن اسامی الکتب و الفنون; RAY: ریحانة الادب فی تراجمِ المعروفین بالکنیة او اللّقب; TAB: طبقات اعلام الشیعه.

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World