[al-Qurʼān, 9th century].

Fragment from an early ʿAbbāsid Qur’ān carrying Sūrat al-Nisāʼ (4) middle of verse 87 through middle of verse 112 and final words of verse 170 through final words of Sūrat al-Māʼidah (5) verse 9 (4:87-112 ; 4:170-5:9).Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; script and ornament would suggest 9th century. Verse count of 123 provided in illuminated heading for Sūrat al-Māʼidah suggests a connection with the tradition of Qurʼānic transcription associated with al-Baṣrah (Iraq) via reports of the verse count for the "Baṣran codex" (al-Muṣḥaf al-Baṣrī), cf. such a report "وهي مئة وعشرون آية في الكوفي وعشرون وآيتان في المدنيين والمكي والشامي وعشرون وثلاث في البصري" in al-Dānī's (d.1053) al-Bayān fī ʻadd āy al-Qurʾān (Ed. Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad, al-Kuywat: Markaz al-Makhṭūṭāt wa-al-Turāth wa-al-Wathāʾiq, 1994, p.149).Former shelfmark: Isl. Ms. 162Support: Parchment ; some abrasion, losses of ink and pigment, occasionally resupplied by later hands.Decoration: Illuminated medallions / roundels of Déroche style 2' A.II (incorporating dark green and red as well as gold and outline in black) mark ten verses ; illuminated hāʼ (abjad numerals 5) marks five verses ; illuminated sūrah heading for Sūrat al-Māʼidah, "المائدة مائة وعشرون وثلاث ايات" chrysographed.Script: Kufic or Early ʻAbbāsid script of Déroche style D.I (see Déroche, The Abbasid tradition, p.36-37 and George, The Rise of Islamic calligraphy, p.91) ; short vowels provided in the form of red discs ; in a few rare instances small strokes have been provided in a similar brown ink to indicate one or two dots ; other pointing in grayish black ink supplied later.Layout: Written in 7 lines per page.Collation: V: H1-2F S H3-4F H5-6F S H7-8F S H9-10F S / F11-12H S F13-14H F15-16H S F17-18H F19-20H, V: H21-22F S H23-24F H25-26F S H17-28F H29-30F / F31-32H S F33-34H F35-36H S F37-38H F39-40H ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during cataloguing.Ms. fragment.(quire 2, pp.21-40) Sūrat al-Nisāʼ (4) final words of verse 170 through final words of Sūrat al-Māʼidah (5) verse 9 (4:170-5:9)(quire 1, pp.1-20) Sūrat al-Nisāʼ (4) middle of verse 87 through middle of verse 112 (4:87-112)al-Dānī al-Andalusī, Abī ʻAmr ʻUthmān ibn Saʻīd. al-Bayān fī ʻadd āy al-Qurʾān, Ed. Ghānim Qaddūrī al-Ḥamad (al-Kuywat: Markaz al-Makhṭūṭāt wa-al-Turāth wa-al-Wathāʾiq, 1994),Whelan, Estelle. "Writing the word of God: some early Qurʼān manuscripts and their milieux, part I." Ars Orientalis 20, (1990):George, Alain. The Rise of Islamic calligraphy. London: Saqi, 2010.Déroche, François. The Abbasid tradition : Qurʼans of the 8th to the 10th centuries AD. The Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art, v. 1. New York : Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, c1992.Déroche, François. Les manuscrits du coran. Aux origines de la calligraphie coranique. Catalogue des manuscrits arabes. Deuxième partie: manuscrits musulmans, Tome I, 1. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1983.Islamic art from Michigan collections. Carol G. Fisher and Alan Fisher, Eds. (East Lansing, MI, 1982),Fragment from an early ʿAbbāsid Qur’ān carrying Sūrat al-Nisāʼ (4) middle of verse 87 through middle of verse 112 and final words of verse 170 through final words of Sūrat al-Māʼidah (5) verse 9 (4:87-112 ; 4:170-5:9).Mode of access: Internet.AnonymousPurchased in Cairo, 1924. Once part of the personal manuscript collection of Sultan Abdülhamid II of Turkey [per R. Dougherty]. Originally housed with 23 loose leaves damaged by fire (Isl. Ms. 162 b)

Fa-innī lammā faraghtu ʻan taṣḥīḥ al-mukhtaṣar al-muʾallaf fī ʻilm al-farāʾiḍ al-mansūb ilá ... Sirāj al-Dīn al-Sijāwandī ... : manuscript,[1580].

On the laws of inheritance and descent (ʻilm al-farāʾiḍ).On p. [1], illuminated ʻunwān; text rubricated with overlining in gold; enclosed in gold borders; pages dyed pink (?); marginal commentary in hand of copyist.Date and copyist's name in colophon: waqaʻa al-farāgh min kitābatihi ... ʻalá yad al-faqīr ... ʻAbd al-Karīm ... fī yawm al-sādis wa-al-ʻishrīn min shahr Jumādá al-awwal ... min shuhūr sanat thamān wa-thamānīn wa-tisʻumiʾah [i.e. 9 July 1580].On the laws of inheritance and descent (ʻilm al-farāʾiḍ).Mode of access: Internet.AnonymousPurchased in Cairo, 1924. Once part of the personal manuscript collection of Sultan Abdülhamid II of Turkey

[Majmūʻah shiʻrīyah, 15th and 16th century?].

Elegant selection of poetry, from the Dīvān attributed to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600-661), the Dīvān of Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 1235), etc.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 426Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; decoration, etc. of written area suggests 15th century transcription, possibly remounted in the 16th century (as suggested by paper).Former shelfmark: "321 T. De M." [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis] inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf ; "220" inscribed in pencil on 'title page'.Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark maroon leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in seafoam green textured paper (with embossed ridges) ; upper and lower covers carry stamped mandorla (filled with vegetal composition, compare Déroche NSd 7) with gold-painted accents and border ; sewn in bright magenta thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in dark pink and yellow, fair condition ; overall in somewhat poor condition with abrasion, staining, lifting of leather at fore edge flap, etc.Support: non-European laid paper of two different types ; two columns of written area in a beige to light brown paper mounted on leaves of a creamy, quite sturdy paper with roughly 7 laid lines per cm. (vertical, fairly distinct) and chain lines grouped in threes (horizontal, curving) with 12-16 mm. between chains and 31-44 mm. between groups, transluscent, crisp, highly sized and burnished.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece at opening consisting of rectangular piece with cartouche (carrying "الحمد لوليه" in white) surrounded by exquisite arabesques in gold and turquoise on a lapis lazuli ground and bordered in bands of gold and white, surmounted by a row of fine arabesques (in gold, white, etc.) on a lapis lazuli ground ; written area (and divisions within) surrounded by a gold frame ; illuminated floral vegetal accents appear often in the free triangular spaces of the written area ; keywords rubricated ; textual dividers in the form of four dots in red.Script: Naskh ; elegant Persianate hand in a bold line ; partially but irregularly seriffed, curvilinear descenders, many open counters, fully vocalized.Layout: Written area divided to two columns with 6-9 lines per column (mainly a hemistich to a line) often on the diagonal, per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, V*(10), VI (22), V (32), I (34), i (*opening two leaves pasted together) ; almost exclusively quinions ; foliation in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals (begins with leaf following incipit page).Explicit: "لعمرك ما شربت الراح جهلا ولكن بالادلة والفتاوي واني مرضت بداءهم فاشربها حلالا للتداوي وصرت موسى زماني مذ صار بعضي كلي انا الكئيب المعني رقوا لحالي وذلي والحمد لله رب العالمين"Incipit: "الحمد لمن عز ومن جل جلالا لا يصلح الا لتعالته تعالى حي ازلي احد ذات قديم رب صمدي سبق الكل كمالا ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Elegant selection of poetry, from the Dīvān attributed to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600-661), the Dīvān of Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 1235), etc.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Effaced seal impression and statement on 'title page' ; fairly clean copy

Kitāb sharḥ al-mawāqif : manuscript, [1454].

"al-Mawāqif fī ʻilm al-kalām, a theological work, by ʻAḍud al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ījī with running commentary by some unnamed person. Many commentaries exist." Cataloging by William Hoyt Worrell, 1925.On p. [10], illuminated ʻunwān; text rubricated and enclosed in gold borders; marginal commentaries in hand of copyist; on pp. [5-8], table of contents supplied in another hand; vol. has edge title.Dates of composition and copying, provenances, and copyist's name in colophon: waqaʻa al-farāgh min taʼlīfihi yawm al-sabt qarīb al-ʻaṣr min awāʼil Shawwāl sanat sabaʻ wa-thamānīmiʼah [i.e. April 1405] ...[?]... Samarqand ... wa-qad waqaʻa al-farāgh min tanmīqihi qurb al-ḍuḥá min thalath ʻashar al-Ṣafar ... sanat thamān wa-khamsīn wa-thamānimiʼah [i.e. 12 February 1454] fī baladat Shīrāz ... ʻalá yad ... Muḥamamd ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭ[?]."al-Mawāqif fī ʻilm al-kalām, a theological work, by ʻAḍud al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ījī with running commentary by some unnamed person. Many commentaries exist." Cataloging by William Hoyt Worrell, 1925.Mode of access: Internet.AnonymousPurchased in Cairo, 1924. Owners' marks: on pp. [1-3], lines of poetry; on p. [3], date: 1253 [i.e. 1837 or 8]. Once part of the personal manuscript collection of Sultan Abdülhamid II of Turkey

[Defter, ca. 1026, i.e. 1617].

Elegant copy of what appears to be a record book of the Niqābat al-Ashrāf (office of nakibüleşraf or nakıbü'l-eşraflık) with each entry after the first (which is for al-Shaykh al-Sayyid Maḥmūd Afandī al-Uskudārī / Şeyh Mahmut Efendi Üsküdarî, d.1626) numbered and signed "شهود الحال خدام مجلس النقابة." Entries are followed by a poem in praise of the Prophet in Ottoman Turkish. Identification and contributions to the description provided by Ahmad Nazir Atassi. "Each entry is an attestation in front of prominent witnesses that a certain person has proven to be a sharīf by a document he produced that was signed by some previous Naqīb al-Ashrāf and that testifies the sharīfian rank of one of his ancestors." - from description provided by Ahmad Nazir Atassi.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, Isl. Ms. 214Origin: Final record entries dated Ṣafar 1026 [February-March 1617] ; copy likely executed just after.Former shelfmark: "537 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro de Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in shell marbled paper (in shades of lavender, brown, etc.) with spine in gray leather ; Type III binding (without flap) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in coated, green surface-dyed wove paper ; sewn in red thread, six stations ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion, staining, lifting and losses of paper, etc.Support: non-European laid paper with 8 laid lines per cm. (horizontal or vertical, fairly indistinct), cloudy formation, thin and transluscent though sturdy, burnished.Decoration: Superb illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on p.2 consisting of large rectangular piece with empty gold cartouche surrounded by arabesques and floral motifs in gold with pink and red accents on a field of bright blue (cobalt), bordered in a band of red with white crosses and surmounted by a scalloped dome or triangular piece filled with similar vegetal decoration also on grounds of gold and blue, all set in a well of gold bands and surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue ; second illuminated headpiece (rectangular with empty gold cartouche and delicate floral designs in white, pink, light blue, gold, etc.) on at opening of main text following preface on p.4 ; written area surrounded by gold frame ; textual dividers in the form of gold rosettes ; some keywords and headings chrysographed or overline in gold, others rubricated or in white ink ; marginal decorations in the form of roundels setting off seal impressions (on the rectos of many folia see pp.2-3, 5, 7, 9) with gold and blue borders and vertical stalks, or carrying invocation "نحمد الله على نعمائه الجميلة وعلى آلائه الجليلة وعلى الطافه الجزيلة حمدا دائما كثيرا" (p.4) or vegetal designs (see pp.6, 8, 10, i.e. on the versos of those same folia, filling the outline of the roundel bordering the seal impression on the recto) .Script: Nastaʻlīq (talik) ; exquisite Turkish / Ottoman hand in a medium line ; serifless with effect of inclination to the right, gentle descent of words to baseline, elongation of horizontal strokes, pointing mainly in strokes or conjoined dots.Layout: Written in 29-30 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, II (4), I+1 (7), i ; catchwords present (though now obscured in some places) ; pagination in Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Explicit: "أن الشريف جليل ابن صلبي للشريف سيدى [؟] ابن الشريف مصطفى ابن الشريفة سلام من النسب الطاهر وذلك بعد أن أبرز حجة دالة على شرف جده وهو الشريف مصطفى ... معنونة بعنوان النقباء السالفين"Incipit: "الحمد لله الذي خلق من الماء بشرا فجعله نسبا وصهرا وربى شجرة هذا النسب بمياه الحسب والادب والتقوى وجعل أصلها آدم الصفي الذي اجتباه ربه وهدى وأطلع ثمرتها النامية السامية في غصنها الاعلى سيد الورى فصارت كشجرة طيبة أصلها ثابت وفرعها في السما ... وبعد فالسبب الداعي إلى تحرير هذه النميقة الأنيقة والوثيقة الوثيقة هو أنه قد تبين وبهر وتعين وظهر وكالشمس في رابعة النهار اشتهر باخبار العالم العامل الرباني خادم الشرع الشريف الصمداني ... شيخ الاسلام ... مولانا اسعد افندي ... ابن المولى المرحوم ... مولانا سعد الدين ... أن شيخي ومولاي ... الشيخ السيد محمود افندى الاسكدارى ... من النسب الطاهر وسيادته بين الأنام بين وظاهر ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.3. p.12-p.14 : Nat-i Hazret-i Server-i Kainat ve Müfahhar-i mevcudat2. p.11 : [blank].1. p.2-p.10 : [records of the office of nakibüleşraf].Elegant copy of what appears to be a record book of the Niqābat al-Ashrāf (office of nakibüleşraf or nakıbü'l-eşraflık) with each entry after the first (which is for al-Shaykh al-Sayyid Maḥmūd Afandī al-Uskudārī / Şeyh Mahmut Efendi Üsküdarî, d.1626) numbered and signed "شهود الحال خدام مجلس النقابة." Entries are followed by a poem in praise of the Prophet in Ottoman Turkish. Identification and contributions to the description provided by Ahmad Nazir Atassi. "Each entry is an attestation in front of prominent witnesses that a certain person has proven to be a sharīf by a document he produced that was signed by some previous Naqīb al-Ashrāf and that testifies the sharīfian rank of one of his ancestors." - from description provided by Ahmad Nazir Atassi.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Inscription in pencil on verso of front flyleaf "537 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro de Marinis]" ; large, circular seal impression repeated in outer margins throughout (pp.2-3, 5, 7, 9), dated 1025 [1616 or 17] with inscription "غبار خاک راهت میر قاسم ..." ; each attested entry marked with "كورلمشدر" (görülmişdir) in the margin

[Münşeat, early to mid 19th century].

Elegant copy of a collection of correspondence in Ottoman Turkish. Identification and detailed description of contents provided by András Riedlmayer via the "Collaboration in cataloging: Islamic manuscripts at Michigan" project. "This appears to be a collection of models of correspondence, written in Ottoman Turkish, with samples of various categories of letters that show the proper forms of address and formulation of such a letter demanded by protocol according to the occasion and the status of the writer and the recipient." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 427Origin: Lacks dated colophon. "According to the caption, the sixth letter in this compendium (pp. 6-9) is a letter addressed to Hurşid Paşa, the beylerbeyi (governor-general) of Rumelia, by the Grand Vizier Yusuf Ziya Paşa. Yusuf Ziya Paşa was grand vizier twice (1798-1808, 1809-1811). There was also a Hurşid Ahmed Paşa who served as the governor-general of Rumelia during the same period (1807-1813), who is the likely recipient. The provides a terminus post quem for this collection of letters, even if it doesn’t necessarily tell us when it was compiled." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer. Sultan Mahmut II (r.1808-1839) is also mentioned at close on p.243, further elaborating the rough terminus post quem. Considering decoration, paper, hand, etc. in light of these details suggests early to mid 19th century, likely 1830s or 1840s.Former shelfmark: "27 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in red-brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings and flyleaves in pink surface-dyed and gold-flecked laid paper ; upper and lower covers carry elegant tooled and gold-painted floral spray with tooled rosette accents as cornerpieces and border with guilloché roll flanked by fillets, all in gold ; sewn in dark pink thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pale yellow and pink, fairly good condition ; overall in fairly good condition with minor abrasion, staining, lifting of leather, etc.Support: European laid paper of several types ; opening type with 10-11 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 30-32 mm. apart (vertical) and watermark of scrollwork / floral form on pedestal resembling a vase (see p.6, 20, etc.) ; another type with 9 laid lines per cm. (horizontal or vertical), chain lines spaced 25-27 mm. (vertical or horizontal) and watermark of lion passant guardant (see p.44, 58, 72, etc.) ; another type with roughly 10 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 28 mm. apart (vertical) and watermarks of "GFA" below eagle (p.262, etc.) and lion rampant in shield / arms with crown above (see p.250, 264, etc. and compare nos. 1104a and 1104b dated 1844 in Nikolaev, Watermarks of the Ottoman Empire, volume 1) ; all sturdy, fairly thick though transluscent, and quite well-sized and burnished to glossy.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening of first section on p.2 consisting of a rectangular piece with cartouche carrying title (for the first letter in the compendium, خرقة شریف تذکره سی) in red flanked by vegetal or plume accents in blue-green on fields of gold, surmounted by scalloped triangular-shaped piece or dome with central floral spray in shades of pink, purple and green surrounded by plume or vegetal designs in shades of blue, purple, pink and white on a gold, partially stippled ground, itself surmounted by five floral bouquets at the apices of the scallops ; illuminated headpiece of similar design (a kind of scalloped triangular-shaped piece or dome with plumes and floral motifs in shades of pink, purple, blue, green, and white on a stippled gold ground) at opening of next section on p.22 ; additional rectangular headpieces appear at the openings of the other sections ; text of written area surrounded by gold frame ; section headings rubricated (through p.214) ; occasional textual dividers in the form of gold rosettes.Script: Naskh ; mainly a clear, compact Turkish / Ottoman hand in a medium line ; partially but irregularly seriffed with right-sloping head-serif on occasional lam, curvilinear descenders, open and closed counters, free assimilation of letters, pointing mainly in strokes rather than distinct dots, hamzah on final hāʼ and occasional hamzah ʻalá nabrah mainly in separate strokes resembling two dots (similar to the copyists rendering of tāʼ marbūṭah) ; closing section (pp. 249-285) hand slightly different with additional serifs, and some sweeping descenders, though could have been executed by the same copyist.Layout: Written mainly in 21 lines per page ; frame-ruled ; final section (pp. 249-285) in roughly 17 lines per page.Collation: i, 10 V(100), II+3 (107), V (117), III (123), 2 V(143), i ; pp.17-21 ruled but left blank ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Incipit: "بسملة فاتحة خلقت خاتمة رسالة ختمیت شرف افزای خلعت نبوت زیورارای دوای رسالت ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.5. p.248-p.285 : [what appears to be further copies of official letters].4. p.244-p.247 : [left blank, apart from excerpts on p.245].3. p.22-p.243 : [collection of letters addressed to various individuals (typically named in the rubricated headings)].2. p.17-p.21 : [left blank].1. p.2-p.16: "The first four letters in this codex (pp. 2-3; p. 3; pp. 3-4; pp. 4-5) are model letters captioned "Hırka-ı Şerīf Tezkiresi" (Letter [of invitation to visit] the Mantle of the Prophet Muhammad). The fifth letter (p. 5-6) is captioned "Mevlid-i Şerīf da’vetini mutazammın tezkire" (Letter containing an invitation to [attend] a ceremonial recitation of the Mevlid [ode in praise of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, composed by Süleyman Çelebi]. The first five letters do not appear to include any dates or names of individuals...According to the caption, the sixth letter in this compendium (pp. 6-9) is a letter addressed to Hurşid Paşa, the beylerbeyi (governor-general) of Rumelia, by the Grand Vizier Yusuf Ziya Paşa...The seventh sample (pp. 9-11) is a letter appointing the recipient to the ceremonial post of sweeper (ferrāş) of the tomb of the Prophet in Medina.The eighth sample (pp. 11-12) is a letter of reprimand addressed to an unnamed transgressor." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer.Nikolaev, Vsevolod. Watermarks of the mediaeval Ottoman documents in Bulgarian libraries. In Watermarks of the Ottoman Empire, volume 1. (Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1954):Elegant copy of a collection of correspondence in Ottoman Turkish. Identification and detailed description of contents provided by András Riedlmayer via the "Collaboration in cataloging: Islamic manuscripts at Michigan" project. "This appears to be a collection of models of correspondence, written in Ottoman Turkish, with samples of various categories of letters that show the proper forms of address and formulation of such a letter demanded by protocol according to the occasion and the status of the writer and the recipient." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Marginal corrections on pp.76, 125, 147, and 187, otherwise fairly clean copy

Bukhārī-yi sharīf : manuscript, [between 1567 and 1568].

Commentary by an unidentified author on the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī, a collection of traditions of the prophet Muḥammad.Title from spine.Text rubricated and enclosed in borders of gold, blue, and red; extensive marginal commentary throughout; illumination on pp. [1-2]; substantial damage to pages with some repairs; purple silk bookmark; unusual leather and velvet binding (late 19th- early 20th cent.?); marbled edges.Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥusayn....Dates of copying and copyist's name in colophon: (Arabic and Persian) tamma ... min yad ʻabd al-ḍaʻīf ... Shāh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥusayn Zīrbāʾī ... rūz-i jumʻah māh-i Shawwāl vaqt-i ẓuhr sanat khams fa-sabʻīn fa-tisʻumiʾah [i.e. March-April 1568] ... [in margin] nuqilat min nuskhah nuqilat min nuskhat walad al-muʾallif ... wa-kāna naskh al-kitāb ... fī yawm al-aḥad wa-al-sābiʻ min Jumād al-awwal sanat khams wa-sabʻīn wa-tisʻumiʾah [i.e. 9 November 1567] ʻalá yad afqar ShāhFor the Ṣaḥīḥ itself, see Mich. Isl. Ms. 183.Commentary by an unidentified author on the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī, a collection of traditions of the prophet Muḥammad.Mode of access: Internet.AnonymousPurchased in Cairo, 1924. Once part of the personal manuscript collection of Sultan Abdülhamid II of Turkey

Sūrat al-anʻām : manuscript, [17th century?].

Contains sūrah 6 of the Koran, al-Anʻām (The Cattle).Illuminated ʻunwān and marginal rosettes on pp. [1-2]; verse endings marked with large gold dots; on p. [46], gold foliate decoration marks end of text and beginning of colophon; text enclosed in gold gorders; copyist's name on p. [46]: katabahu al-faqīr ... al-sayyid ʻAbd Allāh [i.e. Seyyid Abdullah Enam-i-Şerif, according to Muhittin Serin, note on catalog card in repository, April 1993]....Contains sūrah 6 of the Koran, al-Anʻām (The Cattle).Mode of access: Internet.AnonymousPurchased in Cairo, 1924. Once part of the personal manuscript collection of Sultan Abdülhamid II of Turkey

Qāla rasūl Allāh ṣallá Allāh ʻalayhi wa-sallam ... taʻallamū al-nās al-farāʾiḍ : manuscript,[1584].

On the laws of descent and inheritance (ʻilm al-farāʾiḍ).Contains tables explaining inheritance portions.On p. [2], illuminated ʻunwān; text rubricated; marginal notes in hand of copyist.Date in colophon: waqaʻa al-farāgh min taḥrīr hādhihi al-nuskhah al-sharīfah fī rābiʻ Shawwāl al-mukarram min shuhūr sanat 992 [i.e. 9 October 1584].On the laws of descent and inheritance (ʻilm al-farāʾiḍ).Mode of access: Internet.AnonymousPurchased in Cairo, 1924. Once part of the personal manuscript collection of Sultan Abdülhamid II of Turkey

[Māhʻmunīr va Khūbʻchihrah, 18th century?].

Elegant though incomplete copy of what Pasha Mohamad Khan has identified as "Story of the love of Māh-i Munīr son of ‘Arab-Shāh for Khūb-chihrah, merchant’s daughter" (cf. Punjab University Āẕar Collection, MS 16-S-8545G), extensively illustrated with many miniatures (see note on catalog card). Contributions to the transcription also from Pasha Mohamad Khan.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 360Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; G. Meredith-Owens (who also confirmed the identification) has proposed a date of late 18th century (see note on catalog card) as suggested by paper, painting style, etc.Accompanying material: Slip of wove paper with manuscript description in black ink in hand of G. Meredith-Owens, "The romance of Māh-munīr the son of King ʻArabshāh and Khūb-chihreh, daughter of the merchant Abū Naṣr. This tale seems to be otherwise unknown and is probably an Indian composition. Late 18th - early 19th century with contemporary illustrations in the Kashmiri style."Former shelfmark: "217 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on recto of front flyleaf.Binding: Heavy pasteoards faced in dark maroon leather with green-blue leather over spine and edges / turn-ins and turquoise leather (shagreen) over board corners (leather faced and edged framed binding) ; Type III binding (without flap) ; doublures in purple surface-dyed paper with central diamond shape ornament and pendants cut from gold textured paper and applied ; upper and lower covers carry stamped central ornament (diamond / floral shape) and pendants (with recessed onlays) and blind tooled border ; sewn in dark purple thread, two stations ; worked endbands in magenta and dark purple, good condition ; overall in somewhat poor condition with much abrasion, staining, lifting and losses of leather and pigment, covers detaching, severe spine slant (cocked), etc.Support: non-European (likely Indian) laid paper with 11 laid lines per cm. (horizontal, fairly distinct) and no chain lines visible, thin and transluscent though sturdy, well-burnished ; numerous fills and other repairs.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening consisting of small rectangular piece with gold cartouche carrying the basmalah flanked by floral motifs in pink, yellow, blue, and red on fields of dark blue, surmounted by tall scalloped w-shaped piece filled with delicate floral vegetal decoration in pink, red, orange, white, green, etc. on grounds of gold and dark blue with red and white vegetal accents, set in a well of black bands flanking a heavy gold band with floral motifs ; written area throughout surrounded by an elaborate vegetal border with floral motifs in green and yellow with red-orange accents, defined by bands of gold and red with outermost red and blue fillets ; margin also defined by black fillets ; keywords rubricated ; occasional textual dividers in the form of red inverted commas ; occasional illuminated floral accents set off text arranged on the diagonal ; 29 near full-page and 43 half-page miniatures in the Kashmīrī style, with generous use of lavender, red-orange, orange, yellow, lime green, and slate blue with occasional gold ; a few pencil drawings (see title page, page facing incipit page, etc.).Script: Nastaʻlīq ; bold, elegant Indian hand in a heavy line ; serifless, with marked effect of words descending to baseline, elongation and exaggerated thickness of horizontal strokes, pointing mainly in distinct or conjoined dots.Layout: Written mainly in 11 lines per page, though occasionally four or fewer lines accompanied by a half or near full-page miniature, or three lines accompanied by decorative arrangement of four lines on the diagonal, forming a diamond shape.Collation: Chiefly quaternions in the latter part of the codex, elsewhere gatherings are now altered for interleaving with an extremely haphazard result ; middle of the quire marks in the form of oblique strokes appear in latter gatherings ; catchwords present ; blank leaves interleaved to protect minatures.Explicit: "حيران ماندند و گریبان ها چاك زدند شه تابوت را یكبار بر آوردند فریاد و واویلا از مرد و زن و پیر و جوان ..."Incipit: "بلبل نوایان چمن عشقبازی و دستان سرایان انجمن نکته پردازی طوطی زبان ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.Elegant though incomplete copy of what Pasha Mohamad Khan has identified as "Story of the love of Māh-i Munīr son of ‘Arab-Shāh for Khūb-chihrah, merchant’s daughter" (cf. Punjab University Āẕar Collection, MS 16-S-8545G), extensively illustrated with many miniatures (see note on catalog card). Contributions to the transcription also from Pasha Mohamad Khan.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Inscription in pencil on front flyleaf "217 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" ; inscription on 'title page' (later repair to opening leaf) appears to be dated 26 Jumādá II 1255 [?] [1839 ?] ; another inscription on 'title page' reads "در عهد دولت قويشوكت نور الله اخوان ١٢٥١٢ ... اضعف فقير حقير ... عباد ولى كشيمرى ... نظر در خط كشيمرنوشته شد اين [... ؟] تحرير يافت در تاريخ شهر ... سنه" ; occasional glosses (what may be descriptions of scenes to be depicted by the illustrator) and marginal corrections