Kāfiyat Ibn al-Ḥājib, [1005, i.e. 1597].

Elegant copy of Ibn al-Ḥājib’s grammatical treatise on naḥw (syntax).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 625Origin: As appears in colophon on pp.117-118, copied by ʻUmar ibn Muḥammad with transcription finished ("wa-qad waqaʻa al-farāgh min taḥrīr hādhihi al-nuskhah al-sharīfah al-mubārakah...") 10 Rajab 1005 [ca. 27 February 1597].Accompanying materials: a. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda -- b. Inserts carrying glosses (paginated pp.13-14, 63-64, 67-68, 119-120).Former shelfmark: From inner front cover and label on lower cover, "IL 286" (likely supplied by Yahuda, see acquisitions slip).Binding: Pasteboards covered in dull yellow-green laid paper, with red leather over spine and fore edge flap ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings in untinted wove paper ; sewn in light pink thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pink and cream, fairly condition though with some damage ; overall in fair condition with some staining, abrasion, lifting and losses of leather, etc.Support: European laid paper with 12 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 26 mm. apart (horizontal), and crossbow watermarks, in circle (see p.32, 33, etc.) and alone (see p.118, etc.) ; thin and transluscent though sturdy, well-burnished to glossy.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān) at opening on p.4, consisting of rectangular panel with empty gold cartouche surrounded by vegetal pattern in gold on a field of blue with border in green and black, surmounted by a scalloped semi-circular piece (dome) with same vegetal composition ; entire piece surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in dark red ; written area of incipit and facing page surrounded by narrow gold-frame with margins ruled in red ; thereafter written area and margins surrounded by red-rule border ; keywords, section headings, and abbreviation symbols rubricated ; grammatical diagram on p.122.Script: Nastaʻlīq (talik) ; an elegant Turkish hand ; serifless with closed counters, elongation of horizontal strokes, tilt to the right and slight effect of words descending to baseline, occasionally more exaggerated.Layout: Written in 9 lines per page ; frame-ruled ; marginalia in various shapes quite artistically arranged.Collation: i, V-1 (9), 4 V(49), IV (57) ; chiefly quinions ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inserts and flyleaves).Colophon: "Scribal," mainly triangular, reads: "وقد وقع الفراغ من تحرير هذه النسخة الشريفة المباركة في اليوم العاشر من شهر رجب المرجب لسنة خمس والف من الهجرة النبوية عليه افضل التحية وكاتب الحروف عمر بن محمد غفر الله له ولوالديه واحسن اليهما واليه ولجميع المسلمين والمسلمات والمؤمنين والمؤمنات"Explicit: "فيرد ما حذف والمفتوح ما قبلها تقلب الفا تم الكتاب بعون الله الملك الوهاب"Incipit: "الكلمة لفظ وضع لمعنى مفرد وهي اسم وفعل وحرف ..."Title from inscription on recto of front flyleaf (p.1).Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Elegant copy of Ibn al-Ḥājib’s grammatical treatise on naḥw (syntax).Mode of access: Internet.Acquired in 1926 from the bookseller Isaac Benjamin S.E. Yahuda via purchase transacted on his behalf by Abraham Shalom Yahuda (1877-1951), his younger brother.Numerous ownership statements (some dated) on recto of front flyleaf (p.1) ; one statement in name of al-Sayyid Muḥammad Khulūṣī ibn al-Sayyid ʻAlī Afandī (السيد محمد خلوصى بن السيد علي افندي / Mehmet Hulusi b. Ali Efendi ), accompanied by an octagonal seal impression ; three statements in names of members of al-Usṭuwānī family, namely Ḥasan (who acquired the manuscript by purchase from the bequest (تركة) of the aforementioned Hulûsî Efendi in latter Rajab 1169 [April 1756]), Ibrāhīm, and Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ; another statement in name of Ḥasan al-Arzanjānī (حسن الارزنجاني / Hasen el-Erzincanî) dated 21 Dhū al-Qaʻdah 1251 [ca. 9 March 1836] ; several impressions of at least two octagonal seals are repeated on recto of front flyleaf (p.1) as well ; on 'title page' (p.3) two ownership statements, one in name of Dhū al-Fiqār Āghā (Zülfikâr Aǧa / ذو الفقار اغا) accompanied by a portion of an oval seal impression, and another in the name of al-Sayyid Muḥammad Adīb ibn al-Sayyid Muḥammad ʻAlī al-Kīlānī [al-Gīlānī] ( السيد محمد اديب بن السيد محمد علي الكيلاني ) dated 1 Rabīʻ II 1279 [ca. 20 February 1862] ; extensive marginal and interlinear glosses and corrections, with marginalia in a splendid layout of decorative shapes (sword or cypress tree, house, etc.) some carrying over onto inserts (pp.119-120)