A Wedding Gone Wrong The Rather Worldly Woes of a Rather Wealthy Qādirī Sufi Shaykh. Two 18th Century Documents from the Ottoman Court Records of Ḥamā and Aleppo

A rather intricate legal case took place first in Ḥamā’s and then in Aleppo’s Ottoman Islamic courts around the middle of the 18th century. The setting, the social standing of the individuals involved, and the alleged circumstances of the case all contribute to make clear that this was not just another routine court case. Altogether, the two documents are a good example of the scope and quality of the information preserved in the archives of local courts and they both demonstrate the extent and modes of implementation of Islamic law in a specific Ottoman milieu. The long inventory of personal property in the Aleppo document gives us a good idea of the social status and affluence enjoyed by the plaintiff – a member of the Jīlānī/Qādirī family - and an interesting insight into material culture and what constituted wealth and affluence at the time.

Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq /

Includes bibliographical references

Nafaḥāt al-azhār ʻalá nasamāt al-asḥār fī madḥ al-Nabī al-Mukhtār bi-fann al-badīʻ /

Mode of access: Internet

Kitāb Miftāḥ al-maʻīyah : sharḥ risālat ṭarīqat al-sādah al-Naqshbandīyah, [1268, i.e. 1852].

Elegant copy of the commentary by ʻAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (d.1731) on the Naqshbandī treatise, Risālah fī sulūk khāṣṣat al-sādah by Tāj al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā ibn Sulṭān al-ʻAbshamī al-Naqshbandī (d.1640).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 538Origin: As appears in scribal colophon on p.177, transcription completed 11 Shawwāl 1268 [ca. 29 July 1852]. As appears in preceding authorial colophon (also on p.177), composition completed 27 Ramaḍān 1089 [ca. 12 November 1678].Accompanying materials: a. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda (paginated pp.1-2) -- b. Between pp.74-75, what appears to be a cigarette paper printed with "MANUFACTURE DE TABACS ET CIGARETTES" and "ورق صحي" in blue and black.Former shelfmark: From interior of upper cover and label on lower cover "IL 351" (likely supplied by Yahuda, see acquisitions slip).Binding: Pasteboards covered in a coated and textured (with floral pattern) sky blue decorative paper with dark brown (to black) leather over spine (now mostly gone exposing dark green textile of spine lining) ; Type III binding (without flap) ; board linings in yellow wove paper ; sewn in red thread, two stations ; overall in somewhat poor condition with significant abrasion, lifting and losses of paper and leather, delamination of boards, etc.Support: European wove paper.Decoration: Keywords, section headings, and abbreviation symbols rubricated ; textual dividers in the form of red discs.Script: Nastaʻlīq (talik) ; elegant, spacious Turkish hand in a medium to bold line ; serifless with many closed counters, characteristic descent of words to baseline, slight effect of tilt to the right, elongation of horizontal strokes, and letterforms characteristic of nastaʻlīq (talik) ; from about p.133 alternates with another hand, more compact though with elongation and contrasting thickness of horizontal strokes ; some Qurʼānic excerpts in naskh.Layout: Written mainly in 17 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, 8 V(80), IV (88), i ; almost exclusively quinions ; final leaf left blank ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inserts and flyleaves).Colophon: "Authorial," reads "وقد فرغنا من تصنيف هذا الشرح المبارك ان شاء الله صبحية نهار الجمعة السابع والعشرين من شهر رمضان المبارك سنه تسع وثمانين بعد الالف على يد مصنفه الحقير الفقير عبد الغني النابلسي ... آمين" ; "Scribal," reads "وكان الفراغ من كتابة هذه النسخة يوم الخميس احدى عشر من الشهر الشوال سنه ثمانيه وستين ومائتين والف تم تم"Explicit: "الى يوم الدين وهو يوم القيامة وله اسماء كثيرة وهذا اخر ما تشرفنا به من خذمة هذه الرسالة المباركة نفعنا الله بها ... آمين"Incipit: "الحمد لله الذي شرح بالتجليات الازلية رسالة صفاته بمنية ... اما بعد فيقول اسير الذنوب ... عبد الغني بن اسماعيل النابلسي نسبا الحنفي مذهبا القادري مشربا الدمشقي وطنا النقشبندي سرا وعلنا ... ان اشرح الرسالة المعربة من اللغة الفارسية الى اللغة العربية المنسوبة بالجمع والترتيب الى العارف الكامل ... الشيخ تاج الدين النقشبني ... التي صنفها في بيان اداب الطريقة الطاهرة النقشبندية ... واظهرت في هذا الشرح ما انطوت عليه هذه الرسالة المأنوسة من الاسرار المحفوظة ... وسميتها مفتاح المعية في طريقة النقشبندية ..."Title from 'title page' (p.5).Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Elegant copy of the commentary by ʻAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (d.1731) on the Naqshbandī treatise, Risālah fī sulūk khāṣṣat al-sādah by Tāj al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā ibn Sulṭān al-ʻAbshamī al-Naqshbandī (d.1640).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.Collation statement on front flyleaf (p.3) "عدة كراريسه ۹" ; marginal corrections (some rubricated)

Petitioning the Sultan in Ottoman Egypt

This article examines the role of petitions to the Sultan concerning private disputes in the legal system of Ottoman Egypt during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Previous studies have seen petitioning as a means for subjects to complain about abuses carried out by Ottoman officials: few scholars have engaged with the many petitions involving private disputes between subjects. Based on both original petitions and Ottoman bureaucratic records, this article consists of two parts and an appendix. Part 1 describes the petitioning process, including the procedure followed by the imperial palace when handling petitions. Part 2 analyses the various ways in which sending a petition could affect the outcome of a dispute. The appendix features a reproduction and transcription of a petition which has been annotated by several palace officials, illustrating its progress through the palace bureaucracy

Dīwān al-ḥaqāʼiq, [1176, i.e. 1763].

The first bāb of the collected poems of the author, Dīwān al-dawāwīn wa-rayḥān al-rayāḥīn fī tajallīyat al-ḥaqq al-mubīn, with a poem praising Ibn al-ʻArabī at the close. Description provided by Maxim Romanov.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 634Origin: As appears in colophon on fol.368b (p.736), copied by Muḥammad ibn al-Shaykh Muḥammad [...?]. Transcription finished ("wa-kāna al-farāgh min naskhih...") Saturday 20 [?] Jumādá II 1176 [ca. 6 January 1763] in Bilād al-bayt [?].Accompanying materials: a. Inventory cataloguing slip in hand of Winifred Smeaton Thomas. -- b. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda.Former shelfmark: From spine label and inscription on interior of upper cover, "IL 126" (likely supplied by Yahuda).Binding: Pasteboards covered in darkened red-brown leather (color of envelope flap a much more vibrant red), repairs to spine and interior of fore edge flap in brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; pastedowns and interior of envelope flap in laid paper ; upper and lower covers carry blind-tooled central circular piece (composition quite similar to Déroche class. NSv 1 or 2) with pendants and simple frame ; in somewhat poor condition with fore-edge flap detaching from lower cover and envelope flap, repairs to joints between the covers and the spine, much abrasion, etc.Support: European laid paper with laid lines running horiztonally spaced roughly 13 laid lines in 20 mm. and chain lines running vertically spaced roughly 23-25 mm. apart ; lightly burnished.Decoration: Textual dividers in the form of red discs ; text rubricated with section titles, occasional paragraphs in prose at the beginnings of new sections, and textual dividers in red.Script: Naskh ; fine Syrian or Turkish hand (?) ; virtually sans serif with occasional right-sloping head-serifs on free-standing alif and left-sloping head-serifs on alif of lām alif ligature ; kāf mashkūlah preferred ; elongated, horizontal character with contrast between thicker horizontal strokes and thinner vertical strokes.Layout: Written in 21 lines per page ; poetry often arranged in two columns ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, V-4(6), 16 V (166), II (170), III (176), 19 V (366), I (368), i ; chiefly quinions ; at least one bifolium and very likely two bifolia are missing from the center of the first quire in the introductory matter of the text (missing text corresponds to p.7-13 of the 1854 Būlāq edition) ; catchwords present but occasionally lost to trimming ; traces of perhaps an earlier foliation in Hindu-Arabic numerals (see p.391, 583, etc.) ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals (supplied during cataloguing).Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, reads: "وكان الفراغ من نسخه ببلاد [؟] البيت بعد صلاة المغرب عشرين [؟] في جماذ [كذا] الثاني على يد محمد بن الشيخ محمد [..؟] من شهور سنة 1176"Explicit: "وما تلى عبد الغني المديح به يخص ذلك الفريح"Incipit: "الحمد لله الذي فتح خزائن الامكان بمفاتيح الكرم والامتنان واظهر سره المكنون بين الكاف والنون انما امره لشيئ اذا اراده ان يقول كن فيكون"Title from inscription of 'title page' fol.1a (p.1).Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,The first bāb of the collected poems of the author, Dīwān al-dawāwīn wa-rayḥān al-rayāḥīn fī tajallīyat al-ḥaqq al-mubīn, with a poem praising Ibn al-ʻArabī at the close. Description provided by Maxim Romanov.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, birth notices, reading statements, etc. at the front and back of the text, many of them dated and including transcription of the shahādah ; among the statements: birth notice for Muṣṭafá ibn Hāshim Aṣfarī dated 1268 H (front flyleaf), statement of ʻAbd al-Qādir ibn Hāshim Jawharī dated 5 Ramaḍān 1241 (front flyleaf), two ownership statements with names of former owners effaced dated Ramaḍān 1180 and Rajab 1241 respectively (fol.1a/p.1), reading/study notice in name of Ḥasan Aṣfarī (back flyleaf), reading/study notice in name of Ibrahīm Naʻsān (back flyleaf), reading/study notice in name of Muḥammad Amīn dated 1264 ; a few marginal corrections

[Majmūʻat rasāʼil al-Nābulusī ...etc., 951, i.e. 1544 and 1185, i.e. 1771 or 1772].

A collection (majmūʻah / mecmua) of treatises by ʻAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī with a much older copy of an excerpt from Ibn al-ʻArabī's al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah bound in.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 156Origin: According to colophon on fol.29b, the collection of al-Nābulusī's treatises was copied by al-Sayyid Muṣṭafá al-Ṣamūnī [?]. Copying for the first treatise completed 1185 [1771 or 1772]. No other scribal colophon appears in the collection, though several authorial colophons were copied with their respective treatises and include dates of composition. The colophon accompanying the inserted section (excerpt from al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah) is anonymous but indicates that copying was finished 29 Ramaḍān 951 [ca. 14 December 1544].Accompanying materials: a. envelope with inscription inserted between fol.35-36 -- b. folded document dated 1279 Hijrī, written in a Turkish hand and referring to Erzurum inserted between fol.134-135 -- b. blank envelope inserted between fol.160-161.Former shelfmark: British Museum, London "No. 38. Legal & religious writings of Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi, & Futuhat al-Makkiyah."Binding: Pasteboards covered in red leather; Type II binding (with flap); board linings in untinted European laid paper with three crescents (tre lune) watermark (see lower board lining); upper and lower covers carry blind-stamped central mandorla (NSd7 Déroche class.), as well as blind-tooled borders and corners; envelope flap carries mandorla, interior of flap is trimmed in an interesting pattern to reveal the turn-in; sewn in rose and pink thread, two stations; worked chevron endbands in white; in good condition.Support: Mainly European laid paper of several types; opening type with 11 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines 25-26 mm. apart (horizontal), watermark of shield / arms with snake [?], crown above and heart below (see p.4, 18, 34, 316, 454, 552, etc.), and countermark of "V L" (see p.12, 32, 336, 602, etc.); inserted section on different European laid paper with 8 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 26-28 mm. apart (horizontal), and watermark of anchor in circle (see p.162, 168, etc.);Decoration: Figures drawn to accompany the text appear on fol.117a (on divine revelation) and fol.305a (elucidating the azimuth of the qiblah).Script: Naskh; entire collection of treatises in roughly the same Turkish hand; text of al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah excerpt in older Syrian (?) hand.Layout: Written in 23 lines per page; frame-ruled (impression of ruling-board/misṭarah evident).Collation: i, II(4), 2 V (24), IV-2 (30), V (40), VI (52), V (62), VI (74), I+1 (77), 3 V (107), VI-1 (118), IV (126), VII (140), IV (148), III+1 (155), VI (167), V (177), IV+1 (186), 5 V (236), II+1 (241), I (243), 2 V (263), I (265), V (275), V-1 (284), IV (292), VI (304), I (306), i; catchwords present; foliation in ink faded to gray, Hindu-Arabic numerals, begins after incipit page and accounts for inserted section (fol.78a-107b in system of Western pagination) which carries its own foliation in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals; pagination added later in pencil, Western numerals; lacunae of fol.240b-241a marked "صحيح".Explicit: "ميل السطح والارتفاع والسموت الافقية والانحرافية اشكار انتهى"Incipit: "الحمدلله الوجود الحق المبين المضاف عند العقول الى كل شيء بمتضى حكمه المتين... اما بعد فيقول شيخنا واستاذنا وبركتنا وملاذنا الامام العالم العلامة...سيدي الشيخ عبد الغني الشهير بابن النابلسي...هذا شرح لطيف العبارة وظاهر الاشارة وضعته على الرسالة التي صنفها الشيخ الامام...محمد بن الشيخ فضل الله الهندي..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. composite codex.27. fol. 305b-306a : Hādhihi Risālat al-inḥirāf.26. fol. 304b-305a : "Fī maʻrifat samt al-qiblah..."25. fol. 303b-304a : [blank].24. fol. 285a-303a : Kitāb Tawfīq al-rutbah fī taḥqīq al-khuṭbah / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.23. fol. 279a-284b : Kitāb Radd al-jāhil ilá al-ṣawāb fī jawāz iḍāfat al-taʼthīr ilá al-asbāb / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.22. fol. 278b : [blank].21. fol. 273a-278a : Basṭ al-dhirāʻayn bi-al-waṣīd fī bayān al-ḥaqīqah wa-al-majāz fī al-tawḥīd / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.20. fol. 272b : [blank].19. fol. 266a-fol.272a : Risālat al-baytayn / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.18. fol. 265b : [blank].17. fol. 234a-265a : Risālat al-Mawāhib al-mustarsalah ʻalá al-Tuḥfah al-mursalah / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.16. fol. 233b : [blank].15. fol. 173a-233a : Risālat Khamrat al-ḥān wa-rannat al-alḥān fī sharḥ risālat al-Shaykh Arslān / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.14. fol. 171b-172b : [blank].13. fol. 150a-171a : Nafkhat al-ṣūr wa-nafkhat al-zuhūr sharḥ abyāt qabḍat al-nūr / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.12. fol. 149a-149b : [blank].11. fol. 139b-148b : Risālat al-fatḥ al-ṭarī al-janī fī maʼāthir al-Shaykh ʻAbd al-Ghanī.10. fol. 138b-139a : [blank].9. fol. 116b-138a : Risālat Sharḥ al-Tajallīyāt / lil-Shaykh al-Akbar [Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʻArabī]8. fol. 116a : [blank].7. fol. 108b-115b : Sharḥ Awrād al-bahāʼ lil-Adhnawī [?] / [ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī?].6. fol. 108a : [blank].5. fol. 78a-107b : [Excerpts from al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah] / Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʻArabī.4. fol. 77b : [blank].3. fol. 31a-77a : Miftāḥ al-Futūḥ / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.2. fol. 30a-30b : [blank].1. fol. 2a-29b : Sharḥ al-Tuḥfah al-mursalah / ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī.A collection (majmūʻah / mecmua) of treatises by ʻAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī with a much older copy of an excerpt from Ibn al-ʻArabī's al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah bound in.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase along with Abdul Hamid Collection (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Bookplate of British Museum, London on inner front cover, "No. 38. Legal & religious writings of Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi, & Futuhat al-Makkiyah." ; circular seal impression with figure of goat/gazelle in purple ink as well as inscription "370" in Western numerals on recto of front flyleaf; tail of textblock inscribed "٢٥٨" ; circular waqf-seal impression appears on fol.2a and repeatedly throughout, reads: "هذا وقف الراجي فيض الصمدي الشيخ احمد ضيا الدين ابن مصطفى الخالدي فمن بدله بعد ما سمعه فانما اثمه على الذين يبدلونه ١٢٨٠" in name of Aḥmad Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn ibn Muṣṭafá al-Khālidī (i.e. Ahmed Ziyâüddîn Gümüşhanevî, d. 1893 or 4); collation notes and marks (see fol.160a, fol.181a, fol.205b, fol.215b, fol.243b, etc.) of multiple collators appear in several hands throughout, include: "يقابل على خط المصنف" (see fol.78a), "بلغ مقابلة على خط المصنف" (fol.87b), "مقابلة على حسب الامكان والله اعلم" (fol.115b), "بلغ مقابلة من اوله الى اخره" (fol.171a), "بلغ مقابلة من اوله الى اخره على اصل صحيح بحسب الطاقة" (fol.233a); marginal corrections marked with signes-de-renvoi, primarily bā hindīyah indicating variant (see fol.173b, 178a, 183b, 192b, etc.)

[Sharḥ al-Shaykh Bālī Afandī ʻalá Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, 193-?].

Careful copy of the commentary by Bali Efendi (death date given as 970/1553 in 'title page' inscription and in GAL) upon Ibn ʻArabī's celebrated Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, a collection of aphorisms summarizing the teaching of 28 prophets from Adam to Muḥammad, followed by a brief excerpt from ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī’s (d.1731) commentary on the same, entitled Jawāhir al-nuṣūṣ fī ḥall kalimāt al-Fuṣūṣ.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 914Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; likely copied in Egypt in the late 1930s and bound for James Heyworth-Dunne (d.1974).Former shelfmark: Mich. Isl. Ms. temp. no. 63Binding: Boards covered in dark green cloth with dark green leather over spine (quarter binding) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in wove paper printed with a floral vegetal pattern in green ; spine gold-stamped with title and decorative accents over raised bands "شرح فصوص الحكم | لبالى افندى | J.H.D." ; sewing difficult to examine ; stuck-on endbands (blue and white stripe) ; overall in fairly good condition.Support: Lined / ruled wove paper of two types, one slightly darker in color, in two different sizes i.e. opening through p.402 sized 312 x 212 mm., p.403 to close sized 302 x 205 mm.Script: Ruqʻah ; quick, modern hand in a medium to bold line ; serifless and freely ligatured with mainly closed counters, slight effect of inclination to the right and of words descending to baseline, pointing somewhat careless and in strokes rather than distinct dots.Layout: Written mainly in 26 lines per page.Collation: Pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (mistakenly repeats pp.65-66) ; occasional repetition of final word on right-hand leaf (verso) on recto of following leaf.Incipit: "الحمد لله على دين الاسلام وعلى توفيق الايمان والاحسان والصلاة على محمد عليه السلام وعلى آله العظام واصحابه الكرام الحمد لله منزل الحكم على قلوب الكلم لما انزل الله تع الحكم على قلب الشيخ المصنف ..."Title supplied by cataloguer from inscription on 'title page' (p.1).Ms. codex.2. p.682-p.685 : Jawāhir al-nuṣūṣ fī ḥall kalimāt al-Fuṣūṣ [excerpt] / al-Nābulusī.1. p.2-p.682 : Sharḥ al-Shaykh Bālī Afandī ʻalá Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam / Bali Efendi.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Careful copy of the commentary by Bali Efendi (death date given as 970/1553 in 'title page' inscription and in GAL) upon Ibn ʻArabī's celebrated Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, a collection of aphorisms summarizing the teaching of 28 prophets from Adam to Muḥammad, followed by a brief excerpt from ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī’s (d.1731) commentary on the same, entitled Jawāhir al-nuṣūṣ fī ḥall kalimāt al-Fuṣūṣ.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired in the Fall of 1950.On upper pastedown label with ex libris of James Heyworth-Dunne (d.1974), stamped with inventory number, "Ex Libris | J. Heyworth-Dunne | D. Lit. (London) | No 7950" ; UM Library inscription on p.3 "Dunning | Heyworth-Dunne | 6-13-51 | 71955" ; possible former inventory mark on verso of final leaf "231/53" ; marginal glosses in the hand of the copyist

Faḍā’il al-ramy fī sabīl Allāh, [ca. 569, i.e. 1174].

Fine early copy of the ḥadīth on the excellences of archery with 'title page' (fol.1a/p.1) ascription statement (isnād) beginning with the author and numerous transmission notices (samāʻāt and qirāʼāt). Description provided by Noah Gardiner.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 479Origin: Lengthy audition statement following the text on fol.6a (p.11) indicates that al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī heard the text as read by its owner ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn ʻAbd al-Wāḥid al-Maqdisī [al-Jammāʻīlī] in the presence of other auditors in Alexandria during the first 10th of Dhū al-Qaʻdah 569 [June 1174], thus establishing a firm terminus ante quem for the manuscript's transcription. It was likely copied by ʻAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī not long before the audition, possibly also in Alexandria.Accompanying materials: a. Inventory cataloguing slip in hand of Winifred Smeaton Thomas. -- b. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda. -- c. Slip with note on one of the dated audition statements (mistaken date conversion).Former shelfmark: From inscription on inner front cover and lower cover label, "IL 269a" (likely supplied by Yahuda, see acquisitions slip).Binding: Pasteboards covered in maroon cloth ; Western binding ; pastedowns and flyleaves in blue wove paper ; title gold-stamped on cover ; sewn in heavy white thread, four stations ; covers in excellent condition ; textblock heavily repaired but stable.Support: non-European (likely Arab) laid paper, quite thick, with 20 horizontal laid lines in 38 mm. ; chain lines very difficult to make out, though at least one pair spaced 10 mm. apart are visible in fol.4 (pp.7-8) ; quite soiled and stained ; several losses and repairs ; some ink burn.Script: Naskh ; a casually pointed, unvowelled Syrian hand, freely ligatured ; free-standing alifs somewhat wavy, often ending with a left-foot but generally lacking head-serifs ; swooping descenders ; mainly closed counters ; shaddah occasionally marked ; highly ligatured contraction for اخبرنا appears as ابنا with final alif curving back to reach initial alif.Layout: Written in 17 lines per page.Collation: i, 3 I(6), i ; perhaps originally a ternion, now repaired to three single bifolia (singulions) ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Explicit: "قالا ثنا ابو عميرعيسى بن محمد النحاس ثنا ضمرة بن ربيعة عن الاوزاعي عن يحيى بن سعيد عن سعيد بن المسيب عن ابي ثعلبة الخشني عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم انه قال كل ما رد عليك قوسك. اخر الكتاب والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على رسوله سيدنا المصطفى محمد النبي واله وسلم تسليما وحسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل"Incipit: "ولا حول ولا قوة الا بالله [العلي العظيم؟] اخبرنا الشيخ الامام الحافظ ابو طاهر احمد بن محمد بن احمد بن محمد بن ابراهيم السلفي [...] ابنا الفقيه ابو عبد الله محمد بن مسعود بن احمد بن شذرة الخطيب [المدني؟] بشهور ستان على مقربة من اصبهان بقرأتي عليه من اصل سماعه في [...] من سنة احدى وتسعين واربع ماية ابنا ابو علي الحسين بن محمد الحسين بن ابي [...] الهروي قرأه عليه بهراة ابنا ابو يعقوب اسحاق بن ابي اسحاق العدل الحافظ ابنا [عبد الله] بن احمد بن حمويه واحمد بن عبد الله بن نعيم قالا ابنا ابو نصر احمد بن محمد بن داسة ثنا [الفضل] بن عبد الله بن عبد الجبار ثنا مالك بن سليمان عن ابراهيم بن طهمان عن محمد بن [زياد] عن ابي هريرة ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال إن الله عز وجل يدخل بالسهم [الواحد] ثلاثة الجنة... "Title from 'title page' fol.1a (p.1).Ms. codex.Ḥājjī Khalīfah. Kashf al-ẓunūn,Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine early copy of the ḥadīth on the excellences of archery with 'title page' (fol.1a/p.1) ascription statement (isnād) beginning with the author and numerous transmission notices (samāʻāt and qirāʼāt). Description provided by Noah Gardiner.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.A few marginal corrections ; several transmission notices (see in particular fol.1a/p.1 and fol.6a/p.11 ; notices on fol.2b-3a/pp.4-5 and fol.6b/p.12 are more difficult to make out)

Dīvān-i ʻUrfī, [1029, i.e. 1620].

Exquisite (though damaged) copy of the Dīvān of ʻUrfī Shīrāzī (d.1590 or 91).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 338Origin: As appears in inscription on 'title page' (p.1) and in colophons on p.201 and 331, copied by one ʻAbd al-Ghanī Bakrī [?]. As appears in colophon on p.201, transcription of qaṣāyid completed in Dhū Qaʻdah 1028 [October-November 1619]. As appears in colophon on p.331, transcription of later section completed Ṣafar 1029 [February 1620]. Transcription of other sections likely completed around the same time.Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark red leather with tan leather over spine and edges / turn-ins (possibly inverted recylcled cover with doublures now out) ; Type III binding (without flap) ; board linings in pink-tinted paper ; upper and lower covers carry central mandorla and pendants in gold-painted leather filigree appliqué over blue and green paper ; now sewn in white thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pink and spring green, fairly good condition ; overall in somewhat poor condition with significant abrasion, lifting and losses of leather, staining, minor pest damage, etc.Support: non-European laid paper with 9-10 laid lines per cm. (vertical, fairly distinct) and occasional pairs of chain lines faintly visible, somewhat cloudy formation, thin though sturdy, beige in color, well-sized and burnished ; some leaves tinted dull yellow or pale peach ; many leaves split and repaired (e.g. written area with headpiece and catchword of incipit page have been trimmed and mounted onto another leaf, etc.).Decoration: Exquisite illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening of dībāchah on p.2 consisting of rectangular piece with gold cartouche carrying the title for the opening section (preface) in white ("ديباچه ديوان عرفي") flanked by elegant floral vegetal motifs in red, white, yellow, pink, lavender, and turquoise on fields of lapis lazuli and black, surmounted by a large (vertically elongated) w-shaped piece filled with superbly executed swirling floral vegetal decoration in gold, red, pink, lavender, yellow, turquoise, white, and light blue on fields of lapis lazuli and gold, entire piece set into an elaborate well of red, blue, gold, white, and turquoise bands ; another exquisite illuminated headpiece at the opening of the dīvān proper (begins with the qaṣīdahs) on p.22 similar in composition to the first but with vertically elongated scalloped semi-circular piece (dome) surmounting rectangular piece, more generous use of white and turquoise, well of heavy gold interlace with turquoise and lavender accents, and vertical stalks (tīgh) in tact ; written area of dībāchah incipit and facing page surrounded by a frame consisting of a series of red, gold, black and blue fillets, with text set off by gold cloud-bands ; written area elsewhere gold-flecked and surrounded by frame in gold with outermost blue rule ; additional illuminated headpieces appear at openings of sections on p.202, 230, 334, 368.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; compact, elegant hand ; serifless, with effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.Layout: Written in 15 lines per page, mainly divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.Collation: IV (8), I (10), 4 IV(42), III (48), 2 IV(64), III (70), 4 IV(102), 2 III(114), IV (122), III (128), IV (136), III (142), IV (122), III (128), IV (136), III (142), 3 IV(166), III (172), IV (180), I+1 (183), 4 IV(215), III (221), IV (229), II (233), III (239), 6 IV(287), III (293), 3 IV(317), V+1 (328) ; leaves between dībāchah and opening of dīvān left blank (pp.20-21) as well as between later sections (see pp.228-229, 332-333, 366-367) ; pp.295, 209, 351 left partially blank (perhaps for illustration never realized) ;catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Colophon: "تمت القصايد العرفيه تحريرا بتاريخ شهر ذى قعده سنه ١٠٢٨ كتبه الداعى عبد الغنى بكرى [؟] اللهم اغفر [له] ولوالديه" ; "تمت فى تاريخ شهر صفر سنه ١٠٢٩ كتبه الداعى عبد الغنى"Incipit: [dībāchah] " حمدی که از نهایت شایستگی منزه از شایبه معین و تخصیص آمده اجمال آن ..." ; [dīvān, opening in the qaṣīdahs] "ای متاع درد در بازار جان انداخته ای متاع ..."Title from inscription on 'title page' (p.1).Ms. codex.Cat. Pers. MSS. Brit. Mus.,Exquisite (though damaged) copy of the Dīvān of ʻUrfī Shīrāzī (d.1590 or 91).Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Several former owners' marks on 'title page' (p.1), many effaced, including large oval seal impression ; another large oval seal impression on 'title page' of dīvān proper (p.21) and on p.199, 201, 227, 331, 655 appears to be dated 1022 [1613 or 14] in the name of one Khusraw (خسرو), impression at close accompanies ownership statement which reads "قد صار من متملكات العبد الفقير خسرو غفر ذنوبه" ; possible reading / study notice at close on p.655, partially illegible, followed by rectangular seal impression ; several effaced ownership statements on verso of final leaf (p.656)