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.

[Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʼān, 18th century?].

Elegant though incomplete copy of the alphabetic lexicon of Qurʼānic vocabulary compiled by Abū al-Qāsim al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal al-Rāghib al-Isfahānī (d.1108 or 9).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 1030Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, decoration, etc. would suggest 18th century.Former shelfmark: Mich. Isl. Ms. temp. no. 179Binding: Pasteboards covered in red leather ; Type II binding (with flap, now lost) ; lower doublure (board lining) in olive green-tinted and gold-flecked paper ; lower cover carries stamped and gold-painted mandorla (filled with symmetrical vegetal composition reminiscent of Déroche class. OSd 3 or 9) and pendants with gold-tooled and painted accents in small rosettes and strokes, as well as tooled guilloché roll border and gold-painted rules ; once sewn in light blue thread, two stations, now failed ; worked endbands in light blue and gold, only traces of tailband and primaries remain ; overall in extremely poor condition with spine leather and lining, upper cover and flap entirely lost, partial losses and severe staining / abrasion to lower cover (also fully detached), pest damage, etc. ; housed in box for protection.Support: European laid paper of several types ; mainly a type with 10 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 27-29 mm. apart (vertical), and watermark of scrollwork (see p.22, 388, 500, etc.) ; another type with 12 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 21-25 mm. apart (vertical) and watermark of large double-headed eagle under crown and scroll with "B G" underneath and shield / escutcheon at center with six circles and band of smaller eagles (see p.112, 132, 172, etc.) ; another type with 10 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 25-27 mm. apart (vertical), and watermark of grapes / raisin (see p.346, etc.) and name "...MON" (see p.324, 348, etc.) ; another type with 9 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 25-29 mm. apart (vertical), watermark of grapes (raisin) under crown (see p.378, etc.) and "P G" countermark (see p.394, etc.) ; burn and losses to leaves (with loss of text in final leaves, p.505 to close).Decoration: Illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) in at opening on p.4 consisting of rectangular panel with empty gold cartouche flanked by floral accents in gold, blue, and orange-red on grounds of blue and gold, surmounted by scalloped w-shaped piece filled with swirling floral vegetal decoration in gold with blue and orange red accents on a blue and gold ground, all set in a well consisting of bands of blue, gold interlace and orange red and surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue with red accents ; section headings set off in simple illuminated rectangular pieces ; written area surrounded by a heavy gold frame defined by black fillets and outermost red rule ; keywords, section headings, notabilia, occasional vocalization and some abbreviation symbols rubricated ; occasional textual dividers in the form of hāʼ in red.Script: Naskh ; elegant, carefully executed Ottoman hand in a thin line ; mainly serifless (though very subtle head-serif occasionally appears) with effect of tilt to the left though adhering to baseline, marked elongation of horizontal strokes, curvilinear descenders (many sweeping), pointing mainly in distinct dots, many open counters, partially vocalized.Layout: Written in 25 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, V-1 (9), 13 V(139), IV (147), 12 V(267) ; almost exclusively quinions ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes front flyleaf).Explicit: "قال الله تعالى واتوا النساء وصدقاتهن نحلة والانتحال ادعاء الشيء وتناوله ومنه يقال فلان ينتحل الشعر ونحل جسما"Incipit: "الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلواته على نبيه محمد واله اجمعين قال الشيخ ابو القاسم الحسين ابن محمد ابن المفضل الراغب ... كنت قد ذكرت في الرسالة المنبهة على فوائد القرآن ان الله تعالى كما جعل النبوة بنبينا مختتمة وجعل شرائعهم شريعة من وجه منتسخة ... فالفاظ القرآن هي لب كلام العرب وزبدته وواسطته وكرائمه ... وقد استخرت الله تعالى باملاء كتاب مستوفى فيه مفردات الفاظ القرآن على حروف التهجي ..."Title supplied by cataloguer from opening matter on p.6.Ms. codex.Rowson, E.K. "al-Rag̲h̲ibal- Iṣfahānī, Abu 'l-Ḳāsim al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. al- Mufaḍḍal." In EI2,Brockelmann, C. GAL,Elegant though incomplete copy of the alphabetic lexicon of Qurʼānic vocabulary compiled by Abū al-Qāsim al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal al-Rāghib al-Isfahānī (d.1108 or 9).Mode of access: Internet.Purchased in Egypt by Mr. Sulaiman ;UM Library inscription on verso of added front flyleaf (p.2) "Spec. Coll. Lib. 690713-156 Sulaiman 1968" ; on 'title page' now obscured by affixed bifolium, a waqf statement dated 1212 [1797 or 8] in name of Katkhudā-yi Baghdād Aḥmad Pāshā ( كتخداى بغداد احمد پاشا / Kethüda-yi Bağdad Ahmet Paşa ) accompanied by two oval seal impressions (compare statement in Isl. Ms. 1014) ; notabilia (side-heads)

Muḥāḍarāt al-udabāʼ wa-muḥāwarāt al-bulaghāʼ, [1080, i.e. 1670].

Fine copy of the popular adab work by al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī addressing in 25 chapters such topics as intellect, food, love, death, animals, etc. and including poetry and short prose anecdotes. Four volumes in one.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 1015Origin: As appears in colophon on p.588, copied by ʻAbd al-Aʼimmah ibn al-Ḥājjī Khalaf al-Karbalāʼī with transcription completed 12 Shaʻbān 1080 [ca. 5 January 1670] perhaps in Karbalāʼ where the copyist resided.Accompanying materials: Slip with notes, in pencil, "MAKDISI – III | Muḥāḍarāt al-udabāʼ" and in red ink in hand of Jameson "Leave this slip in book | 293 leaves (last blank | 30 cm. | Back cover detached"Former shelfmark: Mich. Isl. Ms. temp. no. 164Binding: Pasteboards covered in brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; doublures in tan leather ; upper and lower covers carry blind-stamped elongated mandorla (filled with floral vegetal composition) and pendants ; now sewn in white thread, two stations ; worked endbands in pink and cream, damaged ; overall in poor condition with much abrasion, staining, minor losses of board, lower cover detached etc. ; repairs to spine and fore edge flap in tan leather.Support: non-European (likely Persian or Indian) laid paper with 7-8 curved but fairly distinct laid lines per cm. (horizontal) and occasional chain lines visible ; crisp, transluscent, occasional knots and inclusions, dark cream to beige in color, very well burnished to glossy ; staining and tide lines.Decoration: Headings and keywords rubricated (except in the seventh quire from the end, pp.481-496) ; overlining and textual dividers in the form of inverted commas in red.Script: Naskh ; elegant, carefully executed Iraqi / Persianate hand in a medium line ; partially but somewhat irregularly seriffed (rightward serifs on many ascenders with the exception of free-standing alif, leftward serif on vertical stroke of kāf) and and fairly vertical (without inclination to the left or right) with some elongation of horizontal strokes, occasional sweeping descenders (final nūn, yāʼ, etc.), pointing (two and three dots) in strokes or conjoined dots, many closed counters ; headings in larger script approaching tawqīʻ (though not extensively ligatured).Layout: Written in 26 lines per page ; frame-ruled (impression of ruling board evident).Collation: i, IV-1 (7), 35 IV (287), IV-1 (294) ; almost exclusively quaternions ; catchwords present ; middle of the quire marks in the form of oblique strokes, upper outer corner of the left-hand leaf ; foliation in pencil, Western numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes front flyleaf).Colophon: "Scribal," triangular, reads "اخر المجلدة الرابعة من كتاب محاضرات الادباء ومحاورات البلغاء وبها اتم الكتاب والحمد لله على اتمامه اولا واخرا وظاهرا وباطنا على يد اقل الخليقة بل اللاشيء في الحقيقة العبد الفقير عبد الائمة بن المرحوم الحاجي خلف الكربلائي مولدا وموطنا في اليوم الاحد الثاني عشر من شهر شعبان المعظم من شهور سنة ١٠٨٠ ثمانين والف من الهجرة المصطفوية على مهاجرها الف الف صلوة والف الف تحية واله الاطهار ما لاح الجديران في كل حين واوان تم وكمل وبالخير عم وشمل"Explicit: "فان اخطأ ركب هو واصحابه وان اصاب حول وجهه فيصير هو السائل"Incipit: "قال الشيخ ابو القاسم الحسين بن محمد بن المفضل الراغب رحمة الله عليه الحمد لله الذي تقصر الاقطار ان تحويه وتعجز الاستار ان تخفيه ... وبعد فان سيدنا عمر الله بمكانه ... احب ان اختار له مما صنفت من نكت الاخبار ومن عيون الاشعار وغيرهما من الكتب فصولا في محاضرات الادباء ومحاورات البلغاء يجعله صيقل الفهم ومادة العلم ..."Title from opening matter on p.4 and colophon on p.588.Ms. codex.Rowson, E.K. "al-Rag̲h̲ibal- Iṣfahānī, Abu 'l-Ḳāsim al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. al- Mufaḍḍal." In EI2,Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of the popular adab work by al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī addressing in 25 chapters such topics as intellect, food, love, death, animals, etc. and including poetry and short prose anecdotes. Four volumes in one.Mode of access: Internet.Purchased in Egypt by Mr. Sulaiman ;Inscribed by UM Library on reinforced 'title page' (p.3) "Spec. Coll. Lib. Sulaiman 690713-156" ; several former owners' marks on 'title page' now obscured by reinforcement (p.3) including statement, rectangular seal impression (repeated twice), and two oval seal impressions, at least one of which accompanied by statement ; ownership statement appears several times including 'title page' for second volume (p.179), close of second volume (p.353), close of third volume (p.466) and final close on p.588 dated Jumādá I 1156 [1743] in Iṣfahān in name of Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad Makkī ibn Muḥammad ibn Shams al-Dīn ibn al-Ḥasan Zayn al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ʻAlī of the descendants (سلالة) of al-Shahīd Shams al-Dīn al-Sharīf Muḥammad ibn Makkī al-Muṭallibī al-Ḥārithī al-Khazrajī [?] al-ʻĀmilī ( شرف الدين محمد مكي بن محمد بن شمس الدين بن الحسن زين الدين بن محمد بن فخر الدين علي من سلالة الشهيد السعيد شمس الملة والدين الشريف محمد بن مكي المطلبي الحارثي الخزرجي [؟] العاملي) accompanied by rectangular seal impression (repeated here four times and elsewhere in margins, see p.199, 201, 205, etc. and even in occasional lacuae left for rubrics, see p.483) ; a further ownership statement appears at close on p.588 dated 1173 [1759 or 60] in the name of Muḥammad Bahāʼ al-Dīn Abī al-Maʻālī also of the descendants (ذرية) of Shams al-Dīn al-Sharīf Abī ʻAbd Allāh al-Shahīd Muḥammad ibn Sharaf al-Dīn Makkī al-Muṭallibī al-Ḥārithī al-Khazrajī [?] al-ʻĀmilī ... (محمد بهاء الدين ابي المعالي من ذرية شمس الملة والحق والدين الشريف ابي عبد الله الشهيد محمد بن شرف الدين مكي المطلبي الحارثي الخزرجي [؟] العاملي ...) ; occasional marginal corrections