Kitāb Mukhtaṣar al-nāfiʻ, [1053, i.e. 1643].

Abstract

Fine copy of the author's abridgment of his own Sharāʼiʻ al-Islām, recognized as the authoritative work on Shīʻī law.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 1022Origin: As appears in colophon on p.489, copied by Ibn ʻAynī Aznāwī [Aznāvī] with transcription completed 5 Jumādá II 1053 [ca. 21 August 1643].Former shelfmark: Mich. Isl. Ms. temp. no. 171Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark brown leather ; Type III binding (without flap) ; board linings in untinted paper ; upper and lower covers carry border and diagonal lines intersecting the center of the panel in blind rules ; sewn in brown thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pink and lavender, fairly good condition ; overall in somewhat poor condition with abrasion, staining, losses to boards, etc.Support: non-European (likely Persian or Indian) laid paper with 6-7 laid lines per cm. (horizontal) and occasional chain lines visible, though all rather indistinct ; well-burnished to glossy, fairly crisp though sturdy, cloudy formation with bundles of fibers visible, light brown in color, some leaves quite thin and transluscent ; opening two replacement leaves in European laid paper.Decoration: Headings and keywords rubricated (text to be entered in red provided in margins, occasionally visible and otherwise cut off) ; textual dividers in the form of hāʼ or numeral khamsah in red.Script: Naskh ; spacious, elegant Persianate hand in a thin line ; mainly serifless (though left-sloping head-serif occasionally appears) with elongation of horizontal strokes, fairly vertical ascenders, curvilinear descenders, adhering to baseline, freely ligatured, pointing in distinct or conjoined dots, final yāʼ unpointed, wide, open bowl of final nūn with point set down in, spacious open counters of ṭāʼ, ṣāḍ, etc. ; replacement leaves at opening in a large, bold naskh, seriffed (though somewhat irreguarly) with left-sloping head-serifs on most ascenders (even occasional free-standing alif), quite rounded with curvilinear descenders (some sweeping), freely ligatured.Layout: Written in 14 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: IV-2+2 (8), 9 IV(80), III (86), 11 IV(174), III+1 (181), 8 IV(245) ; chiefly quaternions ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, reads "وتشرف بتسويد كاغده اقل العباد بل لاشيء في الحقيقة الفقير الحقير الى الله ابن عيني ازناوي غفر الله لهما وللمؤمنين والمؤمنات والمسلمين والمسلمات بمنه وكرمه يوم السبت الخميس شهر جمادى الثاني سنة ثلاث وخمسين والف من الهجرة النبوية المصطوفية"Explicit: "ويختص ضمانها بالجناية على الآدمي حسب فهذا ما اردنا ذكره وقصدنا حصره مختصرين مطوله محررين محصله ونسأل الله ان يجعلنا ممن شكر عمله وغفر زلله وجعل الجنة منقبله [منقله] انه لا يخيب من سأله ولا يحرم من امله"Incipit: "الحمد لله الذي صغرت في عظمته عبادة العابدين وحصرت عن شكر نعمة السنة الحامدين ... اما بعد فاني مورد لك في هذا المختصر خلاصة المذهب المعتبر بالفاظ محبرة وعبارة [عبارات] محررة تظرفك بنخبه وتوصلك الى شعبه مقتصرا على ما بان لي سبيله ووضح لي دليله ..."Title from rubricated heading at opening on p.2.Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of the author's abridgment of his own Sharāʼiʻ al-Islām, recognized as the authoritative work on Shīʻī law.Mode of access: Internet.Purchased in Egypt by Mr. Sulaiman ;Assorted notes and excerpts on 'title page' (p.1) including possible ownership statement in name of one Shaykh ʻAbd al-Raḥīm ( شيخ عبد الرحيم ) ; oval seal impression on p.5 ; oval seal impression (partially effaced) and rectangular seal impression at close on p.489 ; oval seal impression among notes and excerpts on verso of final leaf (p.490) ; UM library inscription on lower board lining "Spec. Coll. Lib. | 690713-156 | Sulaiman | 1968" ; extensive glosses and notabilia (side-heads, along with catch titles of chapter headings in upper outer corner of every left-hand leaf within each chapter) ; occasional marginal corrections