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Finding Aid for the Rudolf Gelpke collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, ca. 1447-1902

Processed by Ali Anooshahr, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, May 2005; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2003
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Rudolf Gelpke collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts
Date (inclusive): ca. 1447-1902
Collection number: 1658
Creator: Gelpke, Rudolf, 1928-
Extent: 3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: Collection consists of 24 bound manuscripts. Subjects include astronomy and astrology, belles-lettres, grammar, history, philosophy and theology.
Language: Finding aid is written in English.
Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Processing Note

Processed by Ali Anooshahr, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, May 2005, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).
Manuscripts 1-6 were removed and added to the Shaykhi Collection of Arabic and Persian Manuscripts (Collection 1655) in 1986. The remaining original manuscript numbers, 7-30, were retained during cataloging in 2005.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Rudolf Gelpke collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts (Collection 1658). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 4233069 

Biography

Rudolf Gelpke (1928-1972) was an Islamic scholar of Swiss nationality. After taking his doctorate in Islamic studies from the University of Basel in 1957, Gelpke held positions at the University of Teheran and the University of Bern, and was an Associate Professor at UCLA from September 1962 to May 1963. After living in Teheran for eight years as a freelance writer, Gelpke returned to Switzerland, where he died of a stroke at the age of 43. In addition to several papers, Gelpke was the author of Vom Raush im Orient und Okzident ( On Inebriation in the East and the West), Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart, 1966.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of 24 Arabic and Persian bound manuscripts from the Safawid, Ottoman, Qajar, and Timurid domains, including multiple versions of some titles. There are five works of belles-lettres, three religious texts, two historical works, four philosophical works, two grammatical works, and two works of astronomy. None of the works are illustrated, though 5 have illuminated first leaves. Of particular scholarly interest are items dating from the late Safawid period, including a version of Akhlāq-I nāṣirī by Ṭūsī, or Sharḥ tajrīd al-kalām, contemporaneous with the author Lāhījī. The collection also contains an interlinear version of Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya, dating from the early eighteenth century.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Iranian literature.
Arabic literature.

Genres and Forms of Material

Manuscripts--Arab countries.

Note

Manuscripts 1-6 were removed and added to the Shaykhi Collection of Arabic and Persian Manuscripts (Collection 1655)   in 1986.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 7  Nigāristān / The portrait gallery 1684 July

Physical Description: 155 leaves : paper ; 230 × 125 mm. bound to 230 × 128 mm.

Scope and Content Note

History of Muslim dynasties, including prophets and sultans from the rise of Islam to the Aqquyunly dynasty in the fifteenth century.
  • Author: [Ghāffāri, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, ca. 1495-1567 or 8]
  • Scribe: Khātūn'abādī, Muḥammad Taqī ibn Muḥammad Ḥusayn
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Persia
  • Layout: 19 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Bound in black leather with green leather inlays and blue pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and punctuation in red, framed in gilt borders. The text continues in the margins; first and last pages are glued to the pastedowns. One leaf missing.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-2a: Opening;
    • ff. 2a-9a: Muḥammad, the (Shiite) Imāms, Umayyads;
    • ff. 9a-37b: 'Abbasids;
    • ff. 37b-40a: Ṭāhirids and Ṣaffārids;
    • ff. 40a-42a: Sāmānids;
    • ff. 42a-49a: Ghaznavids;
    • ff. 49a-51b: Ghurids;
    • ff. 51b-57a: Būyids;
    • ff. 57a-68b: Seljuks;
    • ff. 68b-78b: Khwārazm Shāhs;
    • ff. 78b-80a: Atabegs of Fārs;
    • ff. 80a-81a: Atabegs of Azerbayjan;
    • ff. 81a-85a: Isma'ilis;
    • ff. 85a-87a: Āl-i 'Abd al-Mu'min;
    • ff. 87a: Kara Khitay;
    • ff. 87a-114a: Mongol Ilkhans;
    • ff. 114a-128b: Muẓaffarids, Karts, Sarbadārids;
    • ff. 128b-152a: Timurids;
    • ff. 152a-155a: Qaraquyunlu and Aqquyunly.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 8  Nigāristān / The portrait gallery 1816 January

Physical Description: 172 leaves : paper ; 212 × 134 mm. bound to 214 × 141 mm.

Scope and Content Note

A history of Muslim dynasties, including prophets and sultans from the rise of Islam to the Khwārazm Shāhs. The author does not mention the contemporary ruling monarch by name, but an approximate date of composition can be determined as 1524-1576. The author uses the Mūsawī genealogy of the dynasty (3a), which was emphasized by Shāh Ṭahmāsp I during this time. In addition, the text contains derogatory references to popular epics such as the "Ḥamzah'nāmah," which the author wants to abrogate by the spread of proper histories (such as those by Ṭabarī, Mas' ūdī, Juzjānī and Yazdī). These references are indicative of Shāh Ṭahmāsp I, who tried to distance himself from the populist roots of his dynasty, and move towards a more respectable imperial project.
This manuscript was produced for a Muḥammad Ḥusayn Khān Qaraguzlū.
  • Author: [Ghaffari, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, ca. 1495-1567 or 8]
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Qajar Persia
  • Layout: 14 lines of text per page. Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Decoration: Illumination on 1b.
  • Binding: Bound in brown leather with green leather inlays and blue-gray pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with some headings and verses in gold, framed in gilt borders. Occasional marginalia and stains.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-6a: opening;
    • ff. 6a-24b: Muḥammad, the (Shiite) Imāms, Umayyads;
    • ff. 24b-88b: 'Abbasids;
    • ff. 88b-93a: Ṭāhirids and Ṣaffārids;
    • ff. 93a-96b: Sāmānids;
    • ff. 96b-117a: Ghaznavids;
    • ff. 117a-123b: Ghurids;
    • ff. 123b-135b: Būyids;
    • ff. 135b-165a: Seljuks;
    • ff. 165a-171b: Khwārazm Shāhs;
    • ff. 172a: Closing.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 9  Akhlāq-i nāṣirī / The Nasirean ethics 1645 February

Physical Description: 183 leaves : paper ; 223 × 132 mm. bound to 220 × 131 mm.

Scope and Content Note

?usi's treatise on ethics.
  • Author: Ṭusi, Naṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1201-1274
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 14 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Decoration: Illumination on 1b and 2a.
  • Binding: Bound in burgundy and black leather, with embossed green and white deocorative paper pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and verse markers in red, framed in gild and blue borders. Lower board partially detached.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-8a: Opening and table of contents;
    • ff. 8a-102b: The first discourse: refining one's ethics;
    • ff. 102b-125b: The second discourse: on managing one's household;
    • ff. 125b-183a: The second discourse: on the politics of cities.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 10  [Sharḥ] al-ishārāt wa al-tanbīhāt / [Commentary] on indications and admonitions 1686 February

Physical Description: 200 leaves : paper ; 247 × 122 mm. bound to 247 × 130 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Section from ?usi's philosophical commentary on a work by Avicenna.
  • Author: [Ṭūsī, Naṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1201-1274]
  • Scribe: Muḥammad Taqī ibn Dāwūd Māzandarānī
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 25 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Bound in black leather, with green, pink, and yellow pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and underlining in red. Some damage.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 11  Sharḣ tajrīd al-kalām / Commentary on the exposition of scholasticism 1646 December

Physical Description: 284 leaves : paper ; 245 × 124 mm. bound to 245 × 123 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Philosophy and theology, also known as Shawāriq al-ilhām fī sharḣ tajrid al-kalām.
  • Author: [Lāhījī, 'Abd al-Razzāq, 17th cent]
  • Scribe: Muḥammad ibn Naẓar al-Ḥusaynī
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 23 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in brown and black leather, with green and yellow marbled pastedowns. Spine title on paper label.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with some marks in red. Extensive marginalia and occasional stains. Upper board partially detached.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 12  Sharḣ tajrid al-kalam / Commentary on the exposition of scholasticism 1705 September

Physical Description: 284 leaves : paper ; 240 × 134 mm. bound to 245 × 135 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Philosophy and theology, also known as Shawariq al-ilham fi Sharḣ tajrid al-kalam.
  • Author: [Lāhījī, 'Abd al-Razzāq, 17th cent]
  • Scribe: Muḥammad Ashraf ibn Muḥammad Ja 'far al-I'fahani
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 20 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in faded black leather.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and underlining in red. Extensive marginalia on the first few leaves.
Box 1

Manuscript no. 13  Sharḣ tajrid al-kalam / Commentary on the exposition of scholasticism 1821 December

Physical Description: 257 leaves : paper ; 206 × 149 mm. bound to 208 × 149 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Philosophy and theology, also known as Shawīriq al-ilhām fī Sharḣ tajrīd al-kalām.
  • Author: [Lāhījī, 'Abd al-Razzāq, 17th cent]
  • Scribe: Muḥammad 'Alī al-Ḥusaynī
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Qajar Iran
  • Layout: 19 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in brown leather, blind stamped. Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with some underlining in red. Extensive marginalia on the first few leaves.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 14  Sharḣ-i risalah-i bist bab dar ma' rifat-i taqvim / Commentary on the treatise of twenty chapters on understanding the calendar 1710 January

Physical Description: 173 leaves : paper ; 207 × 126 mm. bound to 210 × 134 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Work of astronomy and astrology. The author states that he read the original 15th century treatise in Arabic (by 'Abd al-'Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Birjandī), and decided to write the commentary in Persian for a greater audience. Dedicated to the Ṣafawid Shāh 'Abbās the Great (r. 1588-1629).
  • Author: Gunabādī, Muẓaffar Muḥammad Qāsim, fl. 1615.
  • Scribe: 'Abd al-Karīm
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid or Qajar Iran
  • Layout: 15 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Bound in burgundy leather with black leather inlays; red, black and yellow pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with punctuations and underlining in red; framed in red and blue borders. Paper is blue and white. Occasional charts and graphs.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-4a: Opening;
    • ff. 4a-7b: Introduction;
    • ff. 7b-11a: First chapter: reckoning the alphabet;
    • ff. 11b-23a: Second chapter: famous weeks and dates;
    • ff. 23a-40a: Third chapter: planets and the houses of the zodiac;
    • ff. 40a-46a: Fourth chapter: masīrāt-i kavākib, rij 'at, istiqāmat;
    • ff. 46a-52a: Fifth chapter:mayl-i āftāb, 'uruẓ-i kavākib, jawzahrāt;
    • ff. 52a-57a: Sixth chapter: ā' at va awqāt-i niṣf al-nahār;
    • ff. 57a-63a: Seventh chapter: naẓar, tanāẓur, intikāth, taḥvil;
    • ff. 63a-68b: Eighth chapter: sharaf va habuūṭ -i kavākib;
    • ff. 68b-72a: Ninth chapter: ṭ ālī'-i ijtimā va istiqbāl;
    • ff. 72a-82b: Tenth chapter: niṭ āqāt-i kavākib;
    • ff. 82b-84b: Eleventh chapter: intiqāl va ḥālāt-i qamar;
    • ff. 84b-92b: Twelfth chapter: manāzil-i qamar va bust;
    • ff. 92b-94b: Thirteenth chapter: awqāt-i ṣalāt;
    • ff. 94b-104a: Fourteenth chapter: khtaṭ ā'iyān;
    • ff. 104a-134b: Fifteenth chapter: zavāyid dar taqvīm;
    • ff. 134b-143a: Sixteenth chapter: ahvāl-i burūj va kavākib;
    • ff. 143a-149b: Seventeenth chapter: khuṭ ūṭ -i kavākib;
    • ff. 149b-154a: Eighteenth chapter: buyūt-i davāzdahgānah;
    • ff. 154a-163b: Nineteenth chapter: ahvāl-i anẓār;
    • ff. 163b-172b: Twentieth chapter: ma' rifat-i uṣūlī;
    • ff. 173a: Closing.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 15  Sharḣ-i risālah-i bīst bāb dar ma' rifat-i taqvīm / Commentary on the treatise of twenty chapters on understanding the calendar 1848

Physical Description: 87 leaves : paper, charts and graphs ; 217 × 170 mm. bound to 225 × 175 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Work of astronomy and astrology. The author states that he read the original 15th century treatise in Arabic (by 'Abd al-'Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Birjandī), and decided to write the commentary in Persian for a greater audience. Dedicated to the Ṣafawid Shāh 'Abbās the Great (r. 1588-1629).
  • Author: Gunabādī, Muẓaffar Muḥammad Qāsim, fl. 1615.
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Qajar Iran
  • Layout: 23 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Bound in brown leather, blind stamped.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and underlining in red. Occasional marginalia.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-2b: Opening;
    • ff. 2b-3b: Introduction;
    • ff. 3b-4b: First chapter: reckoning the alphabet;
    • ff. 4b-9b: Second chapter: famous weeks and dates;
    • ff. 9b-16a: Third chapter: planets and the houses of the zodiac;
    • ff. 16a-18b: Fourth chapter: masīrāt-i kavākib, rij 'at, istiqāmat;
    • ff. 18b-20b: Fifth chapter: mayl-i āftāb, 'uruẓ-i kavākib, jawzahrāt;
    • ff. 20b-23a: Sixth chapter: sā' āt va awqāt-i niṣf al-nahār;
    • ff. 23a-25a: Seventh chapter: naẓar, tanāẓur, intikāth, taḥvīl;
    • ff. 25a-27a: Eighth chapter: sharaf va habūṭ -i kavākib;
    • ff. 27a-28b: Ninth chapter: Ṭālī'-i ijtimā' va istiqbāl;
    • ff. 28b-32b: Tenth chapter: niṭāqāt-i kavākib;
    • ff. 32b-33a: Eleventh chapter: intiqāl va ḥālāt-i qamar;
    • ff. 33a-36b: Twelfth chapter: manāzil-i qamar va bust;
    • ff. 36b-37b: Thirteenth chapter: awqāt-i ṣalāt;
    • ff. 37b-40b: Fourteenth chapter: khtaṭā'iyān;
    • ff. 40b-52a: Fifteenth chapter: zavāyid dar taqvīm;
    • ff. 52a-57b: Sixteenth chapter: ahvāl-i burūj va kavākib;
    • ff. 57b-60a: Seventeenth chapter: khuṭūṭ-i kavākib;
    • ff. 60a-62a: Eighteenth chapter: buyūt-i davāzdahgānah;
    • ff. 62a-66b: Nineteenth chapter: ahvāl-i anẓār;
    • ff. 66b-70b: Twentieth chapter: ma' rifat-i uṣūlī;
    • ff. 72a-87b: Charts.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 16  Sharḣ-i risīlah-i bīst bāb dar ma' rifat-i taqvīm / Commentary on the treatise of twenty chapters on understanding the calendar [between 18-- and 1866]

Physical Description: 142 leaves : paper ; 209 × 145 mm. bound to 212 × 152 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Work of astronomy and astrology. The author states that he read the original 15th century treatise in Arabic (by 'Abd al-'Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Birjandī), and decided to write the commentary in Persian for a greater audience. Dedicated to the Ṣafawid Shāh 'Abbās the Great (r. 1588-1629).
  • Author: Gunabādī, Muẓaffar Muḥammad Qāsim, fl. 1615.
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Qajar Iran
  • Layout: 18 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in red leather.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and underlining in red. Extensive marginalia and some addenda (laid in or on final leaves); occasional charts and graphs.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-3a: Opening;
    • ff. 3a-5b: Introduction;
    • ff. 5b-7b: First chapter: reckoning the alphabet;
    • ff. 7b-16b: Second chapter: famous weeks and dates;
    • ff. 16b-32b: Third chapter: planets and the houses of the zodiac;
    • ff. 32b-37a: Fourth chapter: masīrat-i kavākib, rij 'at, istiqāmat;
    • ff. 37a-41a: Fifth chapter: mayl-i āftāb, 'uruẓ-i kavākib, jawzahrāt;
    • ff. 41a-45a: Sixth chapter: sā' at va awqāt-i niṣf al-nahār;
    • ff. 45a-49a: Seventh chapter: naẓar, tanāẓur, intikāth, taḣvīl;
    • ff. 49a-53a: Eighth chapter: sharaf va habūṭ -i kavākib;
    • ff. 53a-56a: Ninth chapter: ṭālī'-i ijtimā' va istiqbāl;
    • ff. 56a-63b: Tenth chapter: niṭāqāt-i kavākib;
    • ff. 63b-65a: Eleventh chapter: intiqāl va ḥālāt-i qamar;
    • ff. 65a-76a: Twelfth chapter: manāzil-i qamar va bust;
    • ff. 76a-78b: Thirteenth chapter: awqāt-i ḥālāt;
    • ff. 78b-80a: Fourteenth chapter: khtaṭā'iyān;
    • ff. 80a-105b: Fifteenth chapter: zavāyid dar taqvīm;
    • ff. 105b-112b: Sixteenth chapter: ahvāl-i burūj va kavākib;
    • ff. 112b-117b: Seventeenth chapter: khuṭūṭ-i kavākib;
    • ff. 117b-121a: Eighteenth chapter: buyūt-i davāzdahgānah;
    • ff. 121a-130a: Nineteenth chapter: ahvāl-i anẓār;
    • ff. 130a-138a: Twentieth chapter: ma' rifat-i uṣūlī;
    • ff. 138b-139a: Closing;
    • ff. 140a-142b: Chart and addendum.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 17  Tanbīhāt al-munajjimīn / Instructions for astrologers 1794 July

Physical Description: 174 leaves : paper ; 208 × 138 mm. bound to 199 × 138 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Work on astrology, dedicated to the Ṣafawid Shāh 'Abbās the Great (r. 1588-1629). The author states that he was in attendance to the king for 25 years, before people who were well-inclined towards him spoke on his behalf at the court. He used that opportunity to begin the work in 1621.
  • Author: Gunabādī, Muẓaffar Muḥammad Qāsim, fl. 1615.
  • Scribe: 'Alī 'askar ibn Rajab'Alī
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Zand-Qajar Iran
  • Layout: 21 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Stiff black leather, with brown leather pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red; omissions added in margins. Notes from a former owner in ink on the inside cover and 1a.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-2a: Opening;
    • ff. 2a-3b: Introduction;
    • ff. 3b-41a: On the conjunction of the stars;
    • ff. 41a-105a: On the seven plants;
    • ff. 105a-122b: On the passing of the planets into the twelve houses of the zodiac;
    • ff. 122b-146b: On the return of the planets;
    • ff. 146b-150b: On the ascent and descent of the planets;
    • ff. 150b-174a: Miscellaneous matters;
    • ff. 174a-174b: List of authorities.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 18  [ 'Iṣām 'alá Jāmi : Sharḣ al-fawā'id al-diyaiya] / [ 'Iṣām on Jāmi : Commentary on the 'Glowing benefits'] 1663

Physical Description: [6], 296, [4] leaves : paper ; 203 × 142 mm. bound to 205 × 151 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Commentary on an Arabic grammar by Jāmi (Jāmi's text was also a commentary, based on the work of Ibn al-Ḥājib).
  • Author: Isfarā'inī, 'Iṣām al-Dīn, d. 1536
  • Scribe: Muḥammad ibn Mīrzā Muḥammad al-Ḥusayni al-Musawī al-Jazāyirī
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Iṣfahān, Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 17 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in red leather with green leather pastedowns; fore-edge flap.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with words marking citations in red. Extensive marginalia and addenda; spine title.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 19  Sharḣ kitāb al-taṣrīf / Commentary upon the book of conjugation 1458 September

Physical Description: 289 leaves : paper ; 198 × 130 mm. bound to 205 × 136 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Commentary on a book of Arabic grammar by Ibn al-H?ājib (1175-1249).
  • Author: Jārbardī, Fakhr al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn al-?asan, d.1345
  • Scribe: Muḥammad ibn Malik
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Timurid domains?
  • Layout: 16 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in brown leather, blind stamped.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with some marks in red. Extensive marginalia.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 20  [Sharḣ al-qasā'id al-sab' al-'alawīyāt] / [Commentary on the seven Alid poems] 1650

Physical Description: 86 leaves : paper ; 245 × 135 mm. bound to 247 × 138 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Commentary on the seven poems of Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd ( 'Abd al-Ḥamīd ibn Hibat Allāh, 1191-1257 or 8), who also wrote a commentary on the book "Nahj al-Balāgha" attributed to the first Shiite Imam Ali. The author of the commentary writes that he had memorized these poems as a young child and had spent much time trying to understand their meanings and craftsmanship (1b).
  • Language: Text in Arabic
  • Origin: Ottoman empire or Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 15 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in stiff orange leather, with blue and pink marbled pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with underlining in red. Occasional marginalia.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-19b: Opening and the first poem [Battle of Khaybar];
    • ff. 19b-32a: Second poem [Conquest of Mecca];
    • ff. 32a-36b: Third poem [Describing Ali];
    • ff. 36b-44a: Fourth poem [Battle of the camel];
    • ff. 44a-59a: Fifth poem [Describing Ali];
    • ff. 59a-76b: Sixth poem [Praising and describing Ali];
    • ff. 76b-86b: Seventh poem [Descriptions of him] and closing.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 21  Nafaḥāt al-uns min ḥaḍarāt al-quds / The fragrance of companionship from holy masters [before 1727]

Physical Description: 343 leaves : paper ; 232 × 133 mm. bound to 237 × 137 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Jāmī's biography of Sufi masters. The authors states that Sulam?'s 10th century biography, and its Persian translation by Anṣarī, was inaccessible to his fifteenth century audience. Accordingly he undertook the modernization of the text in 1476. The work is dedicated to the Timurid notable 'Alī Shīr Navāyī (2b). The manuscript has no date on final leaf. However, on 148a a note in the margin is dated 1727.
  • Author: Jāmī, 1414-1492
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 17 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Bound in soft brown leather, blind stamped.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red. Occasional marginalia and stains.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-2b: Opening;
    • ff. 2b-3b: What is Vilāyat?;
    • ff. 3b-4b: What is gnosis?;
    • ff. 4b-9b: What is Sufi?;
    • ff. 9b-11a: What is unity?;
    • ff. 11a-12a: The categories of masters;
    • ff. 12a-12b: Difference between miracle and wonder (kirāmat);
    • ff. 12b-15b: Proving wonders;
    • ff. 15b-16b: Varieties of wonders;
    • ff. 16b-18a: When did they begin using the term Sufi?
    • ff. 18a-343b: Biography of two hundred Sufis.
Box 2

Manuscript no. 22  Naqd al-nuṣuṣ fi Sharḣ naqsh al-fuṣuṣ / Remarking on the definitions in the commentary of the bezels [of wisdom] 1626

Physical Description: 124 leaves : paper ; 208 × 130 mm. bound to 207 × 1357 mm.

Scope and Content Note

JĀmī's exposition of the commentaries of Ibn 'Arabī's work on Sufism, completed in 1458 (124a).
  • Author: JĀmī, 1414-1492
  • Scribe: Asad Allāh Ardalānī
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 19 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Bound in red leather, blind stamped.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red. Occasional marginalia and stains.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-2b: Opening;
    • ff. 2b-27a: Introduction;
    • ff. 27a-41b: Divine wisdom;
    • ff. 41b-49a: Divine inspiration;
    • ff. 49a-54b: Transcendence;
    • ff. 54b-58b: Saintly wisdom;
    • ff. 58b-62b: Being lost in love;
    • ff. 62b-67b: Wisdom of Truth;
    • ff. 67b-70b: Sublime wisdom;
    • ff. 70b-74a: Spiritual wisdom;
    • ff. 74a-82b: Illuminated wisdom;
    • ff. 82b-83b: Triumphal wisdom;
    • ff. 83b-88a: Heartly wisdom;
    • ff. 88a-90b: Mightly wisdom;
    • ff. 90b-92b: Wisdom of divine fore-ordainment;
    • ff. 92b-94a: Prophetic wisdom;
    • ff. 94a-100b: Wisdom of merciful beatitude;
    • ff. 100b-104b: Existential wisdom;
    • ff. 104b-107b: Wisdom of the soul/self (nafs);
    • ff. 107b-111b: Occult wisdom;
    • ff. 111b-112b: Wisdom of glory;
    • ff. 112b-113b: Wisdom of lordship;
    • ff. 113b-114b: Wisdom of Elias;
    • ff. 114b-: Wisdom of goodness;
    • ff. 115a-116b: Wisdom of Imāms;
    • ff. 117a-118b: Sublime wisdom;
    • ff. 118b-119b: Lordly wisdom;
    • ff. 119b-124a: Wisdom of individuality;
    • ff. 124b: Closing.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 23  Ḥilyah-i ḥulal / The jewel of vestments [between 1447 and 1457]

Physical Description: 42 leaves : paper ; 170 × 109 mm. bound to 169 × 116 mm.

Scope and Content Note

JĀmī's treatise on riddles, dedicated to the Timurid ruler of Khurāsān, Abū al-Qāsim Bābur (r. 1447-1457).
  • Author: JĀmī, 1414-1492
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Timurid Khurāsān?
  • Layout: 13 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Bound in soft red leather, blind stamped.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and verse markers in red.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-4a: Opening;
    • ff. 4a-8a: Diadem: What is a riddle;
    • ff. 8a-15a: First knot: simplifying;
    • ff. 15a-35a: Second knot: gathering and making manifest;
    • ff. 35a-42b: Third knot: completion.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 24  Yūsuf va Zulaykhā / Yusuf and Zulaikha [18--]

Physical Description: 71 leaves : paper, ill. ; 198 × 137 mm. bound to 201 × 147 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Belles-lettres. JĀmī's allegorical romance of Joseph, in verse (completed 1483 CE).
  • Author: JĀmī, 1414-1492
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Hyderabad, India
  • Layout: 13 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Decoration: Illumination on 1b.
  • Binding: Burgundy quarter leather binding, spine title stamped in gilt.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red. Text enclosed ina red lined box, which continues in diagonal sections to the outer margins. Occasional stains.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-9a: Opening verses;
    • ff. 9a-9b : The story of the lighting of the candle of Yūsuf's beauty;
    • ff. 9b-10b: How the sapling of Yūsuf's beauty was brought into the Garden of Testimony;
    • ff. 10b-12a: On the qualities and attributes of Zulaykhā;
    • ff. 12a-12b: On how Zulaykhā saw in the scabbard of sleep the sword of Yūsuf's beauty for the first time;
    • ff. 12b-13b : On how the morning breeze blew upon Zulaykhā and awakened her sleepy narcissus eyes;
    • ff. 13b-15a: On how the string of the intellect of maidens was tied into a knot of astonishment;
    • ff. 15a-16a: How Zulaykhā saw Yūsuf in a dream a second time;
    • ff. 16a-17a: On how Yūsuf came to her dream a third time;
    • ff. 17a-18a: How the envoys of the monarchs of those parts other than Egypt came to ask for Zulaykhā's hand;
    • ff. 18a-19a: How Zulaykhā's father sent a messenger to the 'Azīz of Egypt;
    • ff. 19a-20a: How the breeze of acceptance blew from Egypt, and how Zulaykhā's litter was conveyed to Egypt like a bouquet of flowers;
    • ff. 20a-20b: How the 'Azīz of Egypt found out that Zulaykhā had arrived;
    • ff. 20b-21b: How Zulaykhā saw the 'Azīz of Egypt from an opening in the pavilion-tent and cried "He is not the one I have seen in my dream, and for whom I have suffered the tribulations of love";
    • ff. 21b-22b: How Zulaykhā came into Egypt along with the 'Azīz of Egypt;
    • ff. 22b-23b: How Zulaykhā spent her days in the absence of Yūsuf;
    • ff. 23b-24a: The beginning of the brothers' jealousy;
    • ff. 24a-25a: How Yūsuf dreamed that the sun and the moon and twelve stars were bowing down to him;
    • ff. 25a-25b: How the brothers held council with one another to see what ruse they might devise to separate Yūsuf from Jacob;
    • ff. 25b-26a: How the brothers went to their father and asked him to take Yūsuf into the wilderness;
    • ff. 26a-27a: How the brothers took Yūsuf away from their father;
    • ff. 27a-28a: How the caravan arrived at the well, and how they took Yūsuf out of the well;
    • ff. 28a-28b: How the proprietor brought Yūsuf to the environs of Egypt;
    • ff. 28b-29a: How Yūsuf got into the river Nile to wash himself of the dust of the road;
    • ff. 29a-29b: How Zulaykhā, arriving at court and asking the reason for the congestion, saw Yūsuf's beauty;
    • ff. 29b-30b: How the proprietor presented Yūsuf for sale, and how Zulaykhā bought him;
    • ff. 30b-32a:The story of a girl named Bāzigha;
    • ff. 32a-33a: How Zulaykhā instructed Yūsuf, and how she served him with whatever was at hand;
    • ff. 33a-33b: How Yūsuf described the tribulations of the road and the agonies of the well;
    • ff. 33b-34a: How Yūsuf besought a shepherd;
    • ff. 34a-35a: How Zulaykhā asked Yūsuf for attainment;
    • ff. 35a-35b: How the nurse asked Zulaykhā the cause of her burning and smoldering;
    • ff. 35b-36b: How Zulaykhā sent the nurse to Yūsuf to ask for her wish;
    • ff. 36b-37b: How Zulaykhā went herself to Yūsuf and implored;
    • ff. 37b-38b: How Zulaykhā sent Yūsuf to the garden and how she set him up;
    • ff. 38b-39a: How evening fell, and how the maidens presented their beauties to Yūsuf;
    • ff. 39a-40a: How Zulaykhā implored her nurse for a ruse that would bring about the attainment of Yūsuf;
    • ff. 40a-40b: How the nurse built a house in which the pictures of Yūsuf and Zulaykhā were painted;
    • ff. 40b-42a: How Zulaykhā summoned Yūsuf into that house;
    • ff. 42a-44b: How Zulaykhā brought Yūsuf into the seventh house;
    • ff. 44b-45b: How the 'Azīz of Egypt came up to Yūsuf in front of that house, and how [Yūsuf] hid what had past between him and Zulaykhā;
    • ff. 45b-46b: How the captains dragged Yūsuf to prison;
    • ff. 46b-48b: How the women of Egypt removed their hands from the mouths, and began upbraiding Zulaykhā, and how the sword of the zeal of love cut their tongues and hands;
    • ff. 48b-49b: How the women of Egypt excused Zulaykhā after they had witnessed Yūsuf's beauty, and how Yūsuf disdained submission to Zulaykhā, and how she threatened him with imprisonment;
    • ff. 49b-50b: How the women of Egypt induced Zulaykhā to send Yūsuf to prison, and how Zulaykhā obeyed them;
    • ff. 50b-52a: How Zulaykhā regretted having sent Yūsuf to prison, and how she began to weep and wail for his absence;
    • ff. 52a-53a: How Zulaykhā grew impatient at Yūsuf's absence, and how she went to prison at night along with the nurse and witnessed his beauty;
    • ff. 53a-54a: How in daytime Zulaykhā went to the rooftop of her palace, and watched the rooftop of the prison from there, and how she began weeping and moaning over his absence;
    • ff. 54a-55a: The description of how Yūsuf did good to the men in jail, and how he interpreted the dream of the confidants of the king of Egypt, and how he charged one of them to recall him to the king;
    • ff. 55a-56a: How the king of Egypt requested Yūsuf for the interpreting of his dream, and how he pleaded that he investigate into what had passed between him and the women of Egypt;
    • ff. 56a-57a: How Yūsuf came out of prison, and how the king honored him, and how the 'Azīz of Egypt passed away, and how Zulaykhā was stricken with loneliness and separation;
    • ff. 57a-58b: The description of Zulaykhā's condition after the death of the 'Azīz of Egypt, and how the love of Yūsuf overpowered her, and how she was stricken with the tribulation of estrangement;
    • ff. 58b-59b: How Zulaykhā came to Yūsuf's way and built a hovel so she might find solace at the sound of the passing of his army;
    • ff. 59b-60b: How Zulaykhā blocked Yūsuf's way, and how she did not find favor, and how afterwards she went home, broke the idol, believed in God most high, went back to his way, and found favor;
    • ff. 60b-61b: How Zulaykhā came to the private house of Yūsuf, and how, by his prayers, she regained her sight, beauty, and youth;
    • ff. 61b-62b: How Yūsuf took Zulaykhā as wife by the order of God most high, and how he took her to the marriage bed;
    • ff. 62b-63b: How the love for Zulaykhā overpowered Yūsuf, and how he built a house of worship for her;
    • ff. 63b-64a: How Yūsuf saw his mother and father in a dream, and how he asked God most high to pass away, and how Zulaykhā panicked;
    • ff. 64a-66a: How Yūsuf passed away, and how Zulaykhā died from the pain of his separation;
    • ff. 66a-71b: closing material.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 25  [Dīvān-i JĀmī] / [Poems of JĀmī] 1546

Physical Description: 175 leaves : paper ; 218 × 131 mm. bound to 230 × 143 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Poetry anthology of Abd al-Raḥmān JĀmī. The compiler states the anthology was assembled in 1479, when JĀmī was "past sixty and close to seventy" (f. 2a).
  • Author: [JĀmī, 1414-1492]
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Iran
  • Layout: 15 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Decoration: Illumination on 1b.
  • Binding: Pink and blue marbled paper over boards; blue marbled pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text mostly in black ink, framed in gold and blue borders. Considerable water damage and staining; spine title.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 26  Gulistān / Rose garden 1648 July

Physical Description: 101 leaves : paper ; 190 × 112 mm. bound to 192 × 122 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript version of the well-known literary didactic masterpiece of 13th century writer Shaykh Sa 'dī.
  • Author: Sa 'dī
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Ottoman Karbala
  • Layout: 17 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Decoration: Illumination on 1b.
  • Binding: Bound in black leather, blind stamped, with blue pastedowns. Fore-edge flap.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings and verse markers in red. Notes on marginalia and endpapers in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-8a: Opening and table of contents;
    • ff. 8a-28b: Chapter one: kings;
    • ff. 28b-44b: Chapter two: dervishes;
    • ff. 44b-58b: Chapter three: being able to do without;
    • ff. 58b-61b: Chapter four: benefits of silence;
    • ff. 61b-72b: Chapter five: love and youth;
    • ff. 72b-76a: Chapter six: weakness and old age;
    • ff. 76a-88a: Chapter seven: the effect of instruction;
    • ff. 88a-100b: Chapter eight: the manner speaking;
    • ff. 100b-101a: Closing.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 27  [Kullīyāt-i dīvan-i Vahsh Bāfqī] / [The collected poems of Vahshī Bāfqī] [16--?]

Physical Description: 251 leaves : paper ; 178 × 97 mm. bound to 202 × 114 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Collected poems of Vahshī Bāfqī, including narrative and lyrical poems.
  • Author: Vahshi Bafqi, d. 1583
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: [Ṣafawid Iran]
  • Layout: 17 lines of text per page, in two columns.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Stiff black leather. Text block partially detached.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink; decorative calligraphy in margins. Occasional stains.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-18a: Khuld-i barīn (delightful paradise);
    • ff. 19b-50a: Farhād va Shirīn (Farhād and Shirīn);
    • ff. 50a-97b: Nāṣir va manẓūr (the one who gazes and the one who is gazed upon);
    • ff. 97b-115b: Masnavī (narrative poem);
    • ff. 116a-251b: Lyrics.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 28  Nujūm al-furqān [and] Maqāla fī al-āthār al-mutakhayyila fī al-jaww / Stars of the holy book, and, Treatise on meteorological phenomena 1851-1854

Physical Description: 94 leaves : paper ; 216 × 147 mm. bound to 222 × 152 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Two works. The first work is an index of the Koran dedicated to the Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707). It is also known as Nujūm al-furqān fī aṭrāf al-Qur'ān.
The second work is Abū al-Khayr al-Ḥasan ibn Suwārand Ibn al-Khammār's Arabic translation of the Syriac version of Aristotle's Meteorology. Ibn al-Khammar was a known editor and translator of Aristotle's works.
  • Author: Muṣṭafá ibn Muḥammad Sa'īd [and] Ibn al-Khammār, Abū al-Khayr al-Ḥasan ibn Suwār, b. 942
  • Scribe: Muḥammad Kadkani
  • Language: Text in Persian and Arabic
  • Origin: Qajar Iran
  • Layout: 23 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh.
  • Binding: Soft orange leather.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black and red ink; includes two graphs.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-85b: Nujūm al-furqān;
    • ff. 86a-87b: Blank;
    • ff. 87b-94a: Maqāla fī al-āthār al-mutakhayyila fī al-jaww.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 29  Jāvidān khirad / Immortal wisdom 1902

Physical Description: 33 leaves : paper ; 205 × 130 mm. bound to 207 × 131 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript copy of a lithographed text printed for Naṣir al-Dīn Shāh Qajar. The author was a Parsi scholar who came to India in search of books and manuscripts about the history of pre-Islamic Iran (f. 2a).
  • Author: Darvīsh-i Fānī, Manockji Limji Hushang Hataria, 19th century
  • Language: Text in Persian
  • Origin: Maraghah, Iran
  • Layout: 15 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Nasta'līq.
  • Binding: Stiff red wrappers with yellow pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink on blue paper; some marginalia.
  • Contents:
    • ff. 1b-2a: Opening;
    • ff. 2a-15b: The wise sayings of Hūshang;
    • ff. 15b-25a: The wise sayings of Buzurg'mihr;
    • ff. 25a-26b: The wise sayings of Āẓurbad;
    • ff. 26b-28b: The wise sayings Kayqubād;
    • ff. 28b-30a: Buzurg'mihr's advice to Kasrá;
    • ff. 30a-33b: The wise sayings of Anūshīrvan.
Box 3

Manuscript no. 30  [Ṣaḥīfa al-al-kāmila] / [The perfect volume] 1709-1715

Physical Description: 164 leaves : paper ; 261 × 161 mm. bound to 262 × 169 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Shiite prayer book known as Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya (with interlinear Persian translations), attributed to the fourth Shiite Imam al-Sajjād. Compiled in 1709, and translated in 1715, by the order of Mullā Niẕām al-Dīn al-Māzandarānī.
  • Author: Zayn al-' Ābidīn 'Ālī ibn al-Ḥusayn, d. 710?
  • Scribe: Al-Māzandarānī al-Mashhadsarī, Ḥājī Muḥammad Taqī ibn Muḥammad Ḥusayn
  • Language: Text in Arabic and Persian
  • Origin: Ṣafawid Persia
  • Layout: 20 lines of text per page.
  • Script: Naskh (Arabic text), Nasta'līq (Persian text).
  • Binding: Bound in green leather, with decorative gold and white paper pastedowns.
  • Additional descriptive data: Arabic in black ink, Persian in red, with headings partially gilt; framed in gilt borders. Extensive marginalia, and some water damage and staining.
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