Finding Aid for the Richard (Rouhollah) Karubian collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, 1510-1930

Processed by Ali Anooshahr, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, 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/

Descriptive Summary

Title: Richard (Rouhollah) Karubian collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts

Date (inclusive): 1510-1930

Collection number: 1183

Creator: Karubian, Richard

Extent: 5 boxes (2.5 linear ft.)

Abstract: Collection consists of Persian and Arabic manuscripts, and one Syriac manuscript, dating from 1510-1930. Subjects include Shiite theology, jurisprudence, and popular religion.

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.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Richard (Rouhollah) Karubian, 1989.

Processing Note

Processed by Ali Anooshahr, with assistance from Laurel McPhee, 2005, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).

Original manuscript descriptions by Richard (Rouhollah) Karubian were transcribed by Piyapong Phongpatanakhun in March 2003, and edited by Ali Anooshahr in 2005. Front matter by Manuscripts Division staff.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Richard (Rouhollah) Karubian collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts (Collection 1183). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 4888812

Scope and Content

Collection consists of Persian and Arabic manuscripts, and one Syriac manuscript, dating from the Safawid period to the 20th century. There are nine works of jurisprudence, four works of a theological nature, three works of popular religion, including devotionals and martyrology, a notebook containing sample letters for royal audience, and a Syriac manuscript. The manuscripts reflect trends in early modern Iranian intellectual history, including original compositions, items from school curricula, and works of popular religiosity. The collection also includes a fine copy of Fayḍ al-Kāshī's Minhāj al-nijāt.

Organization and Arrangement

Manuscripts are arranged in original manuscript number order.

Indexing Terms

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

Subjects

Karubian, Richard, collector.

Manuscripts, Arabic--Archival resources.

Manuscripts, Persian--Archival resources.

Box 1

Manuscript no. 1 [Shiite jurisprudence] 1817

Physical Description: 217 leaves : paper ; 300 × 222 mm. bound to 301 × 203 mm.

Scope and Content Note

A work of Shiite jurisprudence regarding menstruation and ritual purity.

Author: [Khuwānsārī, Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn, d. 1713]
Scribe: ''Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Ustād Qurbān
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 22 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Brown leather, blind stamped.
Additional description: Text in black, some section numbers or Koranic phrases in red ink. Occasional marginalia and damage.

Box 1

Manuscript no. 2 [Nahj al-balāgha kitāb mawāłẓ wa al-ḥikam] / [The height of eloquence : book of exhortations and aphorisms] 1681

Physical Description: 205 leaves : paper, 200 × 290 mm. bound to 202 × 276 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Third part of the Nahj al-Balāgha, a collection of sermons and sayings attributed to the first Shiite Imam 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600 -661), as collected by Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn Sharīf al-Raḍī (969 or 70-1016). The text on the first page starts mid-sentence.

Author: ['Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib 600 (ca.)-661.]
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Ṣafawid Persia
Layout: 13 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Brown morocco.
Additional descriptive data: Spine title. Text in black ink, occasionally underlined with red, with marginalia in several hands throughout. Some water damage.

Box 1

Manuscript no. 3 [IkhtiṢār sharḥ sharāyi' al-Islām fī masā'il al-ḥalāl wa al-ḥarām] / [The abridgement of the commentary on 'the rules of Islam regarding the questions of what is lawful and what is unlawful'] 1720

Physical Description: 276 leaves : paper ; 305 × 200 mm. bound to 305 × 200 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Abridged commentary of the author's grandfather, Zayn al-ḍn ibn 'Alī 'Āāmilī, also known as the second martyr (1506-1559), on a work of jurisprudence by Ja'far ibn al-Ḥasan Muḥaqqiq al-Hillīi (1205 or 6-1277). On the rules of ritual purity.

Author: Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn ibn 'Alī, 1506-1559
Scribe: Muḥammad Ṭāhir Dilmāqanī
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Ṣafawid Persia
Layout: 29 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Bound in black leather, blind stamped.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, number headings written or underlined in red. Leaf three is blank. Damage to text block along the spine.

Box 2

Manuscript no. 4 Irshād al-adhhān ilá al-aḣkām al-īmān / The guiding of minds to the strongest faith 1510

Physical Description: 134 leaves : paper ; 250 × 165 mm. bound to 252 × 175 mm.

Scope and Content Note

'Allāma al-Ḥilli's work on Shiite jurisprudence and theology.

Author: Ibn al-Muṭahhar al-Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf, 1250-1325.
Scribe: 'Abd al-Jawād ibn Zayn ibn ['Alī] [al-Ḥasanābāḍ]
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Ottoman Empire or Ṣafawid Persia
Layout: 21 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Burgundy leather boards with black leather spine and edges. Back cover detached.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red and extensive marginalia.
Contents:
- ff. 1a-1b: title page and table of contents;
- ff. 1b: opening;
- ff. 1b-5b: cleanliness;
- ff. 5b-15a: prayer;
- ff. 15a-19b: charity;
- ff. 19b-22a: fasting;
- ff. 22a-30a: pilgrimage;
- ff. 30a-33a: jihad;
- ff. 33a-41b: trade;
- ff. 41b-50a: debts;
- ff. 50a-58b: rent;
- ff. 58b-65b: gifts;
- ff. 65b-77a: marriage;
- ff. 77a-83b: separation;
- ff. 83b-88a: manumission;
- ff. 88a-93a: faith;
- ff. 93a-97a: hunting;
- ff. 97a-102b: inheritance;
- ff. 102b-112a: judicature;
- ff. 112a-119a: limitations;
- ff. 119a-127a: crimes;
- ff. 127a-133b: mulcts for homicide;
- ff. 134a: marginalia.

Box 2

Manuscript no. 5 [Commonplace book] [ca. 18--?]

Physical Description: 57 leaves : paper ; 162 × 100 mm. bound to 163 × 120 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Personal notebook containing poetry, drafts of letters, and prose. The poems on the first five leaves are by Ḥafiẓ, and are indicated as such in red ink. Some of the letters, found on leaves 16b-24a, are addressed to a son or daughter.

Language: Text in Persian
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: Varies.
Script: Nasta'līq.
Binding: Brown leather, blind stamped.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink on blue paper, with a few headings in red.

Box 2

Manuscript no. 6 Sharaāyi' al-Islām fī masā'il al-ḥalāl wa al-ḣarām / The rules of Islam regarding the questions of what is lawful and what is unlawful [ca. 18--?]]

Physical Description: 325 leaves : paper ; 230 × 180 mm. bound to 235 × 180 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Shiite jurisprudence.

Author: [Muḣaqqiq al-Hillīi, Ja'far ibn al-Ḥasan, 1205 or 6-1277]
Language: Text in Arabic and Persian
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 19 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Blue marbled wrappers over boards.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red and fairly extensive marginalia. Occasional interlinear Persian translation, and chapter headings.
Contents:
- ff 1a-1b: prayer and opening;
- ff. 1b-14a: cleanliness;
- ff. 14a-36b: prayer;
- ff. 36b-47a: charity;
- ff. 47a-49a: the fifth;
- ff. 49a-55a: fasting;
- ff. 55a-56b: remaining constantly in worship;
- ff. 56b-75a: pilgrimage;
- ff. 75a: minor pilgrimage;
- ff. 75a-82a: jihad;
- ff. 82a-82b: commanding the good and forbidding evil;
- ff. 82b-97a: trade;
- ff. 97a-101a: the bankrupt;
- ff. 101a-103b: interdiction;
- ff. 105a-109a: guarantee;
- ff. 109a-111a: settlement;
- ff. 111a-112b: corporation;
- ff. 112b-115a: silent partnership;
- ff. 115a-116b: temporary sharecropping;
- ff. 116a-118a: sharecropping contract;
- ff. 118a-119: custody;
- ff. 119a-120b: loan;
- ff. 120b-123a: rent;
- ff. 123a-128a: representation [power of attorney];
- ff. 128a-131b: charitable endowment;
- ff. 131b-132b: housing and confining;
- ff. 132b-133a: bestowal;
- ff. 133a-134b: precedence;
- ff. 134b-141b: wills;
- ff. 141b-170a: marriage;
- ff. 170a-179b: divorce;
- ff. 179b-182a: divorce [at the insistence of the wife], and peaceful separation;
- ff. 182a-186b: ?ihar divorce;
- ff. 186b-188a: annulment of unconsummated marriage;
- ff. 188a-190b: allegation of adultery;
- ff. 190b-193a: liberty;
- ff. 193a-194b: manumission [after the death of the master];
- ff. 194b-197a: correspondence;
- ff. 197a-201a: affirmation [confession];
- ff. 201a-202a: [wages?];
- ff. 202a-206a: faithfulness;
- ff. 206a-229b: pledge;
- ff. 229b-232b: hunting and slaughter;
- ff. 232b-236a: food an drink;
- ff. 236a-240b: usurpation;
- ff. 240b-244b: [preemption?];
- ff. 244b-247a: cultivation of virgin land;
- ff. 247a-249b: that which has been found;
- ff. 249b-263b: obligations;
- ff. 263b-278b: judgeship;
- ff. 278b-285b: testimonials;
- ff. 285b-279b: punishments;

Box 2

Manuscript no. 7 [Bāb al-Ṣalāt min sharāyi' al-Islām fī masā'il al-ḥalāl wa al-ḥarām] / [Chapter on prayer from the rules of Islam regarding the questions of what is lawful and what is unlawful] 1863

Physical Description: 179 leaves : paper ; 208 × 150 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Shiite jurisprudence. The composition dates to three years prior to the copy date (1863). Appears to be an excerpt or exposition on prayer from a broader theological collection referred to as Sharāyi' al-Islām, but its authorship is not noted (179a).

Scribe: Muḥammad Ṣādiq al-Wā'iẓ al-IṢfahani
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 21 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Unbound text block.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red and some marginalia. Water damage throughout.

Box 2

Manuscript no. 8 [Tamḥd al-qawā' id al-uṣuliyya wa al-'arabiyya li-tafrī fawā'id al-aḥkām al-shar' īyya] / [Introducing fundamental and Arabic rules in order to bring forth the useful things of legal rulings] 1892

Physical Description: 156 leaves : paper ; 214 × 170 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript version of a work by Shahīd al-Thānī, the famous Shiite scholar who lived in the Ottoman empire (see MS 11 for a duplicate version). The manuscript begins without the customary opening and prayer, suggesting that this is the last volume in a multi-volume composition. The composition date is given as Friday 8 January of 1551 (final leaf).

Author: Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn ibn 'Alī, 1506-1559
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 16 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Unbound text block.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink with some marginalia. Some water damage. Occasional impression of colorless stamp in Cyrillic script at bottom left corner of leaves.

Box 2

Manuscript no. 9 Miftaḥ al-fālaḥ / Key to prosperity 1880-1881

Physical Description: 179 leaves : paper ; 217 × 125 mm. bound to 221 × 130 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Shaykh Bahā'ī, Shiite theological work intended for students (2b) and composed in March of 1616 (178b).

Author: 'Āmilī, Bahā' al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ḥusayn, 1547-1621
Scribe: Qawam al-ḍn ibn Mu?ammad Taq? al-?usayni
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 14 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Brown leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with chapter headings, punctuation, and underlining in red. Occasional marginalia and staining.
Contents:
- ff. 1b-2a: opening and introduction;
- ff. 2a-66b: Chapter one: what one does between dawn and sunrise;
- ff. 66b-79b: Chapter two: what one does between sunrise and noon;
- ff. 79b-107b: Chapter three: what one does between noon and sunset;
- ff. 107b-124b: Chapter four: what one does between sunset and sleep-time;
- ff. 124b-132b: Chapter five: what one does between sleep-time and midnight;
- ff. 132b-178b: Chapter six: what one does between midnight and dawn;
- ff. 178a: scribe's note.

Box 3

Manuscript no. 10 Kashf al-ghiṭā' 'an mubhamāt al-sharī 'a al-gharrā' / Removing the cover from the obscurities of the brilliant law 1930

Physical Description: 206 leaves : paper ; 303 × 205 mm. bound to 306 × 205 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Shiite jurisprudence.

Author: [Janājī, Ja'far ibn Khaḍir, 1743 or 4-1811 or 12]
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Iran
Layout: 31 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Black leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red. Occasional staining and damage to spine.
Contents:
- ff. 1b: opening and introduction;
- ff. 1b-28a: First field;
- ff. 28a-: Second field.

Box 3

Manuscript no. 11 Tamḥd al-qawā' id al-uṢuliyya wa al-'arabiyya li-tafrī' fawā'id al-aḥkãm al-shar'īyya / Introducing fundamental and Arabic rules in order to bring forth the useful things of legal rulings 1639

Physical Description: 116 leaves : paper ; 212 × 147 mm. bound to 214 × 140 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Work by prolific sixteenth-century Shiite scholar Shahīd al-Thānī, who lived in Ottoman Syria/Lebanon. In the opening statements, Shahīd (1b) states that the science of jurisprudence (fiqh) is a noble one, and the ink of scholars is more virtuous than the blood of martyrs. Therefore, ceaseless research of jurisprudence, beginning with the study of the fundamentals and Arabic, is of paramount importance. Completion date for the composition is recorded as Friday 8 January 1551 (final leaf).

Author: Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn ibn 'Alī, 1506-1559
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Ottoman Empire or Ṣafawid Persia.
Layout: 21 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Limp black leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red on 47b. Staining and water damage throughout.

Box 3

Manuscript no. 12 [Minhāj al-nijāt] / [The right paths to salvation] no date

Physical Description: 418 leaves : paper ; 314 × 185 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Persian translation of Fayḍ al-Kāshī's "Minhāj al-nijāt", a comprehensive book of Shiite devotionals. The manuscript contains several hundred prayers in Arabic, in addition to narrative prologues in Persian that describe the origins of some prayers. Several pages from the beginning, the end, and the middle are missing. The first full prayer, starting at the bottom of on 1a, is the "prayer of the small coat of mail (jawshan-I Ṣaghīr)".

Although the title page is no longer attached, a number of clues allow for making an inference on the identity of the book. First, on a small piece of paper measuring 6 × 3 × 7 cm. (torn from a dedication page, judging by the decorative gilding between the lines, and the occurrence of the words "royal crown and throne"), there are two key words. These are on the backside of the gilded page and read "al-nijāt 'Abbāsī". Since this section is in Persian, the Arabic definite article added to the word "nijāt" suggests a title of a book--most likely "Minhāj al-nijāt", the Arabic book written by Muḥammad ibn Murtaḍá Fayḍ al-Kāshī (1598 or 9-1680 or 81) while sojourning in the Ṣafawid capital Isfahan during the reign of Shāh 'Abbās II (the king whose name is attached to the title).

The second clue is provided in the margin of 95a where a hand, while clarifying a certain phrase in one of the prayers, refers to the discrepancy between the "original manuscript" and "the manuscript of Muhaj al-Da' awāt" . The original is most likely the Arabic original of al-Kāshī, and the second text, "Muhaj al-da' awāt wa-manhaj al-' ibādāt", is the book of Shiite prayers composed by the 13th century scholar 'Alī ibn Mūsá Ibn Ṭāwūs (1193-1266).

Author: [Fayḍ al-Kāshī, Muḥammad ibn Murtaḍá, 1598 or 9-1680 or 81]
Language: Text in Persian and Arabic
Layout: 17 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh; Arabic texts vocalized.
Binding: Unbound text block.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink with headings in red or gold, enclosed in a painted border. Occasional staining and tears.
Contents:
- ff. 1a-68a: Remainder of chapter two;
- ff. 68a-84a: Chapter three: prayers for times of trouble;
- ff. 84a-131b: Chapter four: prayers for repelling enemies;
- ff. 131b-171b: Chapter five: "warder" prayers;
- ff. 171b-176b: Chapter six: prayers for repelling devils and witchcraft;
- ff. 177a-192b: Remainder of chapter twelve;
- ff. 193a-200b: Chapter thirteen: prayers of repentance;
- ff. 200b-205b: Chapter fourteen: prayers of praising the Prophet;
- ff. 205b-218a: Chapter fifteen: prayers attributed to various prophets;
- ff. 218a-227a: Chapter sixteen: prayers for asking for guidance;
- ff. 227a-244a: Chapter seventeen: on the virtues of reading the Koran;
- ff. 244a-264b: Chapter eighteen; on the several names of God;
- ff. 264b-314b: Chapter twenty: on the merits of Friday nights;
- ff. 314b-335b: Chapter twenty one: on weekday prayers;
- ff. 335b-358b: Chapter twenty two: prayers to follow required prayers;
- ff. 358b-376b: Chapter twenty three: on what to do during the month of Rajab;
- ff. 376b-392b: Chapter twenty four: on what do for the month of Sha' bān;
- ff. 392b-418b: Chapter twenty five: on what to do for the month of Ramaḍān.

Box 4

Manuscript no. 13 Muntakhab kitāb jawāhir al-adhkār / Selection of the book of the jewels of remembrances 1848

Physical Description: 206 leaves : paper, ill. ; 207 × 131 mm. bound to 213 × 140 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Shiite book of prayers. It is an abridgement of another text known as "Jawāhir al-adhkār".

Scribe: Ibn 'Abd al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad Nayrīzī
Language: Text in Arabic and Persian
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 13 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh; Arabic texts vocalized.
Decoration: Illumination on leaves 1b and 2a.
Binding: Brown leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red. Rows underlined in yellow, contained in a painted border. Staining and water damage throughout.
Contents:
- ff. 1b-2b: Opening and table of contents (incomplete);
- ff. 2b-6b: Chapter one: the merits of prayer;
- ff. 6b-8a: Chapter two: rebuking of abandoning prayer;
- ff. 8a-10b: Chapter three: things that come before prayer for a speedy results;
- ff. 10b-11b: Chapter four: things that must be done after the prayer;
- ff. 11b-14b: Chapter five: the etiquette of prayer;
- ff. 14b-47b: Chapter six: prayers extracted out of the adored leaves;
- ff. 47b-48b: Chapter seven: when the sun enters Aries;
- ff. 48b-50a: Chapter eight: on what to do on Nawruz;
- ff. 50a-51b: Chapter nine: on what to do after that;
- ff. 51b-56b: Chapter ten: on the manners of observing the crescent moon;
- ff. 56b-69b: Chapter eleven: on what to do during the month of Muḥarram;
- ff. 69b-74a: Chapter twelve: on what to do during the month of Ṣafar;
- ff. 74a-83a: Chapter thirteen: on what to do during the month of Rabī ' al-al-ūlá;
- ff. 83a: Chapter fourteen: on what to do during the month of Rabī' al-Thānī;
- ff. 83a-83b: Chapter fifteen: on what to do during the month of Jumādá al-ūlá;
- ff. 83b-84b: Chapter sixteen: on what to do during the month of Jumādá al-Thānī;
- ff. 84b-96b: Chapter seventeen: on the virtues and requirements of the month of Rajab;
- ff. 96b-102b: Chapter eighteen: on the virtues and requirements of the month of Sha ' bān;
- ff. 102b-139a: Chapter nineteen: on the virtues and requirements of the month of Ramaḍān;
- ff. 139a-144b: Chapter twenty: on what to do during the month of Shawwāl;
- ff. 144b-145a: Chapter twenty one: on what to do during the month of Dhū al-Qa' da;
- ff. 145a-162b: Chapter twenty two: on what to do during the month of Dhū al-Ḥijja;
- ff. 162b-165b: Chapter twenty three: on the manners and virtues of saying laudations;
- ff. 165b-206: Chapter twenty four: necessary prayers for the one's welfare in this world and the next.

Box 4

Manuscript no. 14 [Ta'wilat al-Āyāt] / [Commentaries upon Koranic verses] 1842-1843

Physical Description: 254 leaves : paper ; 308 × 201 mm. bound to 310 × 212 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Exegetical work of the early Shiite scholar Sharīf al-Murtadá. 1b begins with an incomplete sentence, "Thus says the... 'Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsá al-Mūsawī" which indicates the identity of the author (the full name occurs in the text also, ex. 221). This is followed by a phrase marked in red which reads, "ta'wīl Ỉāya" (commentary upon a verse), and is followed by a verse from the Koran (Chapter 17, verse 16). Furthermore, someone has written on the top-edge "Ta'wīlat-I Sayyid Murtadá", meaning, Commentaries of Master Murtadá.

Author: Sharīf al-Murtadá, 'Alam al-Hudá 'Alī ibn al-ḥusayn, 966-1044 or 5
Scribe: Muḥammad Taqī [al-Ḥusayni?] al-Zanūzī
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 21 lines of text per page.
Script: Nasta'līq.
Binding: Black leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red on 1b. Occasional marginalia and staining; water damage throughout.

Box 4

Manuscript no. 15 [Book on the Shiite Imams] 1813

Physical Description: 136 leaves : paper ; 260 × 147 mm. bound to 261 × 150 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Book on the lives, martyrdoms, sayings, and the pilgrimage customs to the tombs of Shiite Imams, but especially Ḥusayn ibn 'Alī. The author begins by expounding on the merit of weeping for the martyrs, and tells the stories of the martyrdom of ?usayn and his family at the battle Karbala, as well as the poisoning of Ḥusayn's brother êasan ibn 'Alī. The author cites early Shiite scholarly authorities such as Ibn Ṭāwūs and Sharīf al-Murtadá. It is similar to a separate work on martyrdoms entitled "Nawḥa al-aḥzān", composed in 1648 by Yūsuf ibn Āghā Beg Dihkhwārāqanī, and dedicated to Shāh 'Abbās II (Storey I: 215). Someone has excerpted some lines from the Dihkhwāraqānī text and written them in the margin of 90a.

Scribe: Banī (?) al-Khalīl al-Khurāsānī al-Shīrāzī
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Tabriz, Iran
Layout: 19 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Brown leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink with headings and punctuations in red on 1b. Marginalia in Persian and Arabic; occasional staining.

Box 5

Manuscript no. 16 Qawā' id al-aḥkām fī ma' rifa al-ḥalal wa-al-ḥarām / The foundation of rulings in learning what is lawful and what is unlawful [18--]

Physical Description: Circa 261 leaves : paper ; 245 × 155 mm. bound to 234 × 154 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Part 1 of a two-volume work of Shiite jurisprudence by al-Ḥillī, a student of the famous NaṢīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī.

Author: [Ibn al-Muṭahhar al-Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf, 1250-1325]
Language: Text in Arabic
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 17 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Limp brown leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with headings in red and extensive marginalia. Staining and water damage throughout.
Contents:
- ff. 1b: prayer and opening;
- ff. 1b-17a: cleanliness;
- ff. 14a-36b: prayer;
- ff. 36b-46a: charity;
- ff. 46a-53a: fasting;
- ff. 53a-75a: pilgrimage;
- ff. 75b-88a: jihad;
- ff. 88a-116a: business transactions;
- ff. 116a-141a: debts;
- ff. 141a-151a: sureties;
- ff. 151a-168b: unlawful arbitrariness;
- ff. 168b-198a: rent;
- ff. 198a-261b: gifts and charitable endowment.

Box 5

Manuscript no. 17 Ṣirāṭ [va qirāṭ]-i ḥaqq / Right path [or lamp] of truth 1846

Physical Description: 96 leaves : paper ; 213 × 115 mm. bound to 215 × 118 mm.

Scope and Content Note

A work of Shiite theology dedicated to the third Qājār king Muḥammad Shāh (r. 1835-48). The manuscript seems to be in the author's hand. He writes that he had written a more extensive work on the same topic which had been misunderstood in some circles, so he composed a second text to clarify the more controversial points.

Author: Burūjirdī, Muîḥammad Ḥusayn ibn Ma 'sūm
Language: Text in Persian
Origin: Qājār Iran
Layout: 16 lines of text per page.
Script: Naskh.
Binding: Brown leather, blind stamped.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with punctuations, headings and early marginal explanations in red. Occasional staining. Text block separated from binding.

Box 5

Manuscript no. 18 [Unknown] [1572?]

Physical Description: 102 leaves : paper ; 291 × 205 mm. bound to 299 × 212 mm.

Scope and Content Note

Karshuni religious manuscript.

Language: Text in Syriac
Layout: 27 lines of text per page.
Script: Serto.
Binding: Brown leather.
Additional descriptive data: Text in black ink, with punctuations and headings in red. Staining and water damage throughout.