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A richly illuminated manuscript of a Moroccan prayer book

[MANUSCRIPT - PRAYER BOOK - ARABIC].
Dala'il Al-Hairat Wa-Sawariq Al-Anwar / Burda / Al-Husn Al-Hasin / etc.

Manuscript in Arabic script (Maghribi, with rubrications and embellishments in Thuluth) on paper. With six richly illuminated pages decorated in gold and colours.

Manuscript in Arabic script (Maghribi, with rubrications and embellishments in Thuluth) on paper. With six richly illuminated pages decorated in gold and colours.

Manuscript in Arabic script (Maghribi, with rubrications and embellishments in Thuluth) on paper. With six richly illuminated pages decorated in gold and colours.

Manuscript in Arabic script (Maghribi, with rubrications and embellishments in Thuluth) on paper. With six richly illuminated pages decorated in gold and colours.



[Morocco, early 18th century]. Small 8vo (9.6 x 9.6 cm). Square calf binding over wooden boards with fore-edge flap; covers decorated with interlacing star design in gold and colours. All edges gilt and gauffered. Manuscript in Arabic script (Maghribi, with rubrications and embellishments in Thuluth) on paper. With six richly illuminated pages decorated in gold and colours. 214 ll.

Splendidly decorated Maghreb prayer book in its corresponding original binding. The volume unites several texts which were popular in Morocco and typical for such prayer books: a collection with very similar content and cover design is preserved at the Austrian National Library (Cod. Vind. Mixt 1876; edited as a facsimile in 1987; see below). The manuscript starts with a richly decorated double page (f. 2v-4r) which echoes the binding decoration with its interlacing star design in red, blue, and gold. A sturdy leaf coloured in pinkish orange (f. 3) protects the two illuminated pages.

The first text (fol. 4v-105v), encompassing roughly the first half of the volume, is the famous "Dala'il al-khayrat wa shawariq al-anwar" ("Guide to Goodness") by the Moroccan mystic Muhammed al-Jazuli (d. 1465), one of the so-called "Seven Saints of Marrakesh". The text begins with an illuminated title page which takes up the decoration of the introductory pages (Thuluth inscriptions in gold, based on a blue-and-white background with borders in gold, white, and red). This is followed by a glorification of the Prophet and by the "99 Most Beautiful Names of Allah", as well as by a splendid double-page illumination typical for Maghreb prayer books: the right page (16v) depicts a prayer niche (mihrab) with a lamp (an allusion to the "Verse of Light", sura XXIV, 35); on the left (18r), the motif is repeated in a more elaborate fashion. The interior field hints at the steps of a pulpit (minbar); on the opposite is a glorification of Muhammed in golden Thuluth script.

The second text (fol. 106v-124r) is the "Burda" by the 13th-century Egyptian teacher al-Busiri, an encomium of the Prophet's cloak ("burda") which miraculously cured the author of paralysis. The so-called "Qasidat al-burda" is probably the most famous poetic praise of Muhammed in Islamic literature.
This is followed by the third text (fol. 124v-126v), a brief mystical poem by Umm Hani al-Madanija; as elsewhere, the verses are delimited by red and blue dots. The fourth text (fol. 127v-130v) actually constitutes a transition to the next long text; its last page depicts a decorative mystical "Magic Square". The fifth and final text (fol. 132r-206v) is "Al-husn al hasin" ("The Fortified Fortress") by the Damascus judge Mohammed al-Jazari, one of the most renowned theologians and mystics of his age. This last text is dated "1209" (1795 A.D.) in the colophon and thus apparently is a later addendum, while the rest of the manuscript dates from the early 18th century. This dating is supported by the different appearance of the text (written by a different hand with a thinner pen). The last pages (207r-213v and 1v) contain other addenda by a later hand (prayers, partly on different, thinner paper) as they are frequently found in Islamic prayer books, especially after the volume changes hands: cf. the old manuscript marks of ownership on the front pastedown. (Based on a description by Dr Raphaela Veit, Tübingen).
In very good condition.
Cf.al-Jazuli, Dala'il al-hairat wa sawariq al-anwar und andere Texte. Vollständige Faksimile-Ausgabe. Graz, 1987 (= Codices selecti 86), nos. 1, 3, 4, 12, 13. Cf. Brockelmann II, 252 (al-Jazuli) and I, 252 (al-Busiri).

Related Subjects: Arabia  Islamitica  Manuscripts  Morocco  Prayer Books  Religion 

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