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Lot Essay
The first folio of this manuscript contains information on various Qur’anic figures including Ayub (Job), ’Imran (Jacob) and Musa ibn ‘Imran (Moses). At the top of the page is a note saying that it was seen by a certain Haji Mirza Muhammad. On the next page are fragments of further pious and talismanic texts.
The compilation consists mostly of charts in the form of circles (da’ira), including several ones of the, asma’ al-husna, of stones and metals, a diagram for the conditions for the pursuit of knowledge as a means to the path to God in the form of the legacy of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, the seven planets, the principles of alchemy (salt, sulphur, quicksilver), the four elements, the kings of Persia (muluk-i ‘ajam), the kings of the Arabs (muluk-i ‘arab), on the truth or falsity of dreams according to the night of the month, dream interpretation for dreams seen on the night of the new moon of each month, the ten great reciters of the Qur’an, the significance of the planets for all matter of earthly beings, the four Sufi orders (Rifa’i, Naqshbandi, Shattari, Kubrawi), the tempers of the body, prayers for Ramadan, the meaning of Sura al-Fatiha, the seven climes of the spiritual realm, and other cosmological, astrological and prognostic charts. It also includes a table of letters with their abjad numerals written below. The most elaborate diagram has the title al-Haqq al-Mizan, 'The Truth, The Balance', contrasting the sinful ashab al-shimal (Companions of the Left) and the righteous ashab al-yamin (Companions of the Right). There is also a diagram of intersecting arches, showing the relative position of the various states of being (for instance the spirit, soul, body, material, animal and plant) with the 'Complete Muhammadan Spirit' at the apex'.
Another copy of this work sold at Christie's, South Kensington, 23 April 2012, lot 165.
The compilation consists mostly of charts in the form of circles (da’ira), including several ones of the, asma’ al-husna, of stones and metals, a diagram for the conditions for the pursuit of knowledge as a means to the path to God in the form of the legacy of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, the seven planets, the principles of alchemy (salt, sulphur, quicksilver), the four elements, the kings of Persia (muluk-i ‘ajam), the kings of the Arabs (muluk-i ‘arab), on the truth or falsity of dreams according to the night of the month, dream interpretation for dreams seen on the night of the new moon of each month, the ten great reciters of the Qur’an, the significance of the planets for all matter of earthly beings, the four Sufi orders (Rifa’i, Naqshbandi, Shattari, Kubrawi), the tempers of the body, prayers for Ramadan, the meaning of Sura al-Fatiha, the seven climes of the spiritual realm, and other cosmological, astrological and prognostic charts. It also includes a table of letters with their abjad numerals written below. The most elaborate diagram has the title al-Haqq al-Mizan, 'The Truth, The Balance', contrasting the sinful ashab al-shimal (Companions of the Left) and the righteous ashab al-yamin (Companions of the Right). There is also a diagram of intersecting arches, showing the relative position of the various states of being (for instance the spirit, soul, body, material, animal and plant) with the 'Complete Muhammadan Spirit' at the apex'.
Another copy of this work sold at Christie's, South Kensington, 23 April 2012, lot 165.