Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 260Origin: Lacks dated scribal colophon ; decoration, paper, etc. may suggest 16th century ; authorial colophon on p.418 indicates date of composition Ṣafar 890 [February-March 1485].Accompanying materials: a. Slip with notes (paginated pp.17-18) -- b. Blank slip (paginated pp.53-54) -- c. Slip with notes (paginated pp.99-100).Former shelfmark: "١٢٦" possible former inventory mark on recto of front flyleaf ; "331 T. D. M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark maroon leather with black leather over spine, fore edge flap, and edges/turn-ins (likely repairs) ; Type II binding (with flap) ; doublures in dark brown leather with central gold-painted four-lobed floral motif ; fore edge flap lined in green silk ; upper and lower covers carry stamped and gold-painted scalloped mandorla (filled with vegetal decoration, compare Déroche OAi 6), pendants, and corner pieces, along with gold-painted border ; sewn in dark green-blue thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in brown and cream (head) and dark green and cream (tail), fair condition ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion, lifting and losses of leather, etc. ; housed in box for protection.Support: non-European (Persian) laid paper mainly with 6 laid lines per cm. (vertical) and no chain lines clearly visible, well-burnished to glossy, sturdy, transluscent, medium to dark cream in color ; toward close another crisp type with many inclusions (see p.387 to close) ; flyleaves in European laid paper (surface-dyed lavender and gold-flecked) ; added leaves at opening on European laid paper with watermarks of eagle, "GFA" and lion rampant in arms (see pp.1-4) ; staining and tide lines.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) appears at opening on p.6, consisting of rectangular piece with gold cartouche carrying the basmalah in white, overlaid with arabesque in green, surrounded by further vegetal decoration in gold, pink, blue, yellow, green, etc. on a field of lapis lazuli, and surounded by decorative band with blue crosses on a field of white and band of interlace in gold ; surmounted by another narrow rectangular piece containing similar vegetal design evoking arabesque on a field of lapis lazuli and surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue ; keywords, abbreviation symbols, and text being commented upon in rubricated (light and dark red) ; textual dividers in the form inverted commas, letter hāʼ, etc. in red ; written area throughout surrounded by frame consisting of gold band flanked by black fillets with outermost blue rule (frame on incipit and facing page includes additional gold band) ; occasional diagrams in red and black (see p.20, 57, 87).Script: Nastaʻlīq and naskh ; text of sharḥ in nastaʻlīq, excerpts of Arabic poetry being commented upon in naskh ; nastaʻlīq compact with slight effect of words descending to baseline, elongation of horizontal strokes, letterforms characteristic of nastaʻlīq ; Persianate naskh mainly serifless, quite vertical and somewhat stiff though descenders are mainly curvilinear, with pointing in distinct dots.Layout: Written mainly in 21 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, I (2), *IV (9), 24 IV(201), IV+1 (210), i ; almost exclusively quaternions ; first two leaves of opening quaternion affixed to each other ; added leaves at opening of codex ruled for table of contents but left blank ; on pp.43-44 area within written area left blank (perhaps for diagrams or illustrations never realized) ; catchwords present ; foliation in red ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inserts and added leaves and skips two pages each between pp.239-240, 237-238, and 267-268).Explicit: "مهما ترى صف عقد من مديحهم في نظمه ود زهر الحق تضمينا"Incipit: "سپاس وسعادة اساس وشكر عبادة لباس معبودى را كه اعلام نبوة وولاية در ميدان فتوة وهداية ..."Title from inscription on 'title page' (p.5).Ms. codex.Fine copy of the commentary by Qāḍī Mīr Ḥusayn ibn Muʻīn al-Dīn al-Maybūdī al-Yazdī (d.1504?) on the collection (dīwān) of Arabic poetry attributed to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600-661), opening with the Favātiḥ-i sabʻah.
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 684Origin: As appears in colophon on p.629, copied by Abū al-Qāsim ibn Āghā Jān bin Baz [?] with transcription completed 14 Rajab [?] 1063 [ca. 10 June 1653]. As appears in preceding authorial colophon (also on p.629), composition completed in Ṣafar 890 [1485].Accompanying materials: a. Inventory cataloguing slip in hand of Winifred Smeaton Thomas -- b. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda -- c. Portion of a printed page with list of titles in Arabic script, perhaps torn from a catalogue -- d. Slip ruled with a red grid (between pp.112-113).Former shelfmark: From interior of upper cover and spine label, "IL 22" (likely supplied by Yahuda, see acquisitions slip).Binding: Pasteboards covered in black (upper cover, which appears to be a replacement for the original) and brown (lower cover and spine) leathers ; Type II (with flap, though now lost) ; upper board lining in untinted wove paper ; lower doublure in red-brown leather ; lower cover carries blind-stamped (with recessed onlay) scalloped mandorla (filled with scene of two antelopes and a flowering tree) and pendants, as well as tooled border in a series of s-shaped stamps flanked by tooled fillets ; sewn in red thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in light yellow and pink, only portion of tailband remains ; overall in quite poor condition with flap lost, extensive abrasion, lifting and losses of leather (especially to replacement upper cover), staining, severe moisture damage and shrinkage in upper cover, fills to upper cover in bits of black leather and pink textile, etc.Support: European laid paper ; mainly with 13 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 24-27 mm. apart (vertical), and watermark of crown above fleur de lis (see p.25, etc.), extremely well sized and burnished (quite glossy), transluscent and quite crisp, though sturdy ; another type with 11 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 23 mm. apart (vertical), and watermark of an inverted teardrop shape with cross (see p.452, etc.) ; burnisher's marks visible.Decoration: Keywords (فتح، ميقرمايد، الخ), headings for excerpts from the dīwān attributed to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and abbreviation symbols (sigla, etc.) rubricated ; most Arabic excerpts overlined in red ; textual dividers in the form of 'three inverted commas' conjoined to form a single stroke ; a few diagrams in red and black ink (see pp.49-51, 67, 112).Script: Nastaʻlīq and naskh ; elegant Persianate hand ; nastaʻlīq sans serif with slight effect of words descending to baseline, mainly closed counters, sweeping horizontal strokes, pointing in strokes or conjoined dots ; Arabic excerpts mainly in a medium naskh, serifless and fairly vertical but with slight effect of tilt to the left, quite rounded with curvilinear descenders, pointing in strokes rather than distinct dots.Layout: Written in 19 lines per page, occasionally divided to two columns to set off poetry ; frame-ruled.Collation: IV+1 (9), 37 IV(305), V (315) ; almost exclusively quaternions ; quires marked in black ink ("رب يسر") at the head of the recto of the opening leaf of each quire ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals.Colophon: "Scribal," reads "تمت الكتاب بعون الملك الوهاب بتاريخ ۱۴ شهر رجب المرجب سنه ۱۰۶۳ م م م المحتاج الى رحمة الله الغني ابو القاسم بن آغا جان بن بز"Explicit: "ارجو النجا بكم يوم المعادون حبت نداى من الذنب الافانينا"Incipit: "اهل فقر همت طلبیم آینه ذات حق چو درویشانند ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.2. p.153-p.629 : [continuation of Sharḥ-i Dīvān-i mansūb bih Amīr al-Muʼminīn ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib] / Qāḍī Mīr Ḥusayn ibn Muʻīn al-Dīn al-Maybudī.1. p.1-p.153 : Favātiḥ-i sabʻah / Qāḍī Mīr Ḥusayn ibn Muʻīn al-Dīn al-Maybudī.Elegant but acephalous copy (opening in the first Fātiḥah, compare p.18 of the 2000 Tihrān edition) of the commentary by Qāḍī Mīr Ḥusayn ibn Muʻīn al-Dīn al-Manṭiqī al-Maybudī al-Yazdī (d.1504?) upon the dīwān attributed to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600-661), opening with the Favātiḥ-i sabʻah.