Details
Object numberMS 1492 [Handlist 7 Sa]
TitleDīwān
Creatoral-Khaṭṭāb (Author)
DescriptionThe largest part of this manuscript is occupied by the collected poems of al-Khaṭṭāb, followed by other bits of poetry and of prose. A note (not by the scribe) on the title page states that what follows it is in the hand of al-shaykh ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī, and this is confirmed by the fact that three verses on fol. 108a are preceded by a rubric in the hand of the scribe to the effect that these verses are 'by 'An b. Sa‘īd , the owner (miilik) of this collection, may God grant him success'. The date of the completion of the section containing the poems of al-Khaṭṭāb is given on fol. 71a as 14 Rajab 1162 (29 June 1749).
The Dīwān of al-Khaṭṭāb has been edited by Poonawala, together with an extensive commentary, in his book al-Sulṭān al-Khaṭṭāb: ḥayātuhū wa shi‘ruhū (Cairo, 1967; 2nd edition, Beirut, 1999), mainly on the basis of this manuscript, collated with several others. In the following I cite the poems according to Poonawala's numbering.
The 26 poems of al-Khaṭṭāb contained in this manuscript (which Poonawala publishes as the 26 poems of the 'first part' of the Dīwān) are mainly of devotional content, but there is also an elegy on the death of the Ṣulayḥid queen, al-Sayyida Arwā bint Aḥmad (no. 8). A further 31 poems were published by Poonawala as the 'second part' of the Dīwān and are found only in a single manuscript from South Arabia. These are on the whole of a more topical nature, including lampoons against the author's enemies, and several odes addressed to al-Sayyida during her lifetime (part II, nos 5, 6, 7, 8).
REFERENCES: For this Dīwān see also: al-Majdū‘, p. 41 (says that it contains 25 poems); Ivanow (1933), no. 185; Ivanow (1963), no.194; Goriawala (1965), no. 79; Poonawala (1977), pp. 134-135, no. 1; Cortese (2003), no. 21 (2 copies); Daftary (2004), pp. 155-156.
The contents of the present manuscript are, in detail, as follows: fol. 1 is a flyleaf.
fol. 2a: In a hand different from that of the rest of the manuscript, we have a list of the names of the imams after al-Ṭayyib on the authority of al-Ḥājjī Ḥasan b. ‘Alī, a native of Cairo, in Poona, on 25 Safar 1228 (26 February 1813). This text is discussed below in the entry on Ms. 1662.
fol. 3a-b: Bits of poetry in yet another hand.
fol. 4a: Title page stating that what follows is in the hand of ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī and that it was written on 14 Rajab 1162.
fol. 4b (page '1'): Beginning of the section in the hand of ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī: title and beginning of the Dīwān of al-Khaṭṭāb.
fol. 66a: Colophon indicating that this is the end of the dīwan properly speaking, followed by two additional poems by al-Khaṭṭāb (i.e., nos 25 and 26, until fol. 70b ).
fol. 71a: Another colophon, recording the completion of the copying on 14 Rajab 1162 (29 June 1749); the name of the scribe is not mentioned.
fols 71b-74b: Miscellaneous verses etc., still in the same hand (with a one-sided page in a different hand inserted between fols 71 and 72).
fols 75a-77a: Prose. Sayings of assorted wise men.
fols 77b-117b: An anthology of gnomic verses, many of them ascribed to ‘Alī, many not attributed, including (on fol. 99a-1 OOb) an extract from al-Khaṭṭāb's poem no. 6, then (on fol. 108a) three verses by ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd mālik hādhā al-majmū‘ (see Figure 11), and (on fol. 109a) three more verses from al-Khaṭṭāb's poem no. 6. The anthology continues from fol. 109b in larger script, still perhaps in the same hand, or perhaps not
fols 118b-122a: Question no. 29 from an unspecified book of questions and answers, with its answer. In fact it is from the work described above as Ms. 1479, there ascribed to al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Dīn.
fols 122b-125b: Assorted scribblings in prose and verse in more than one hand.
This precious manuscript is very badly worm-eaten; some pages have been 'repaired' using transparent tape, others are frayed and in danger of further deterioration.
DESCRIPTION: red leather binding with flap, tooled and gilded (the spine is restored); 125 folios numbered in pencil with Arabic numerals in the upper left-hand comer (with some page numbers as well starting on fol. 4b); catchwords on almost all versos up to fol 109b, thereafter only sporadically; 15.5 x 9.5 em (size of the written area varies); greatly variable size of writing and number of lines; black ink with rubrics in red; very neat naskh in the parts written by ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd ; numerous marginal and interlineal corrections and glosses, especially in the Dīwān of al- Khaṭṭāb; mostly copied by ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī and completed (at least as far as the Dīwān of al- Khaṭṭāb is concerned) on 14 Rajab 1162 (29 June 1749), as discussed above; title and author of the Dīwān indicated in the superscription (fol. 4b), in the two explicits (fols 66a and 71a), and on a label on the front cover; various seals and owner's marks.
The Dīwān of al-Khaṭṭāb has been edited by Poonawala, together with an extensive commentary, in his book al-Sulṭān al-Khaṭṭāb: ḥayātuhū wa shi‘ruhū (Cairo, 1967; 2nd edition, Beirut, 1999), mainly on the basis of this manuscript, collated with several others. In the following I cite the poems according to Poonawala's numbering.
The 26 poems of al-Khaṭṭāb contained in this manuscript (which Poonawala publishes as the 26 poems of the 'first part' of the Dīwān) are mainly of devotional content, but there is also an elegy on the death of the Ṣulayḥid queen, al-Sayyida Arwā bint Aḥmad (no. 8). A further 31 poems were published by Poonawala as the 'second part' of the Dīwān and are found only in a single manuscript from South Arabia. These are on the whole of a more topical nature, including lampoons against the author's enemies, and several odes addressed to al-Sayyida during her lifetime (part II, nos 5, 6, 7, 8).
REFERENCES: For this Dīwān see also: al-Majdū‘, p. 41 (says that it contains 25 poems); Ivanow (1933), no. 185; Ivanow (1963), no.194; Goriawala (1965), no. 79; Poonawala (1977), pp. 134-135, no. 1; Cortese (2003), no. 21 (2 copies); Daftary (2004), pp. 155-156.
The contents of the present manuscript are, in detail, as follows: fol. 1 is a flyleaf.
fol. 2a: In a hand different from that of the rest of the manuscript, we have a list of the names of the imams after al-Ṭayyib on the authority of al-Ḥājjī Ḥasan b. ‘Alī, a native of Cairo, in Poona, on 25 Safar 1228 (26 February 1813). This text is discussed below in the entry on Ms. 1662.
fol. 3a-b: Bits of poetry in yet another hand.
fol. 4a: Title page stating that what follows is in the hand of ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī and that it was written on 14 Rajab 1162.
fol. 4b (page '1'): Beginning of the section in the hand of ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī: title and beginning of the Dīwān of al-Khaṭṭāb.
fol. 66a: Colophon indicating that this is the end of the dīwan properly speaking, followed by two additional poems by al-Khaṭṭāb (i.e., nos 25 and 26, until fol. 70b ).
fol. 71a: Another colophon, recording the completion of the copying on 14 Rajab 1162 (29 June 1749); the name of the scribe is not mentioned.
fols 71b-74b: Miscellaneous verses etc., still in the same hand (with a one-sided page in a different hand inserted between fols 71 and 72).
fols 75a-77a: Prose. Sayings of assorted wise men.
fols 77b-117b: An anthology of gnomic verses, many of them ascribed to ‘Alī, many not attributed, including (on fol. 99a-1 OOb) an extract from al-Khaṭṭāb's poem no. 6, then (on fol. 108a) three verses by ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd mālik hādhā al-majmū‘ (see Figure 11), and (on fol. 109a) three more verses from al-Khaṭṭāb's poem no. 6. The anthology continues from fol. 109b in larger script, still perhaps in the same hand, or perhaps not
fols 118b-122a: Question no. 29 from an unspecified book of questions and answers, with its answer. In fact it is from the work described above as Ms. 1479, there ascribed to al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Dīn.
fols 122b-125b: Assorted scribblings in prose and verse in more than one hand.
This precious manuscript is very badly worm-eaten; some pages have been 'repaired' using transparent tape, others are frayed and in danger of further deterioration.
DESCRIPTION: red leather binding with flap, tooled and gilded (the spine is restored); 125 folios numbered in pencil with Arabic numerals in the upper left-hand comer (with some page numbers as well starting on fol. 4b); catchwords on almost all versos up to fol 109b, thereafter only sporadically; 15.5 x 9.5 em (size of the written area varies); greatly variable size of writing and number of lines; black ink with rubrics in red; very neat naskh in the parts written by ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd ; numerous marginal and interlineal corrections and glosses, especially in the Dīwān of al- Khaṭṭāb; mostly copied by ‘Alī b. Sa‘īd al-Hamdānī and completed (at least as far as the Dīwān of al- Khaṭṭāb is concerned) on 14 Rajab 1162 (29 June 1749), as discussed above; title and author of the Dīwān indicated in the superscription (fol. 4b), in the two explicits (fols 66a and 71a), and on a label on the front cover; various seals and owner's marks.
DocumentationBlois, François de. Arabic, Persian and Gujarati Manuscripts: The Hamdani Collection. London: I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2011.
Object typemanuscript