[IO Islamic 3155] ديوان فيضى

Dîwân-i-Faiḍî.

This manuscript is now IO Islamic 1464 in the India Office collections.

[metadata: Hermann Ethé, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, 2 vols. (Oxford: India Office, 1903): volume 1, number 3155 here with notations and hyperlinks].

Poets who died between A.H. 1000 and 1100.

Faiḍî (Nos. 1464-1479).

1464

Dîwân-i-Faiḍî ( ديوان فيضى ).

A very large copy of the lyrical poems of Shaikh Abû-alfaiḍ with the double takhalluṣ of Faiḍ and Fayyâḍî, the eldest son of Shaikh Mubârak of Nâgûr (who died A.H. 1001, the 17th of Dhû-alḳa’dah = A.D. 1593, Aug. 15), and brother of Akbar’s prime-minister Abû-alfaḍl, the author of the Akbarnâma, the Â’în-i-Akbarî, the Mukâtabât-i-’allâmî, the Ruḳa’ât-i-Shaikh Abû-alfaḍl, the ‘Iyâr-i-dânish etc. (see above, Nos. 235-287 and 767-777), who died A.H. 1011 (A.D. 1602). Shaikh Faiḍî was born A.H. 954 (A.D. 1547) in Âgra, and died the 10th of Ṣafar, A.H. 1004 (A.D. 1595, Oct. 15), comp. on the poet’s life and works Blochmann, Â’în-i-Akbarî, pp. 490 sq. and 548 sq.; Rieu ii. pp. 450 and 670 sq.; Bodleian Cat., Nos. 1057-1062 and 1992; A. Sprenger, Catal., pp. 62, 127, and 401-402; Ouseley, Biographical Notices, pp. 171-175; Elliot, Bibliographical Index, i. p. 255; Haft Iḳlîm, No. 398 (col. 405 in this Cat.); Safînah, No. 317 (col. 221 in the Bodleian Cat.), etc; copies of his dîwân are noticed besides in J. Aumer, p. 37; W. Pertsch, Berlin Cat., p. 906; Rosen, Persian MSS., p. 263 (a short selection), etc.

Contents:

A preface in prose, by the author himself, on fol. 1b, beginning:

بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم

گنج ازل راست طلسم قديم الخ

This verse is identical with the initial bait of Faiḍî’s mathnawî, مركز ادوار (written in imitation of Niżâmî’s مخزن الاسرار , A.H. 993=A.D. 1585), which is not found in the India Office Collection.

Ḳaṣîdas, tarjî’s, and marâthîs, without any order, on fol. 4b, beginning:

يا ازلىّ الظّهور يا ابدىّ الخفا

نورك فوق النّظر حسنك فوق الثّنا

A series of unfinished ḳaṣîdas (قصائد ناتمام) begins on fol. 87a.

Ghazals, in alphabetical order, on fol. 112b, beginning:

مستانه سخن ميرسد از دل بلب ما

عشق است كه بر بسته زبان ادب ما

A few poetical pieces, without any diacritical points (الاشعار الغير المنقوطة), on fol. 274a, beginning:

الحمد لملهم الكلام الصّاعد – و هو المحمود اوّلا و الحامد

Ḳiṭ’as, chronograms, and a few rubâ’îs, on fol. 275a, beginning: سطعت نسخة مقدّسة الخ.

Mathnawî-baits, fards, and riddles, on fol. 297a, beginning: بسم الله اى قلم ز شگاف سخن گشا الخ.

Among these is found, on fol. 302b sq., the معمّيات نود و نه نام , or riddles on the ninety-nine names of God, noticed in J. Aumer, loc. cit.

Rubâ’îs, on fol. 310a, beginning:

الله اكبر زهى خداى متعال

خورشيد جمالش ايمن از بيم زوال

On several pages some of the first hemistichs of verses are missing; fol. 291b is entirely left blank.

No date.

No. 3155, ff. 335, 2 coll., each ll. 15; clear and distinct Nasta’lîḳ; splendid binding in red and gold; size, 8¾ in. by 5½ in.