Dictionaries [IO Islamic 1793]

Dictionaries. This manuscript is now IO Islamic 1793 in the India Office collections. [metadata: Otto Loth, A Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, (volume 1), no. 1027 here with further notations and hyperlinks]. 1027. 1793. Size 111/2 in. by 61/2 in.; foll. 625. Twenty-one and twenty-three lines in a page. I.Foll. 2-31. A classification of the auxiliary parts of speech, الأَدوات, with explanations in Persian. Entitled الهادی للشادی. The author is Abu’l-Faḍl Aḥmad b. Muḥammad MAIDÂNÎ (d. A.H. 518). Cf. Ḥ. Kh. vi. 469, and also Cat. Bodl. ii. 607. The preface begins: اما بعد حمدالله الذی استأثر بالتقاء و تفرّد بالعلاء. The author says that he was requested to write this treatise after completing his السامی فی الاسامی.1 He dedicates it to Ḳâḍi Abu’l-Ḳâsim Manṣûr b. Aḥmad b. Sa’îd. The treatise comprises not only the particles, but also the adverbs, pronouns, auxiliary verbs and nouns, etc. It is accordingly divided into three parts (قسم): 1. Nouns, in twelve chapters; 2. Verbs, in four chapters; 3. Particles (الحروف), in ten chapters. Conclusion: تمت کتابة کتاب الهادی للشادی فی الادوات المدعوّة (!) بالمیدانی. II.Foll. 31v.-44. An explanation of the names of God, The author is not mentioned. Begins: الحمدلله رب العالمین...اما بعد فهذا مختصر فی شرح اسماء الله الحسنی و صفاته العُلی هو قالوا هو اسم موضوع للاشارة الخ. Both this piece and the preceding are beautifully written in Nasta’lîḳ, with frequent vowel-points. III.Foll. 45-131. An Arabic Vocabulary explained in Persian, entitled السامی فی الاسامی. The author, who is not mentioned here, is the aforesaid MAIDÂNÎ. See Ḥ. Kh. iii. 375; Casiri, i. 175; Cat. Lugd. i. 76; and Weijers in Orientalia, i. 368 sqq. Another fragment, no. 997. The author dedicated his work to Saiyid Abu’l-barakât ‘Alî b. Mas’ûd b. Ismâ’îl. Clearly written in Nasta’lîḳ, the Arabic words with vowel-points. Dated 26th Rajab, 965. IV.Foll. 132-437. An abridgement of Abu Naṣr Ismâ’îl b. Ḥammâd Jauharî’s (d. A.H. 398) celebrated Dictionary الصحاح, by ABU’L-KARAM ‘ABD AL-RAḤÎM b. ‘Abdallah b. Shâkir b. Ḥâmid MA’DÂNÎ. The preface begins: الحمدلله علی نعمه المتضاعفة و منحه المترادفة....اما بعد فان محرّر هذه الاسطر السخیفة مقدّمةً لهذه اللغة الشریفة و هو العبد المعترف بذنبه الراجی عفو ربه ابوالکرم عبدالرحیم بن الامام ابی المناقب عبدالله بن الامام ابی المکارم شاکر بن الامام مجد الائمة ابی المطهرحامد المعدانی رحمه الله یقول الخ. The author says that, in reading the Ṣaḥâḥ, he made an abridgement of it, omitting the poetical quotations (الشواهد), etc.; and that he was induced to publish it by Mu’aiyad al-dîn Abu Ṭâlib Muḥammad, son of1 Abu ‘Alî al- Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. Abu’l-haijâ. Well written in Nasta’lîḳ, but imperfect at the end. V.Foll. 438-623. A Dictionary Arabic and Persian, the beginning and end of which are wanting. It is arranged according to the first and second letters. It is preceded by an explanation of the names of God, and concludes with a special chapter (باب فی آخر الکتاب فی اسماء شتی), in which the numbers, the names of the measures and weights, etc., are mentioned in succession. Written in two good Nasta’lîḳ hands. The last fol. mutilated. Foll. 606-618 reversed. An index to no. II. is on the fly-leaf. Seal of Muḥammad Hâdi, a servant of ‘Âlamgîr (A.H. 1180). [Johnson.] 1 See below, no. III. 1 The word بن is omitted, but must necessarily be supplied here.