Ṣûfism and Ethics [IO Bijapur 452]

Ṣûfism and Ethics. 

This manuscript is now IO Bijapur 452 in the India Office collections.

[metadata: Otto Loth, A Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, (volume 1), no. 694 here with further notations and hyperlinks].

694.

B 452. Size 91/2 in. by 51/2 in.; foll. 60. Nineteen lines in a page.

I.Foll. 1-6. كتاب الثالث 1 فى الحجّ . A letter addressed to a person who has the intention of leaving Makkah, and who is strongly advised to stay there.

The author is not named.

Begins:…. حفظك الله يا اخى بحفظ الايمان

اما بعد فانّى كتبتُ اليك و انا و من قِبَلى من الاقارب و الاخوان على افضل حال و ربّنا محمود لا شريك له و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و اله و سلم اما بعد فقد انتهى الىّ ابقاك الله انّك على الشخوص من حرم الله تعالى و التحوّل منه الى غيره و انّى كرهتُ و الله ذلك الخ.

The author in the course of this letter frequently quotes the Koran and the Tradition. He says in conclusion: و اياك يا اخى ثم اياك ان تخرج من مكة فلو لم يدخل عليك الاّ فلسان من حلال لكان خيرا لك من ان يدخل عليك فى غيرها الفان الخ.

Carefully written in a good hand, probably by Ibrâhîm b. Maḥmûd b. Ibrâhîm, whose seal (A.H. 1037) is at the end.

II.Foll. 6v.-11. كتاب الرابع الخ . A tract on Asceticism, by IBN ‘ARABÎ, entitled حلية الابدال و ما يظهر منها من المعارف و الاحوال . See Ḥ. Kh. iii. 108, for an abstract of the preface.

It treats of the four ‘’columns’’ of the ascetic life: silence, solitude, hunger, and watching (الصمت ، السهر ، الجوع ، العزلة).

Written in a huried hand.

III. Foll. 11v-14. كتاب الخامس الخ . A Persian treatise on the recitation of the words لا اله الآ الله . It is entitled بداية الذاكرين .

Begins: الحمد لله رب العالمين كما هو اهله .

The author, whose name does not occur, mentions at the beginning his son Darwîsh ‘Aṭâ Allah.

Clearly written. Imperfect at the end.

IV.Foll. 15-45. A fragment of a concise work on Ethics and Asceticism, founded upon alleged sayings of the Imâm JA’FAR ṢÂDIḲ, whose name occurs at the beginning of each chapter.

Imperfect at the beginning. Defects after foll. 20 and 28. The first heading is باب الاحكام .

V.Foll.45v-60. كتاب الثانى المسمى بالتجريد فى كلمة التوحيد . A mystic treatise in explanation of the words لا اله الآ الله , by AḤMAD b. Muḥammad GHAZZÂLÎ (d. A.H. 520), the brother of the great Imâm. See Ḥ.Kh. ii. 204, and Gosche in Abh. Akad. Berlin, 1858, p. 250 and 296.

Begins: قال الشيخ الامام جمال الاسلام احمد بن محمد بن محمد بن محمد (!) الغزالى رضى الله عنه فى الحديث الصحيح و النقل الوارد الصحيح عن سيد البشر محمد الصطفى الخ.

It is divided into numerous sections (فصل) .

The last two tracts are written in the same hand as no. I. They stood originally at the beginning of the volume.

1 See end of article.