[IO Islamic 403] سبع سيّاره

Sab’-Sayyârah. This manuscript is now IO Islamic 1494 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 403 here with notations and hyperlinks]. Zulâlî (Nos. 1494-1498). 1494 Sab’ Sayyârah (سبع سيّاره). The seven mathnawîs of Ḥakîm Zulâlî of Khwânsâr In ‘Irâḳ, who flourished under Shâh ‘Abbâs I and died soon after the completion of the best known among his epopees, the محمود و اياز (No. 2 in this collection), which was finished A.H. 1024 (A.D. 1615), but left unarranged, that is to say, either in the same year 1024, or in A.H. 1025 (A.D. 1616), see the remarks in Ṭâhir Naṣrâbâdî’s tadhkirah (A. Sprenger, Catal., p. 91), where, however, the wrong date of A.H. 1020 (A.D. 1611, 1612) is given for the completion of that mathnawî. The earlier date of Zulâlî’s death, given in the Safînah, No. 382 (col. 224 in the Bodleian Cat.), as well as in the Khulâṣat-alkalâm, No. 32 (ib., col. 297), viz. A.H. 1016, is an evident mistake for 1026 (A.D. 1617); likewise wrong is the later date, A.H. 1031 (A.D. 1622), which is found in the Khulâṣat-alfkâr, No. 116 (ib., col. 306); the Haft Iḳlîm, which was completed A.H. 1002 (A.D. 1593, 1594), mentions Zulâlî in No. 976 (col. 449 in this Cat.), but, of course, without any reference to his mathnawîs which were not yet written at that time. Comp. on Zulâlî and his mathnawîs Bodleian Cat., Nos. 1081-1084; A. Sprenger, Catal., pp. 592 and 593; and Rieu ii. pp. 667 sq. According to the Âtashkada, No. 436 (col. 277 in the Bodleian Cat.), Shaikh ‘Abd-alḥusain of Kamrah put Zulâlî’s works in order, and Mullâ Ṭughrâ of Mashhad wrote a preface to them (see below in No. 1497). The seven mathnawîs, which are also styled سبعه سيّاره, هفت سيّاره, هفت آشوب, or, as here (and in No. 1497 too), آشوب نامه ,تصنيف زلالى, are arranged in the following order in this copy: 1.Sulaimânnâma (سليمان نامه), also styled Sulaimân u Balḳîs (سليمان و بلقيس), the story of king Solomon and the queen of Sheba, on fol. 1b, beginning: بنانم جهانگیر دلهای تنگ – که آمد سليمانش يك مور لنگ Of the author’s prose-preface to this mathnawî only a portion is left, on fol. 1a, beginning: سواد مبارك مدّتى الخ……. , corresponding to No. 253 (1496 in the Cat.), fol. 48b, l. 5 ab infra. 2.Muḥmûd wa Ayâz ( محمود و اياز), the story of Sulṭân Maḥmûd of Ghazna and his beloved slave Ayâz, preceded on fol. 20b by a preface, which combines the general ديباچه of the seven mathnawîs with the special short preamble, belonging to this poem exclusively (as a comparison with No. 1496 in this Cat. and with No. 1081 in the Bodleian Cat. proves, comp. also Rieu ii. p. 677b), beginning: تقدير قدرت و تصوير صنعت صانعى و قادرى را مقدور و مصوّرست الخ. The special preface (not separated from the other) begins on fol. 21b, l. 11, the mathnawî itself on fol. 22b: بنام آنكه محمودش ايازست – غمش بتخانۀ ناز و نيازست This mathnawî was commenced in A.H. 1001 (A.D. 1592, 1593) and completed A.H. 1024 (A.D. 1615), see the chronogram in Rieu and Sprenger, loc. cit. The poet was therefore engaged in it for twenty-three years, not merely for thirteen, as the Safînah and the Khulâṣat-alkalâm assert (see above). It was edited Lucknow, A.H. 1290 (A.D. 1874). A defective copy of the same is also noticed in W. Pertsch, Berlin Cat., p. 910. 3.Shu’la-i-Dîdâr (شعلۀ دیدار), ‘the flame of vision,’ a mystical and didactic mathnawî in forty-nine شعله or flames, preceded, on fol. 174b, by a preface, beginning: سبحان الله از تنبيه اين آيه در فهرست نظر شعلۀ ديدار الخ. Beginning of the mathnawî, on fol. 175b: نام او تاج سر هر نامۀ – شعلۀ دیدار هر هنگامۀ 4.Maikhâna (ميخانه), ‘the wine-tavern,’ in forty قدح or cups, preceded, on fol. 194b, by a preface, beginning: الحمد لله از دوستكانى اين آيۀ الهى پیمانه الخ Beginning of the mathnawî, on fol. 196b: نام او باده سينه ميخانه – دهن هر كه هست پیمانه 5. Ḥusn-i-Gulûsûz (حسن گلوسوز), ‘the sweetest beauty,’ in forty-one جلوه or effulgences, preceded, on fol. 218a, by a preface, beginning: تعالى شانه ازين آيه مطالعۀ فیروز در شان فهرست الخ. Beginning of the mathnawî, on fol. 219b: بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم – نصّ صحيح است كلام قديم The initial bait in No. 1081 of the Bodleian Cat., viz.: بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم – تير شهابست بديو رجيم Is found here on fol. 220b, l. 5 ab infra. 6.Âdhar u Samandar (آذر و سمندر), ‘fire and salamander,’ preceded, on fol. 243b, by a preface, beginning:آه ازين آيۀ دلسوز اثر در جگر گدازى الخ. Beginning of the mathnawî, on fol. 245b: نامش عشقست و حسن دفتر – آتش ساقيست كوسمندر 7.Dharra u Khwurshîd (ذرّه و خورشيد), ‘moth and sun,’ preceded, on fol. 260b, by a preface, beginning: ماشاء الله ازين آيه بيم و امّيد در فهرست نثر الخ Beginning of the mathnawî, on fol. 261b: سخنم كرد بنامش جاويد -ذرّه را جوهر تيغ خورشيد The initial bait in No. 1081 of the Bodleian Cat. (quoted in Sprenger, loc. cit., too), viz. نام او كرد مرا شعله فروز – نتوان گفت بآتش كه مسوز Is found here, on fol. 261b, lin. penult., as the twelfth verse of the poem. In the same copy of the Bodleian Cat. an eighth mathnawî, without title, is noticed. No date. No. 403, ff. 271, 2 coll., each ll. 21; Nasta’lîḳ; size, 93/8 in. by 51/8 in.