Ṣûfism and Ethics [IO Bijapur 414C, 376]

Ṣûfism and Ethics.

This manuscript is now IO Bijapur 414C, 376 in the India Office collections.

[metadata: Otto Loth, A Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, (volume 1), no. 658 here with further notations and hyperlinks].

658.

B 414C. 376. Size 81/2 in. by 53/4 in.; foll. 151. Nineteen lines in a page.

A collection of mystic treatises, probably all by IBN ‘ARABÎ.

I.Foll. 1-22r. An explanation of the ninety-nine attributes of God (الاسمآء الحسنى) , ascribed on the title-page to IBN ‘ARABÎ. CF. Bibl. Sprenger. 860. The same treatise is to be found in Cat. Mus. Brit. 627, xviii.

Begins:الحمد لله رب العالمين ... قال الله تعالى و لله الاسماء الحسنى فادعوه بها فهذا دليل على انه سبحانه قد عيّنه (!) لنا فى كتابه او على لسان رسوله صلعم و هى تسعة و تسعون الخ.

Each attribute is explained from the threefold point of view of التعلّق , التحقّق , and التخلّق .

II. Foll. 22v.-49. كتاب ماهية القلب . A treatise by IBN ‘ARABÎ, on the nature of the human heart and its gradual perfection, probably the same as the رسالة القلب of Ḥ. Kh. iii. 429.1

Begins:الحمد لله القديم العظيم الكريم الرحيم .... ثم اصلى محمد 2 رايتك اصلحك الله متطلعا نحو الاحاطة بماهية القلب على نهج الاستقامة.

The author distributes his matter into about forty questions, termed حلل , which he discusses subsequently in a succession of فصول .

Plainly written, by two hands. Imperfect at the end. The text is corrupt, especially in the latter portion.

III.Foll. 50-55. A fragment of the كتاب انشاء الدوائر الاحاطية , by the same author. See, regarding this work, Ḥ. Kh. i. 461, and Flügel, Hdss. Wien, iii. 357.

Slightly imperfect at the beginning; the first words are: بوصوله من الحق تعالى اليك.

Incomplete at the end. Fol. 56, a stary leaf, seems to belong to the same treatise.

IV. Foll. 57-63r. The concluding portion of the كتاب الالف , on Unity, by the same author. See, regarding it, Ḥ. Kh. v. 50, and Cat. Mus. Brit. 402, xxi.

Begins: قوة الاحدية

V.Foll. 64v.-132.كتاب التدبيرات الالهية . A treatise on the Microcosm, also by IBN ‘ARABÎ. See, for an ample account of it, Catal. Bodl. ii. 212 sqq. Cf. Ḥ. Kh. ii. 252.

Begins:قال الفقير الى رحمة الله تعالى محمد بن على العربى الحاتمى الطائى الحمد لله الذى استخرج الانسان الخ.

VI.Foll. 133-137. مشكاة الانوار . Forty traditions collected by the same author. See Ḥ. Kh. v. 557.

Begins:قال العبد الفقير الى الله تعالى محمد ... الحمدلله ... اما بعد فانى لما وقفت على قوله عليه السلام من حفظ على امتى اربعين حديثا من السنة الخ.

The greater part of the work is wanting in this MS., which terminated with fol. 74, in the sixteenth tradition. The latter portion is injured by fire.

Bound with this is another small collection, which contains:-

VII.Foll. 138-144. A short treatise (مختصر) on the first Sûrah, فى تحقيق فاتحة الكتاب . It is entitled:مرآة العارفين فى ملتمس امام زين العابدين

The author is not mentioned. He wrote this treatise for his son. A treatise with the same title is ascribed to IBN ‘ARABÎ in Ḥ. Kh. v. 483.

Begins:الحمد لله الذى اخرج من النون ما ادرج فى القلم.

Well written. The diagrams are omitted.

On fol. 138r. ends the نثر اللآلى , i.e. sentences ascribed to ‘ALÎ (see Von Krafft, Hdss. d. or. Akad. Wien, 183).

VIII.Fol. 145. A praise of God, probably the exordium of a mystic treatise. Begins:الحمدلله العظيم جلاله الكريم جماله.

IX.Fol. 146, inscribed من الفتوحات المكية , gives a short extract from that work, treating of a mystic circle, which, however, has not been drawn here.

X.Foll. 147-150 : هذه العقيدة الميمونة المباركة لقطب الاقطاب ... محيى الدين محمد ابن العربى الطائى الحاتمى الخ.

This is merely a passage from IBN ‘ARABÎ’S introduction to his الفتوحات المكية , in which he gives his own creed.

Begins:صلى الله على سيدنا ... فصل اخوتى المؤمنين.

The concluding words, و هذه آخر مقدمة الكتاب يتلوها اول الابواب و صلّى الخ, are not authentic.

On fol. 151 is a note, referring to this extract as follows: انتسخت هذه العقيدة من نسخة انتسخت من نسخة انتسخت من اصل عليه خط المؤلف الشيخ الامام ... محيى الدين محمد بن العربى الخ.

Injured by insects.

The latter part of this volume is wrongly inscribed (fol. 138)

رسالة انسان الكامل.Cf. Cat. 233, viii.;232, xli., xxiv.

1 The text of Ḥ.Kh. is inaccurate.

2 There must be a lacuna here. Nothing is to be found in confirmation of the statement of Ḥ. Kh. that this work was addressed to Fakhr al-dîn Râzî.