Biography and History [IO Islamic 572] مرآة الجنان وعبرة اليقظان فى معرفة حوادث الزمان

Biography and History. 

This manuscript is now IO Islamic 572 in the India Office collections.

[metadata: Otto Loth, A Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, (volume 1), no. 706 here with further notations and hyperlinks].

706.

572. Size 113/4 in. by 7 in.; foll. 558. Twenty four lines in a page.

Annals of Islam, as far as A.H. 750, by (Abu’l-sa’âdât ‘Afîf al-dîn) Abu Muḥammad ‘Abdallah b. As’ad b. ‘Alî YÂFI’Î (a native of al-Yaman, of the Ḥimyaritie tribe of Yâfi’, who resided, from A.H. 718, alternately at Makkah and Madînah, and died at the former place, on Sunday, 20th Jum. II., 768).1 He entitled his work:

مرآة الجنان و عبرة اليقظان فى معرفة حوادث الزمان و تقلّب احوال الانسان و تاريخ موت بعض المشهورين الاعيان 

See regarding this work H. Kh. v. 481, and Flügel, Hdss. Wien, ii. 43. Cf. [Charles] Stewart’s Catal. 32. The valuable part of it are the biographies, especially those of learned men and Ṣûfîs. Besides Ibn Khallikân, the author used, for matters relating to his native country, the طبقات فقهاء اليمن of Ibn Samurah (‘Omar b. ‘Alî Ja’dî Yamanî, d. A.H. 586).2 A supplement to the latter work is given in an appendix ( تنبيه , fol. 555 sqq.).

Plainly written by two hands. A few leaves are missing at the end. The original foll. 248-255 have been misplaced, and stand now as foll. 49-56.

[Tippu.]

1 The statements in parentheses are taken from Jamâl al-dîn’s طبقات الشافعية ( see no. 709, fol. 154), and from Jâmî’s نفحات الانس , as quoted on the first page of no. 707.

2 See Ḥ. Kh. iv. 150.

[ed note: Quick link to other copies of the same work].