In Persian. Preface signed: M. Youness. Label pasted on back cover: "Khayr Allāh Afandī kih az Masīḥīyat va baʻd az ʻAbd al-Bahāʼ murtadd shud". Probably written in Iran.
Manuscript. Persian. Scribe not indicated. Written in Iran. Paper; fine, beige paper; manuscript opens with a pair of gorgeous illuminated opening pages, separated by tissue; black ink; extremely fine black script, each line of script on these two pages is separated with a gold background painted with a floral motif; text enclpsed in a thin deep-blue ruled border decorated with tiny white 'crosses' surrounds the text on these two opening pages; the script in the rest of the manuscript is arranged in two columns, crossed with horizontal bands with titles in blue or gold script in clouds against peach-colored cartouches. Modified artistic nastaʻliq; a different type of nastaʻliq script with many curved lines placed horizontally above the lettering at the left of the words. There are beautiful miniature paintings of court scenes on a pair of opening pages; each has a pool with ducks (left) or geese (right) in the courtyard; the scenes are so delicately painted that the artist must have used brushes with single hairs; the bottom of the last page has a delicate gold and floral painting. Library of Congress. Persian manuscript, M089. Binding; dark brown, embossed leather, the recesses filled with gold leaf on covers and on "flap'; envelope binding; inside covers are in brown leather with blue medallions and blue corners decorated in gold. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
Historical study of Iran during the Qajar dynasty in 19th century and of Afghanistan during the rules of Shīr ʻAlī Khān, ʻAbdurraḥmān K̲h̲ān̲ and Ḥabīb Allāh Khān. Kullīyāt-i Riyāz̤ī (Riyazi's book, usually known in English as the Collected Works of Ryazi) is a literary-historical work written in a mixture of prose and verse styles and published in a lithographic version in Mashhad, Iran, in 1906. It chronicles social, cultural, and political events taking place in the second-half of the 19th century in Afghanistan and Persia, especially during the reigns of Afghan ruler ʻAbd al-Rahman Khan (1880-1901) and his Persian counterpart, Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar (1896-1907). The author, Muhammad Yusuf Riyazi Haravi, was from a family of bureaucrats; his father had served different local Afghan officials in Herat. Historians generally have used colonial sources in their study of late-19th century Iran and Afghanistan; this book is a local historical source for the study of relations between these two countries and their formation. Muhammad Yusuf received support from Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar, who is praised as a just and learned ruler. The author also provides rich descriptions of his own family background, childhood education, travels, and his move to Qajar Iran and the confiscation of his and his family's property in Herat. The book includes a preface, table of contents, 12 chapters, and an extra section. The preface contains a 48-line verse and a prose section praising God, Muhammad, the family of ʻAli, the Qajar dynasts, and the author's own family. Chapter 1 describes the family background of the author. Chapter 2 contains several hikayat (stories) describing cities, political regions, and individuals; this chapter also includes a section on Afghanistan. Chapter 3, the longest, documents events in late-19th century Afghanistan and elsewhere, such as the signing of a friendship treaty between China and Japan, the death of a prime minister in the Ottoman Empire, and the Greek-Ottoman Wars. Chapter 4, called "Book of Knowledge," discusses "12 types of knowledge." Chapter 5, entitled "Questions and Answers," describes ten encounters with different individuals in which various topics are discussed, for example, with a German traveler about religious laws in Islamic countries, and with an English officer about why Muslims do not send their children to Europe for schooling. Chapter 6 contains spiritual ghazal (lyric poems). Chapter 7, "The Source of Crying," also has spiritual poems. Chapter 8 contains quintet poems, here called takhmisat. Chapter 9 is only one page and appears to be incomplete; it contains a few quintet and quatrain poems. Chapter 10, "Book of Regrets," discusses 12 different topics, for example, the finite character of the world and the nature of worship. Chapter 11, "Situations of Cities and Countries," is a brief ethnographic account of Beijing, Kabul, Mashhad, and other places. Chapter 12 offers a conclusion; it also describes the recently concluded Russo-Japanese War (1904-5). The book ends with a section, Mulh'qat (Relevancies), which covers a seemingly random set of topics, including a hunting campaign in 1904 of Amir Habibullah Khan, nationalist activities in Greece, and the salaries of poets in Herat. This work clearly was written at different times and published by the author as single collection. Each chapter forms a unit, and there are no direct connections between them. The book contains lithographic images, including of the Qajar and Afghan rulers and of the author. World Digital Library.
Selections from the Shāhnāmah of Firdawsī. This manuscript from the early 17th century contains selections from the Shāhnāmeh (Book of kings), the epic-historical work of Persian literature composed at the end of the tenth century by the poet Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (940-1020). This beloved epic of pre-Islamic Persia (present-day Iran) was widely read in Persia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The manuscript contains three half-page paintings showing different battles. The text is preceded by an introduction and table of contents (folios 1b-6b) and is written in black ink in a nastaʻliq script. The pages are in four columns of 25 lines each within a blue-cream-gold-cream-gold border. Rubrication is used, and there are catchwords on the recto pages. A few notes and corrections have been made in the margins. The colophon states that the manuscript was completed on Jamādī al-Avval, 14, 1027 (May 9, 1618); the place of writing is not given. The binding, newer and of Central Asian origin, is olive-green leather with embossed medallions, two in dark red, with a light-red leather spine. World Digital Library.
Caliph 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (circa 601-61) is one of the most revered religious and holy figures of Islam. In Iran, he is referred to by the honorary name Amir al-Muʼminin, which translates from Arabic as “Commander of the Faithful” and is used to refer to him in Persian. Written works by 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and sayings attributed to him are sacred to the Shiite faithful, particularly among Persian speakers. Shown here is an illuminated 18th-century manuscript copy of the Munājāt (Supplication) of ʻAli ibn Abī Ṭālib. Included are both the original Arabic and a translation into Persian. The text is written on a moderately heavy cream-colored paper in gold (folio 1b and 2a) and black ink (folio 2b to the end) within five borders. The borders are colored in, from the outermost to the innermost, in blue, red, gold, red, and green. The pages are divided into four boxes to accommodate the main text and the translation, three containing two lines and one containing one line, or seven lines for each page. The Arabic text, in naskhi script, is in larger boxes with elaborate interlinear decoration; the Persian translation, in nastaʻlīq script, is in narrower boxes with panels of floral decoration on either side. An unknown Persian text appears on folio 1a, part of which is missing along the left margin due to trimming and on the upper-right margin due to damage to the first folio (mended with some loss of this text but no damage to main text). The name and date "Vahīd Ḥusaynī 1209" (1794 or 1795) appears at the lower-left corner of the written area of folio 7b; an unknown Persian text in a later hand appears on the endpaper. World Digital Library. Munājāt (Supplication) of ʻAli ibn Abī Ṭālib.