Kitāb al-ṣafwah fī waṣf al-mamlakah al-Miṣrīyah كتاب الصفوة في وصف المملكة المصرية Muḥammad al-Ṣūfī محمد الصوفي [‎1v] (17/160)

Content

An abridgement in twelve bābs by the Egyptian mathematician and astronomer Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Fatḥ ibn ‘Īsá ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣūfī al-Miṣrī (شمس الدين محمد بن أبي الفتح بن عيسى بن الصوفي المصري, fl. late 15th-early 16th century) of the description of Egypt entitled The Cream of Unveiling Kingdoms and Clarifying Routes and Itineraries (زبدة كشف الممالك وبيان الطرق والمسالك) by the statesman and scholar Ghars al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Shāhīn al-Ẓāhirī (غرس الدين خليل بن شاهين الظاهري, d. 1486).

The present volume was copied, illuminated, and bound originally (the present binding is a modern replacement) by the author himself, who completed this work in the middle of Jumādá II 904/end of January 1499 (see colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. , transcribed below, f. 68r, lines 4-8). The colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. is followed by illuminated verses, most often attributed to ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʿīl al-Nābulusī (عبد الغني بن إسماعيل النابلسي, b. 1641, d. 1731). However, al-Nābulusī lived two centuries after the creation of this copy (see f. 68r, lines 9-10).

The author states that he was commanded to write the abridgement by a powerful but un-named patron (من لا يُستطاع التخلف عن امتثال إشاراته, f. 2r, lines 5-6), and that he left out most of the narrative content as more properly belonging to historical and literary works (اذ محلها كتب التواريخ والأدبيات, see f. 2v, line 1).

A tabulation of the Burjī Mamluk sultans, with the dates and lengths of their rules, appears on ff. 31r-33r, beginning with Sayf al-Dīn Barqūq (سيف الدين برقوق, reg. 1382-99, with interregnum 1389-90) and ending with the still-reigning Abū Saʿīd Qānṣūh al-Ashrafī (أبو سعيد قانصوح الأشرفي, reg. 1498-1500).

The title is given on an opening page (f. 1r) illuminated in gold, blue and white. The full title text, contained in an upper register and lobed rosette within a frame below, reads كتاب الصفوة في وصف المملكة المصرية وما تشتمل عليه من ممالكها الشريفة الإسلامية أدام الله ملك مالكها وثبت قواعد دولتها.

Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-9):

الحمد لله بارئ النسم ومنشئ الأمم

ومخرج الوجود من العدم باعث سيدنا

محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم بالمعجرات والحكم

صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وأصحابه ذوي الأقدار

والهمم وشرّف وعظّم وكرّم

أما بعد فلما وقفت على كتاب زبدة

كشف الممالك وبيان الطرق والمسالك

للمرحوم الجناب الغرسي خليل بن شاهين الظاهري

Ends (f. 67v, line 6- f. 68r, line 3):

...فقالوا العالم بستان

سياجه الشريعة الشريعة سياسة يخدمها

الملك الملك راعٍ يعضده الجيش الجيش

أعوان يكفلهم المال المال رزق تجمعه

الرعية الرعية أحرار يستعبدهم العدل

والعدل مألوف وبه قوام العالم والله

الموفق والمعين وهو حسبنا ونعم الوكيل

وصلواته على سيد المرسلين محمد خاتم النبيين وعلى

آله وصحبه أجمعين والحمد لله رب العالمين

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 68r, lines 4-10):

وتشرف حسب الاشارة الشريفة بتأليفه وكتابته

وتذهيبه وتجليده العبد الفقير إلى الله تعالى محمد

ابن أبي الفتح محمد الصوفي الشافعي حامدً ومصليًا

ومسلمًا وختامه مسك في منتصف شهر جمادى الآخرة

من شهور سنة أربع وتسعمائة عربية هجرية

يا من إذا بخل الغمام بقطره جادت أنامله بأنهر بره

الناس عام والكرام بأسرهم شهر الصيام وأنت ليلة قدرِهِ

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. iv+68+iv

Physical characteristics

Material: Eastern laid paper

Dimensions: 272 x 178mm leaf [185 x 125mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil, Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink, the tens overlined, probably as quire Collection of papers folded in half and stitched together to form a gathering of folios. markings

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 11 lines per page; vertical spacing 6 lines per 10 cm

Script: Vocalised naskh; the scribe is the author, Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Fatḥ Muḥammad al-Ṣūfī al-Shāfiʿī (محمد بن أبي الفتح محمد الصوفي الشافعي, see f. 68r, line 5-6)

Ink: Black ink, with headings and keywords in red, burgundy, blue, green, and gold (the latter normally outlined in black)

Decoration: Opening page with title (f. 1r) and two lines of verse following the colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 68r) illuminated in blue, black, red and gold ink (the red now almost completely lost), with marginal medallions; ff. 1v-2r within blue and gold ruled frames; red, blue and gold leaf verse markers outlined in black throughout

Binding: Orange British Museum half binding with red leather; shadow of previous envelope flap visible on recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of fourth un-numbered flyleaf (iv-r).

Condition: Some losses to black ink of illumination (f. 1r), gold paint flaking in places

Marginalia: Very few

Seals: British Museum stamp (ff. 1v and 68v)

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

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