NORTH AFRICA, PROBABLY MOROCCO, 16TH CENTURY

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ABU 'ABDULLAH MUHAMMAD BIN ISMA'IL AL-BUKHARI (D. 870 AD): AL-JAMI' AL-SAHIH
NORTH AFRICA, PROBABLY MOROCCO, 16TH CENTURY
Volume XV of this seminal work on hadith, Arabic manuscript on high quality cream paper, 146ff. as numbered plus two fly-leaves, each folio with 15ll. of large sepia maghribi script, titles and important words in larger blue or pink script, often between rows of gold and polychrome roundels, the name of Allah picked out in gold throughout, opening folio with large gold and polychrome illuminated title cartouche on recto and verso, each issuing an illuminated palmette into the margin, large colophon similarly illuminated with elegant cursive script on a ground of blue palmettes, in restored probably 15th or 16th century stamped and tooled morocco binding
Folio 9 ¾ x 7 ½in. (25 x 19cm.)

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Lot Essay

Al-Bukhari travelled through the Abbasid Empire from the age of 16 collecting only the traditions which were trustworthy and reliable beyond doubt. From nearly 300,000 traditions which until then were transmitted orally, he included only 2,602 traditions in his monumental work, al-Jami' al-Sahih. The book was completed in 846 AD and covers all aspects of life in Islam such as the method of performing prayers. It is considered the most authentic book after the Qur'an in Sunni Islam. The present copy is illuminated in a typical north African style and is a fine example of the late mediaeval manuscript production in the region.

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