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Lot Essay
According to the preface the author Qazi b. Kashif al-Din Muhammad was commissioned by Shah 'Abbas to write a treatise in Persian and in absolute clear sentences on benefits, effects, rules of drinking and overcoming the harms of pure wine. Apart from using previous written books, the author exposed unnoticed facts which he had gathered through scientific experiments and at the end called it jam-e jahan nama-ye 'abbasi. He mentions that he used books written by previous scholars and physicians and Greek, Indian, 'Iraqi and European sources.
It includes a preface, 30 chapters and an epilogue. It starts with the question whether wine is permitted (halal) or forbidden (haram) if prescribed as the only medicine. The chapters include types, variations, its nature, benefits, harms, drunkenness, rituals of drinking, medicinal values, which wine to be drunk at different times of the day, month, season in different cities, etc. It concludes with a chapter on measurements used for wine and a few drawings of Umayyad and Abbasid coins discovered in Kashan at the time, their weights and comparison with other measurements, including medicinal measurements.
The date of completion is given as AH 1[0]37/627-8 AD, followed by a verse written by a poet on its completion. The abjad dating adds up to AH 1036/626-7 AD. If this is the original first copy, the discrepancy of a few months must be due to the time it took the author to complete the final clean copy.
The manuscript was in the possession of a certain Mahmud b. Muhammad Reza Lahiji. There is an added library note claiming it to have been in the Mughal Royal Library in the early 18th century.
It includes a preface, 30 chapters and an epilogue. It starts with the question whether wine is permitted (halal) or forbidden (haram) if prescribed as the only medicine. The chapters include types, variations, its nature, benefits, harms, drunkenness, rituals of drinking, medicinal values, which wine to be drunk at different times of the day, month, season in different cities, etc. It concludes with a chapter on measurements used for wine and a few drawings of Umayyad and Abbasid coins discovered in Kashan at the time, their weights and comparison with other measurements, including medicinal measurements.
The date of completion is given as AH 1[0]37/627-8 AD, followed by a verse written by a poet on its completion. The abjad dating adds up to AH 1036/626-7 AD. If this is the original first copy, the discrepancy of a few months must be due to the time it took the author to complete the final clean copy.
The manuscript was in the possession of a certain Mahmud b. Muhammad Reza Lahiji. There is an added library note claiming it to have been in the Mughal Royal Library in the early 18th century.