SIGNED IBN 'ALI RIZA ABU'L QASIM AL-SHIRAZI, QAJAR IRAN, DATED AH 1243/1827-28 AD

Details

A BOOK OF PRAYERS IN SAFINA FORMAT
SIGNED IBN 'ALI RIZA ABU'L QASIM AL-SHIRAZI, QAJAR IRAN, DATED AH 1243/1827-28 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, 86ff. plus eight fly-leaves, each folio with 8ll. of strong black naskh in clouds reserved against gold ground, headings in red, spaces left for interlinear translation, catchwords, text panels outlined in gold and polychrome, margins with gold outer rules, opening bifolio with chequerboard drawn for index left blank, following bifolio with cusped cartouches containing elegant gold inscriptions on blue ground surrounded by gold and polychrome illumination, the third bifolio with illuminated headpiece and similarly illuminated margins, the end of the manuscript with a series of tables and diagrams and a small panel of shikasteh, colophon signed and dated, in soft black and brown morocco
Text panel 5 ¼ x 2 ¼in. (13.2 x 5.6cm.); folio 7 ¾ x 4 1/8in. (19.7 x 10.2cm.)

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Lot Essay

The manuscript opens with a selection of various prayers - post-prayer superogatory devotions (ta‘qibat) to be performed after the morning and evening prayers, and after every prayer, the prayer (du‘a) of Kamil bin Ziyad Nakha’i, the Simat Prayer to be recited on Friday, further superogatory devotions for Monday and Thursday, for after the afternoon prayer, for after the evening prayer and for after the evening and night prayers.

These are followed by various diagrams, including the Seal of Prophecy (Muhr-i Nubuvvat), the bazuband of Ja’far al-Sadiq, and other talismanic diagrams. It ends with a prayer to be recited after the observation of the moon.

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