al-Asmāʼ al-ḥusná mustakhrajah min al-Qurʼān al-ʻaẓīm wa-Kitāb al-Ṭibb al-nabawī, [15th century?].

A work on prophetic medicine (or the Prophet's medicine) by al-Maqdisī (d.1245) preceded by a short treatise of uncertain authorship on the beautiful names of God.

Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, Isl. Ms. 247

Origin: Lacks dated colophon but cover, paper and hand suggest roughly 15th century.

Binding: Heavy pasteboards covered in dark brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; doublures in orange paint with geometric stamped pattern in blue and red ; doublure hinges in shell marbled paper in pink and blue ; upper and lower covers carry large incised and gold-painted scalloped mandorla (filled with floral design or geometric design) with pendants in the form of three sepaled calyxes, corner pieces and elaborate tooled border ; likely 15th century (compare Chester Beatty MS 3571 in Bosch, Carswell, & Petherbridge, no. 67 p.184) ; sewn in black (or very dark blue) thread, two sewing stations ; in fair condition with some minor abrasion and severe negative draw (warping) of both upper and lower cover as well as envelope flap.

Support: non-European (likely Arab) laid paper with chain lines in groups of three, roughly 9-10 mm. between the chain lines and 58-60 mm. between the groups (see p.42 etc.) ; laid lines spaced roughly 20 laid lines in 20-21 mm. ; sturdy, burnished, with many inclusions and whole fibers visible within sheet ; front flyleaf in European laid paper with anchor (in circle with trefoil above) watermark (likely 16th or early 17th century, compare Heawood 1 and 2).

Decoration: Illuminated titlepiece on fol.1a (p.3) in gold and blue consisting of two rectangular panels (bearing title in white with gold outline on field of blue) separated by a medallion filled with floral design ; accents consisting of gold flowers on fields of blue fill the remainder of the piece, with borders of black dashes on white bands ; ansae in the form of roundels accompany the rectangular panels and a semi circular piece sets off the medallion ; on fol.1b (p.4) illuminated rectangular panel carries opening following the basmalah ; textual dividers in the form of gold rosettes with blue accents ; throughout, written area bordered in frame consisting of gold band outlined by black fillets with outermost blue fillet ; text partly chrysographed with headings, keywords, etc. in gold and partly rubricated with keywords in red ; other keywords and headings appear in blue.

Script: Naskh ; fine Mamlūk Syrian or Egyptian hand ; bold and stiff ; sans serif ; the lām alif al-warrāqīyah preferred ; mainly open counters ; fully vocalized ; some headings in script approaching muḥaqqaq, seriffed.

Layout: Written in 5 lines per page ; frame-ruled.

Collation: i, III+2 (8), 6 V (68), V+2 (80) ; chiefly quinions ; middle of the quire marks in the form of al-khamsah al-ghubīrīyah appearing on the upper part of the left-hand leaf ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil (supplied during digitization, numbers flyleaves).

Explicit: [1] فهذه الاسما هي التي استخرجها سفيان وغيره من القرآن العظيم لكنها اذا عدت كانت ماية اسم غير اني وجدت منها اسما واحدا مكررا وهو خبير ذكر مرة في آل عمران ومرة في الانعام فلهذا كانت ماية تمت اسماء الله الحسنى. [2] كذا رواه النسائي والاحاديث المذكورة كلها من صحيح مسلم والبخاري تم الكتاب المبارك والحمد لله وحده وحسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل.

Incipit: [1] قال الله تبارك وتعالى ولله الاسماء الحسنى فادعوه بها ... [2] قال الشيخ الامام العالم الحافظ ضيا الدين ابو عبد الله محمد بن احمد بن عبد الواحد ابن احمد بن عبد الرحمن المقدسي ... الحمد لله حمدا يوافي نعمه ويكافي مزيده ... اما بعد فان بعض اخواني سألني مرة بعد اخرى ان اجمع كتابا في الطب مما صح عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وما روى من ذلك في الكتب المشهورة فاجبته الى مسألته ورايت ان ابتدئ باحاديث الكفارات وان الامراض لرفع الدرجات ومحو السيئات ذكر خيرة الله تعالى للعبد فيما ابتداه اخبرنا ..."

Title from titlepiece on fol.1a (p.3).

Ms. codex.

3. fol.80a-80b : [blank].

2. fol.13a-fol.79b : Kitāb al-Ṭibb al-nabawī / Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Wāḥid al-Maqdisī.

1. fol.1a-13a : al-Asmāʼ al-ḥusná mustakhrajah min al-Qurʼān al-ʻaẓīm.

Bosch, Carswell, & Petherbridge. Islamic Bindings and Bookmaking (1981),

Perho, Irmeli. The Prophet's Medicine: A Creation of the Muslim Traditionalist Scholars. Studia Orientalia 74 (Helsinki: The Finnish Oriental Society, 1995),

Brockelmann, C. GAL,

A work on prophetic medicine (or the Prophet's medicine) by al-Maqdisī (d.1245) preceded by a short treatise of uncertain authorship on the beautiful names of God.

Mode of access: Internet.

Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).

Several owners' marks on recto of front flyleaf including ownership statement in name of one ʻAbd al-Raḥmān "من كتب الفقير عبد الرحمن غفر له", ownership statement dated 22 Rajab [?] 1250 [?] [ca. 24 November 1834] in name of Mīr Ḥasan ibn Khalīl Bāshā (Mir Hasan b. Halil Paşa) "استصحبه الفقير مير حسن بن خليل باشا غفر لهما" accompanied by large oval seal impression (likely dated 1201 [1786 or 7] with inscription "فتبارك الله حسن الخالقين ٢٠١" ; also on recto of front flyleaf, inscription in pencil "233 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" and additional inscription in pencil "قد عرفت [؟] منزلي لشيخ علي الجيهاني وتفقنا [كذا] على حضوركم باكر وهو يحضركم معه...".