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Or 6880

Record Id:

032-003390346

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-003390346

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100050844036.0x0000b8

LARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100145250974.0x000001

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Or 6880

Title:

Collection of West African Arabic manuscripts

Scope & Content:

This is a volume of West African Arabic manuscripts from the 18th or 19th century containing around 18 complete works, amongst them copies of Arabic literary works, pre-Islamic poetry, works on Arabic grammar, biographies of the Prophet Muhammad and Sufi works (Tījānī and Qādirī). Several are fine copies. Towards the end there are some incomplete works and various esoteric material. The fact that there is both Qādirī and Tījānī material and the works are written in a range of Sudani, Sahrawi and Hausa hands does not make it easy to locate the provenance of this material within West Africa, but a link to Nigeria for much of the material is a strong probability. Apparently donated by Major-General Stubbs in 1901, but not accessioned until 1 June 1908. The manuscript was acquired by the donor's son, Major A.K. Stubbs of the Worcestershire Regiment, probably before 1901.

Collection Area:

Oriental Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

West African Arabic Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-003390346", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Or 6880: Collection of West African Arabic manuscripts" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} },{ "id" : "040-003390347", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 1r-95v: Sections from the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī" },{ "id" : "040-003390348", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 96r-133v: Najm al-Durar al-Sanīyah" },{ "id" : "040-003390349", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 134r-154r: Dīwān Zuhayr Ibn Abī Sulmā" },{ "id" : "040-003390350", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 155v-161r: Part of the Dīwān of ʿAntara" },{ "id" : "040-003390351", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 162v-189r: Shudhūr al-Dhahab fī Maʿrifat Kalām al-ʿArab" },{ "id" : "040-003390352", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 190v-203r: Lāmīyat al-afʿāl" },{ "id" : "040-003390353", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 204r-205v: Qaṣīdat Ḥishām al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh al-Waʿīẓī" },{ "id" : "040-003390354", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 206r-211v: Shamsīyat al-Ikhwān" },{ "id" : "040-003390355", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 212r-218r: Qaṣīdat al-Waʿīẓī al-Mīmiyya" },{ "id" : "040-003390356", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 219r-236r: A series of commentaries upon various single lines of poetry (highlighted in red) by a 'Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAlī' who…" },{ "id" : "040-003390357", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 236v: A story from the history of al-Ṭabarī" },{ "id" : "040-003390358", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 237r: Poem, badly faded" },{ "id" : "040-003390359", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 237v-242v: al-Nafaḥāt al-Qudsīyah" },{ "id" : "040-003390360", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 243r-256v: Kitāb Jumlat al-Masāʾil wa al-Fatāwá" },{ "id" : "040-003390361", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 257r-267v: Section of the Risālat Abī Zayd" },{ "id" : "040-003390362", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 268v-271r: The Bāb al-Farāʾiḍ from the Risālat Abī Zayd" },{ "id" : "040-003390363", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 271v: A short prayer asking for the intercession of God against anyone doing the creator harm. 'Whoever wishes to do me harm, may God do…" },{ "id" : "040-003390364", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 272r-275v: A work collating the sayings of scholars of the Shāfiʿī school of the 11th-12th century CE such as Abū al-Maʿālī and…" },{ "id" : "040-003390365", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 276v-277v: Kitāb al-Jūr" },{ "id" : "040-003390366", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 278r-293v: Unidentified poem with extensive notation often dwarfing the main body of the text. On f. 288 there is a small piece of paper…" },{ "id" : "040-003390367", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 294r: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390368", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 294v-297r: Thalāthūn lā yuʿdhar fīhā bi'l-jahl ʿalā Madhab al-Imām Mālik" },{ "id" : "040-003390369", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 297v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390370", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 298r-304v: Matn al-Raḥabīyah fī al-Mawārīth" },{ "id" : "040-003390371", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 305r-306r: Final pages of an unidentified work concerning instructions for ritual ablutions followed, by a hadith concerning the angel of…" },{ "id" : "040-003390372", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 307r-310v: Poem of Ibn al-Ḥāj" },{ "id" : "040-003390373", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 311r-311v: Single page of a poem or work of rhymed prose. Judging by the three tier verse structure, it may be a page from the Dīwān of…" },{ "id" : "040-003390374", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 312r-312v: Dīwān al-Wasāʾil al-Mutaqabbilah ديوان الوسائل المتقبلة" },{ "id" : "040-003390375", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 313r-313v: Single page from the Qur'an" },{ "id" : "040-003390376", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 314r-314v: Seems to be a story about travelling in a foreign country, an account of an attack or perhaps a talisman to prevent this.…" },{ "id" : "040-003390377", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 315r-315v: Page from a work in praise of Prophet Muhammad, followed by short poem denouncing infidels, with simple commentary by the same…" },{ "id" : "040-003390378", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 316r-316v: Talisman" },{ "id" : "040-003390379", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 317r-317v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390380", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 318r-319v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390381", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 320r: Basmala followed by joined up letter series." },{ "id" : "040-003390382", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 320v: Curse" },{ "id" : "040-003390383", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 321r-321v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390384", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 322r-323v: Esoteric practice" },{ "id" : "040-003390385", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 324r-325v: Esoteric practice" },{ "id" : "040-003390386", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 326r: Esoteric practice" },{ "id" : "040-003390387", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 327r-327v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390388", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 328r-328v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390389", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, ff 329r-330v: Wird" },{ "id" : "040-003390390", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 331r: Talisman" },{ "id" : "040-003390391", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 331v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390392", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 332r-332v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390393", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 333r-333v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390394", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 334r-334v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390395", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 335r-335v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390396", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 336r-336v: Fāʾidah" },{ "id" : "040-003390397", "parent" : "032-003390346", "text" : "Or 6880, f 337r-337v: Fāʾidah" }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-003390346

Is part of:

not applicable

Contains:

Or 6880, ff 1r-95v : Sections from the Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī
Or 6880, ff 96r-133v : Najm al-Durar al-Sanīyah
Or 6880, ff 134r-154r : Dīwān Zuhayr Ibn Abī Sulmā
Or 6880, ff 155v-161r : Part of the Dīwān of ʿAntara
Or 6880, ff 162v-189r : Shudhūr al-Dhahab fī Maʿrifat Kalām al-ʿArab
Or 6880, ff 190v-203r : Lāmīyat al-afʿāl
Or 6880, ff 204r-205v : Qaṣīdat Ḥishām al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh al-Waʿīẓī
Or 6880, ff 206r-211v : Shamsīyat al-Ikhwān
Or 6880, ff 212r-218r : Qaṣīdat al-Waʿīẓī al-Mīmiyya
Or 6880, ff 219r-236r : A series of commentaries upon various single lines of poetry (highlighted in red) by a "Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh Ibn…
Or 6880, f 236v : A story from the history of al-Ṭabarī
Or 6880, f 237r : Poem, badly faded
Or 6880, ff 237v-242v : al-Nafaḥāt al-Qudsīyah
Or 6880, ff 243r-256v : Kitāb Jumlat al-Masāʾil wa al-Fatāwá
Or 6880, ff 257r-267v : Section of the Risālat Abī Zayd
Or 6880, ff 268v-271r : The Bāb al-Farāʾiḍ from the Risālat Abī Zayd
Or 6880, f 271v : A short prayer asking for the intercession of God against anyone doing the creator harm. "Whoever wishes to do me harm, may God…
Or 6880, ff 272r-275v : A work collating the sayings of scholars of the Shāfiʿī school of the 11th-12th century CE such as Abū al-Maʿālī…
Or 6880, ff 276v-277v : Kitāb al-Jūr
Or 6880, ff 278r-293v : Unidentified poem with extensive notation often dwarfing the main body of the text. On f. 288 there is a small piece of…
Or 6880, ff 294r : Fāʾidah
Or 6880, ff 294v-297r : Thalāthūn lā yuʿdhar fīhā bi'l-jahl ʿalā Madhab al-Imām Mālik
Or 6880, f 297v : Fāʾidah
Or 6880, ff 298r-304v : Matn al-Raḥabīyah fī al-Mawārīth
Or 6880, ff 305r-306r : Final pages of an unidentified work concerning instructions for ritual ablutions followed, by a hadith concerning the angel…
... (truncated) ...

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Hierarchy:

032-003390346

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Or 6880

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

337 ff

Digitised Content:

http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100145250974.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)

Thumbnail:

Languages:

Arabic

Scripts:

Arabic

Start Date:

1800

End Date:

1908

Date Range:

Mid 19th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Material: white and brown paper, no visible watermark.

Dimensions: mostly 210mm × 155mm,

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil,

Script: mixture of Central Sudanic, Sahrawi and Hausa hands.

Ink: black or brown, rubrication, catchwords, vocalisation.

Ruling: no margin lines, lines per page vary.

Binding: British Library binding, c.1908. Originally loose-leaf

Condition: Mostly complete works. Some and fading throughout but condition reasonable. Protected in places with double-sided silk gauze.

Marginalia: extensive in places, Arabic

Custodial History:

Usage Statement: The West African manuscripts published in digitised format by the British Library are to the best of our knowledge not in copyright under the law of their countries of origin. While it is not possible to be certain about the origin of all the manuscripts, our research suggests that they come from Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal and/or The Gambia.

The British Library recognises broader interests in the cultural heritage which the West African manuscripts represent. They are often of a religious nature, and the Library has taken considerable care not to distort or alter the underlying material. We ask users also to show appropriate respect in reusing the digital images of the West African manuscripts, which should not be altered or reused in ways that might be derogatory or offensive to those communities for whom they are of special cultural importance.

Source of Acquisition:

Donated by Major-General Francis William Stubbs in 1901.

Arrangement:

bound

Administrative Context:

Place of origin: West Africa

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)