'Ajāʾib al-dunyā عجائب الدنيا Ibn Waṣīf Shāh, Ibrāhīm ابن وصيف شاه، إبراهيم [‎86r] (182/234)

Content

A cosmography in three parts (أجزاء) describing the wonders of the world, and of Egypt in particular, by Ibrāhīm ibn Waṣīf Shāh al-Miṣrī (إبراهيم بن وصيف شاه المصري, d. 1199 or 1200).

The present copy was completed on 24 Shawwāl 1093/26 October 1682 by the darwīsh ʿAlī ibn Shams al-Dīn (درويش علي بن شمس الدين, see f. 109v, lines 13-16).

Apparently an abridgment of a larger work by the same author entitled The Great Book of Marvels (كتاب العجائب الكبير), the text's first part (ff. 2r-22r) describes the wonders of the seas and islands, and of the pyramids. Part Two (ff. 22r-72v) discusses Adam and Eve and their descendants, the story of the Flood, and the ancient priests and kings of Egypt, also mentioning other legends and kingdoms of the known world. The third part (ff. 72v-109v) describes the kings of Egypt after the Flood and their monuments, the Pharaohs and their talismans, and concludes with the story of Moses and the passage of the Red Sea.

The contents are confused, with sections from the second and third parts transposed, apparently due to confusion in the present copy's exemplar.

Title page text (f. 1r, lines 1-7):

الجزء الأول في عجائب الدنيا لابن وصيف

يشتمل هذا الجزء على عجائب البحار وأسماكها

وجزائرها وأنواعها والأهرام وعجائبها

وذكر من بناها والسبب في بنائها وما أودع

فيها من النواويس والمعدن

النفيس وغير ذلك

ويتلوه الجزء الثاني والثالث

Begins (f. 1r, lines 2-6):

الحمد لله بارئ المسموكات ورزاق المخلوقات وأشهد

أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له رب الأرض والسموات

وأشهد أن سيدنا محمدًا صلى الله عليه وسلم عبده

ورسوله خير خلقه وعلى آله وصحبه ما دامت الأرض

والسموات وبعد فنبتدئ بذكر الله تعالى وحده

Ends (f. 109v, lines 8-12):

وبقي فرعون ثم حتى رُئي وعُرف

اللهم اهدنا ولا تضلنا وتوقنا على الإيمان كما خلقتنا

آمين رب العالمين تم الكتاب بحمد الله وعونه وصلواته

على خير خلقه محمد وآله وصحبه وسلم ورضي الله

تعالى عن ساداتنا وموالينا أصحاب رسول الله أجمعين

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 109v, lines 13-17):

تم ظهر نهار الاثنين الرابع والعشرين

من شهر شوال سنة ثلث وتسعين وألف

على يد العبد الأقل درويش علي بن

شمس الدين والحمد لله

وحده

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. ii+109+ii

Physical characteristics

Material: Western laid paper with watermarks

Dimensions: 206 x 152 mm leaf [156 x 96mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 17 lines per page; vertical spacing 12 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh ; the scribe is the darwīsh ʿAlī ibn Shams al-Dīn (درويش علي بن شمس الدين, see f. 109v, lines 15-16)

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in red

Decoration: Red ruled margins

Binding: Black leather binding with envelope flap; the boards and flap stamped with central lobed medallion incorporating scrolling vegetal motifs, with pendants above and below on the boards.

Condition: Minor smudging

Marginalia: Very few; the names of rulers are numbered in pencil in the margins between ff. 37v-103v according to an undeciphered scheme

Seals: f.1 r

British Museum stamp: ff. 1r and 109v

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

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