A manuscript of Qasidat al-burda, Mamluk Syria, c.1496-98

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(downloaded Apr. 2005)

"HAZRAT IMAM SALIH SHARAF AL-DIN ABU 'ABD ALLAH MUHAMMAD B. HASSAN AL-BUSAIRI: QASIDAT AL-BURDA, COPIED AND ILLUMINATED BY YASHBAK B. 'ABD ALLAH AL-'ALAAI IN DAMASCUS, MAMLUK SYRIA, CIRCA AH 901-904/1496-98 AD.

Poetry in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. Arabic manuscript on thick cream paper, 29ff., three panels each containing three lines of small naskh in black and red, flanked on each side by a line of diagonally written naskh and divided by three lines of large bold black muhaqqaq, gold, red and blue rosettes, all within gold, blue and black rules, opening with a large dedicatory medallion to Muhammad b. Sultan Qaitbay with a line of white thuluth above and below on gold clouds against green ground, below a dedicatory inscription to Qansawh in similar script, facing page with 11ll. of small black naskh in clouds over red hatched ground, in gold and blue illuminated frame, the opening of the main text with headpiece of white thuluth over gold scrolling arabesque on blue ground in gold frame, the bismallah outlined in gold, final page with colophon naming the scribe and the place medinat al-shams (Damascus), slight retouching on dedicatory inscription, slight wear, later red morocco Ottoman binding and case. Folio 15¾ x 12in. (40 x 30.5cm.)

Lot Notes:  The writer of this celebrated poem Al-Busairi had become paralysed and physicians had given up hope of his recovery. While in despair he composed this poem in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. He then isolated himself and recited the poem. While reciting he fell asleep and is said to have had a vision in which he spoke to the Prophet. When he awoke he found the around him the mantle that the Prophet had been wearing in his dream. He had a miraculous recovery and therefore called this work Qasidat al-Burda, (The Poem of the Mantle). See Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol.1, Leiden, 1986 pp.1314-15.

The dedicatory inscriptions on this manuscript relates to Al-Nasr Muhammad VI b. Qaitbay (r. AH 901-904/1496-98 AD) and his successor Al-Zahir Qansawh I (r. AH 904-905/1498-1500 AD). Most likely it was copied during short the reign of the former, which dates the manuscript fairly precisely. The dedication to Qansawh would have been a slightly later ammendment to honour the new Sultan."