al-Mukhtār lil-fatwá, [771, i.e. 1370].

Early copy of Abū al-Faḍl ʻAbd Allāh ibn Maḥmūd ibn Mawdūd al-Mawṣilī al-Buldajī's (d. 683/1284) compendium of Ḥanafī legal decisions. Includes extensive commentary in same hand as the main text, as well as many notes, quotes, case descriptions, and other extra-textual material in varying hands. Ms. is badly wormed though vast majority of the text is preserved. See Isl. Ms. 78 and Isl. Ms. 543 for other ms. copies of this work.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, Isl. Ms. 542Origin: As appears in colophon (fol.122a), copying finished ("wa-qad waqaʻa al-farāgh min hādhihi al-nuskhah al-sharīfah") by "Ṣafī al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Fiqhī al-Murīdī al-maʻrūf bi-Fiqhī Muḥammad al-Gharīb" on the 10th of Shawwāl 771 / 7th May 1370.Accompanying materials: a. Inventory cataloguing slip in hand of Winifred Smeaton Thomas. -- b. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda.Former shelfmark: From red-bordered paper label on upper cover "٤٢" ; from spine label "IL 324" (likely supplied by Yahuda).Binding: Pasteboard covered with European paper (seen also in board linings and back flyleaf, bearing Anchor watermark) and leather (cover edges and spine) ; Type III binding (without flap) ; does not cover textblock well ; upper cover measures smaller than lower cover ; board linings in European laid paper with anchor watermark ; upper cover bears paper label with former shelfmark "٤٢" and spine bears paper label with former shelfmark "IL 324" ; in poor condition ; housed in box for protection.Support: non-European (Arab) laid paper ; many undissolved fibers evident ; chain lines visible, running vertically and found in alternating groups of twos and threes, spaced roughly 8 mm. between the individual chain lines and 52 mm. between groups ; compare that of BnF Arabe 5915 copied in Cairo as reported in Humbert, G. "Papiers non filigranés utilisés au Proche-Orient jusqu'en 1450: essai de typologie."Decoration: Marginal illustration in green and sepia on fol.113a in the section on blood money (Kitāb al-diyāt) depicts "زقاق غير نافذ وزقاق نافذ" ; rectangular figure on fol.39a is accompanied by caption "نصف ثلث سدس" ; textual abbreviations in red "ف" "ه" "م ف" "سم ف".Script: Naskh ; clear hand in a medium line ; sans serif with low sweeping tails on final ʻayn, ḥāʼ, etc. ; chapter and section headings in a larger, seriffed, display script.Layout: Written in 11 lines per page.Collation: iii, 12 V (120), III (126), i ; chiefly quinions; catchwords present, directly under final line on left hand side of page; pagination added later in pencil, Western numerals.Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, reads, "والحمد لله وحده والصلاة على من لا نبي بعده وقد وقع الفراغ من هذه النسخة الشريفة على يد العبد الضعيف اضعف الطلاب [...?] بذنوبه [?] صفي الدين بن [?] ابراهيم بن محمد بن احمد الفقهي المريدي المعروف بفقهي [?] محمد الغريب غفر الله له ولوالديه ولجميع المسلمين عاشر شوال من شهور سنة احدى وسبعين وسبعمائة"Explicit: "كان لم يكن ثم اقسم الباقي على سهام الباقين تم والحمدلله على التمام وللرسول افضل السلام"Incipit: "الحمد لله على [...?] نعمايه احمده على جليل الايه واشكره على جميل بلايه واشهده ان لا اله الا هو ... وبعد فطلب الي من وجب جوابه على ان اجمع له مختصرا على مذهب الامام الاعظم ابي حنيفة عفي الله عنه وارضاه ... هذا المختصر كما طلبه ... وسميته المختار للفتوى"Title from opening.Ms. codex.Hajji Khalifah. Kashf al-ẓunūn,Brockelmann, C. GAL,Humbert, G. "Papiers non filigranés utilisés au Proche-Orient jusqu'en 1450: essai de typologie."Early copy of Abū al-Faḍl ʻAbd Allāh ibn Maḥmūd ibn Mawdūd al-Mawṣilī al-Buldajī's (d. 683/1284) compendium of Ḥanafī legal decisions. Includes extensive commentary in same hand as the main text, as well as many notes, quotes, case descriptions, and other extra-textual material in varying hands. Ms. is badly wormed though vast majority of the text is preserved. See Isl. Ms. 78 and Isl. Ms. 543 for other ms. copies of this work.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired in 1926 from the bookseller Isaac Benjamin S.E. Yahuda via purchase transacted on his behalf by Abraham Shalom Yahuda (1877-1951), his younger brother.Seal of Solomon inscription (with greatest name of God / al-Ism al-Aʻẓam) at head of fol.1a ; magic square (wafq) in the upper margin of fol.5a is accompanied by the inscription "من كتب هذا الشكل في كتابه امن من الفقر" ; waqf statement on fol.122b reads "وقف هذا الكتاب المسمى بالمختار الفتوى الحاج موسى بن محمد بن رسول من جماعة الاكولية لاجل روح اخيه ... الحاج محمود ابتاعه بالوصية الشرعية من ملك اخيه المذكور ابتغاء لوجه الله ... على من يكون اهلا لقراءته من فقهاء الحنفية ... بعد الفقيه عثمان بن الفقيه حسن وبشرط ان لا يباع ولا يرهن ولا يسترهن ولا يؤجر ولا يستأجر ويعار للنسخ وللمطالع [؟] لمن يبغي فمن بدله بعد ان سمع فانما اثمه على الذين يبدلونه ان الله سميع عليم"; inscriptions on head edge and tail edge are illegible