Kitāb fī faḍāʼil al-Shāfiʿī, [1034, i.e. 1625].

Fine copy of the well-known hagiographical work by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.1210) on the life and merits of al-Imām Abū ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʻī (d. 820), the eponym of the Shāfiʻī school (madhhab).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, Isl. Ms. 604Origin: As appears in colophon on p.323, copied by Manṣūr al-ʻAṭṭār [?] with transcription completed 20 Rabī II 1034 [ca. 30 January 1625].Accompanying materials: a. Inventory cataloguing slip in hand of Winifred Smeaton Thomas -- b. Acquisitions slip from Yahuda.Former shelfmark: From interior of upper cover "IL 270" (likely supplied by Yahuda, see acquisitions slip).Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark blue cloth with black leather over spine (quarter binding) ; Type III binding (without flap), approaching Western style (not flush with text block, etc.) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in brown wove paper ; upper and lower covers bear embossed emblems of the Ottoman Empire - upper cover, what appears to be the tuğra / ṭughrā of the sultan [Mahmut II ?] and lower cover, crescent and star ; resewn over cords in white thread, six stations ; overall in somewhat poor condition with spine leather lifting (printed waste used in spine lining and lower hinge), splitting and deteriorating, minor abrasion and staining of cloth, some spine slant (slightly cocked).Support: European laid paper with 8 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 26 mm. apart (horizontal), and anchor in circle with trefoil above watermark (see p.28, 29, etc.) ; dark cream in color, fairly crisp though sturdy, well-burnished to glossy (in vicinity of p.179 extremely smooth and glossy) ; some staining.Decoration: Keywords, section headings, and abbreviation symbols rubricated ; textual dividers in the form of red inverted commas or discs (occasionally in threes).Script: Naskh ; clear 'Syrian' or Egyptian [?] hand ; virtually serifless (though occasional rightward serifs appear on freestanding alif, lām, etc.) and quite rounded, pointing in distinct dots, curvilinear descenders, kāf mashqūqah preferred (even final kāf), partially vocalized.Layout: Written in 21 lines per page.Collation: ii, V-1 (9), 15 V(159), II+1 (164), ii ; chiefly quinions ; quire numbering in the form of whole words in the upper outer corner of the opening recto of the second and third quire, thereafter in the form of Hindu-Arabic numerals (red or black ink) ; catchwords present though often lost to trimming ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Colophon: "Scribal," reads "على يد منصور العطار غفر له ولوالديه في عشرين ربيع الثاني من شهور سنة ۱۰۳۴"Explicit: "فنثبت ان الذي طنوه [؟] حجة لهم فهو حجة لنا عليهم والله اعلم واعلم ان الفرض [في] تعيين المسائل وتعديدها لا يليق بهذا الكتاب ولما وصلنا الي هذا الموضع فلنقطع كلامنا وحامدين لله تعالى ومصليين على رسوله محمد المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى اله واصحابه وسلم تسليما كثيرا"Incipit: "قال الشيخ الامام ... فخر الملة والدين ابو عبد الله محمد بن عمر الرازي برد الله مضجعه الحمد لله الذي لا خالق للاشياء الا هو ولا رازق للاحياء الا هو ... اما بعد فقد سألني جماعة من افاضل الاصحاب والكابر الانساب ان اصنف مختصرا ملخصا من فضائل الشافعي المطلبي رضي الله عنه وفي ترجيح مذهبه فصنفت هذا المختصر ..."Title from 'title page' (p.1).Ms. codex.Ḥājjī Khalīfah. Kashf al-ẓunūn,Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of the well-known hagiographical work by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.1210) on the life and merits of al-Imām Abū ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʻī (d. 820), the eponym of the Shāfiʻī school (madhhab).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.Several ownership statements on 'title page' (p.1), at least four of them effaced (one dated 1279 [1862 or 3]), and one legible in name of ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Pīr [?] al-Sankawī [Sangāwī ?] ( عبد الرحمن بن پير السنكوى [؟] ) ; collation marks and notes ("لغ مقابلة على حسب الطاقة والامكان", etc.) on verso of final leaf of practically every quire ; marginal corrections (with signes de renvoi) ; added excerpts at close "كتاب فيه مسائل ابي حاتم رضي الله عنه" (pp.326-328)