[Subḥat al-abrār, 16th century?].

Elegant copy of Subḥat al-abrār, the fourth of the seven seven mas̲navīs of Jāmī (d.1492) collected under the title Haft awrang.Origin: As appears in colophon on p. 209, copied by Shāh Muḥammad al-Kātib ; date of transcription not specified though copyist, paper, decoration, etc. suggest 16th century.Accompanying materials: Slip of wove paper with note (describing manuscript) in ink in hand of G. Meredith-Owens [?], reads "359 Subḥat al-abrār An ethico-religious poem by Jāmī. Copied by Shāh Muḥammad Late XVth century (?)."Former shelfmark: "480 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Boards covered in maroon leather ; Western style binding ; pastedowns and flyleaves in printed comb marbled paper (in shades of red, pink, blue, yellow, etc.) ; upper and lower covers carry gold rule borders ; bord edges and turn-ins gold-stamped with foliate design ; spine gold-stamped with title ("CÉPA-TUL EBRARE"), bands and foliate design ; edges of text block gilt ; now sewn in white thread over recessed cords ; stuck-on endbands (traces of pink and yellow primaries from original endbands appear as well) ; register (bookmark) in royal blue ribbon, affixed at head of spine ; overall in fair condition with minor abrasion and staining.Support: non-European (likely Persian or Indian) laid paper with 6 laid lines per cm. (vertical and horizontal, curved though fairly distinct) and some chain lines visible (also not very straight and occasionally grouped, see p.176), cloudy formation, thin and crisp, and quite well-burnished.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on p.2 consisting of large rectangular piece with empty gold cartouche flanked by pendants and surrounded by swirling arabesque with floral accents in red, lavender, white, light blue, yellow, and gold on a field of lapis lazuli with border in red and light blue bands, surmounted by a wide band of lapis lazuli filled with arabesque and floral motifs in light blue, pink, red, yellow, etc. with black and gold accents, all surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue ; written area surrounded by gold frame with outermost blue rule, columns within defined by narrow gold bands outlined in black fillets ; section headings, some keywords and glosses rubricated ; textual dividers in the form of blue and red inverted commas.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; elegant hand ; serifless, with slight effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.Layout: Written in 15 lines per page, often divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.Collation: ii, 17 III(102), II (106), ii ; almost exclusively ternions ; catchwords present (though often cut-off) ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Colophon: "Scribal," triangular, reads "كتبه العبد المذنب شاه محمد الكاتب تم تم تم"Explicit: "قطع کردیم برین نکته سخن ختم الله لنا بالحسنى و هو مولانا نعم المولى ... خاک قدم سکان کویت باشم نسبت بسک تو بیوفایی نکتم"Incipit: "المنة لله که بخون گر خفتم یکچند چو غنچه عاقبت بشگفتم"Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.Cat. Pers. MSS. Brit. Mus.,Elegant copy of Subḥat al-abrār, the fourth of the seven seven mas̲navīs of Jāmī (d.1492) collected under the title Haft awrang.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Traces of former owners' marks on 'title page' (p.1) including effaced seal impressions and statement ; occasional glosses and corrections (accompanied by signes de renvoi) ; back flyleaf bears booksellers mark (sticker) of "P. Rolandi, Foreign Bookseller, Circulating Library, 20 Berners St.