Kitāb Lisān al-ḥukkām al-muʻtabar bayna al-anām, [1019, i.e. 1610].

Neat copy of the first part of this legal treatise (through chapter 21, Faṣl fī al-karāhīyah) completed by the author before his death. Table of contents included (see pp.3-4).Origin: As appears in colophon on p.375, copied by Pīr Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī al-Kābūlī [?]. Transcription completed ("waqaʻa al-farāgh min taḥrīr hādhā al-kitāb...") toward the end of Ramaḍān 1019 [December 1610].Former shelfmark: British Museum, London "No. 43. Lisan al-hukkam." ; on tail edge of textblock "١٠٧".Binding: Pasteboards covered in block-printed decorated paper over marbled paper, with spine in red leather ; Type III binding (without flap, though may have had flap prior to installation on this textblock) ; board linings in laid paper ; sewn in gray thread, mainly two stations, occasionally four ; primaries in yellow ; chevron endbands in red and yellow, fair condition ; in poor condition with much abrasion, lifting of paper and leather, delaminating of boards, minor pest damage, etc.Support: European laid paper of several types ; mainly with 7 laid lines per cm. (vertical) and chain lines spaced 26-28 mm. apart (horizontal), anchor in circle watermark (compare Heawood 2), burnished and fairly thick ; back flyleaves in thinner laid paper with crossbow in circle (trefoil above) watermark ; much staining.Decoration: Section headings, notabilia (side-heads) and 'two teeth stroke' ligature rubricated ; occasional textual divders in the form of inverted commas and overlining in red.Script: Naskh ; elegant Egyptian hand (?) ; virtually serifless, though occasional head-serif appears ; many closed counters ; effect of tilt to the left (more pronounced in some sections).Layout: Written in 21 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, V+1 (11), 18 V(191), iv ; chiefly quinions ; catchwords present ; foliation in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals (begins with ٢ on page facing incipit page, mistakenly repeats ١٢١ twice) ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals (supplied during digitization, includes flyleaves and mistakenly skips two pages each between pp.155-156, pp.201-202, pp.299-300, and pp.335-336).Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, reads: "وقع الفراغ من تحرير هذا الكتاب في اواخر شهر رمضان المبارك من شهور سنة تسع عشرة والف من الهجرة المحمدية عليه افضل الصلوة والتحية على يد كاتبه الفقير پير محمد بن علي الكابولي [؟] غفر الله له ولوالديه ولاستاذه ولمن طالع فيه ودعا لكاتبه بالمغفرة ولجميع المؤمنين اجمعين برحمتك يا ارحم الراحمين"Explicit: " وطلب كافر من مسلم ان يعلمه القرآن والفقه فلا بأس به رجاء ان يطلع على محاسنه فيسلم كذا ذكر في التحفة والله الموفق الى سبيل الرشاد"Incipit: "الحمد لله العادل في حكمه القاضي بين عباده بعلمه احمده على ما حكم وقضى واشكره على ما ابرم وامضى ... وبعد فلما ابتليت بالقضاء وجرى الاحكم ومضى احببت ان اجمع مختصرا في الاحكام منتخبا من كتب سادتنا العلماء الاعلام ... ليكون عونا للحكام على فصل القضايا والاحكام ورتبته على ثلاثين فصلا ..."Title from inscription on 'title page' (p.5).Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Brockelmann, C. GAL,Neat copy of the first part of this legal treatise (through chapter 21, Faṣl fī al-karāhīyah) completed by the author before his death. Table of contents included (see pp.3-4).Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase along with Abdul Hamid Collection (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Bookplate of British Museum, London on verso of front flyleaf, "British Museum, London. No. 43. Lisan al-hukkam." ; circular seal impression with figure of goat/gazelle in purple ink as well as inscription "340" in Western numerals on recto of front flyleaf ; circular waqf-seal impression in black ink appears on 'title page' (p.5) and several places throughout, reads: "هذا وقف الراجي فيض الصمدي الشيخ احمد ضيا الدين ابن مصطفى الخالدي فمن بدله بعد ما سمعه فانما اثمه على الذين يبدلونه" ; several ownership statements on 'title page' (p.5) including statement in the name of the Egyptian poet Ismāʻīl al-Khashshāb "في نوبة العبد الفقير اليه عز شانه اسماعيل بن سعد بن اسماعيل ابن مذكور بن بكر بن عبيد الله الوهبي الحسيني ... المعروف بالخشاب عفي عنه" accompanied by circular seal impression, as well "ساقه التقديم الى ملك العبد الفقير الى عفو ربه القدير محمد ... امير اللوا بمصر المحروسة عفي عنه" and "ثم ساقه التقديم الى ملك الفقير الى ربه القدير الحاج احمد الشهير بخواجه زاده غفر لهما امين" in the name of one Hocazade Ahmet (Aḥmad, al-shahīr bi-Khawājahʻzādah) ; notabilia (side-heads) appear throughout ; occasional marginal corrections and glosses