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Ⓛ Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. AH 505 / AD 1111)Ihya' 'ulum al-d…
See original version (French)
28
-
Ⓛ Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. AH 505 / AD 1111)Ihya' 'ulum al-d…
See original version (French)
Estimate €50,000 - €70,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Ⓛ Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. AH 505 / AD 1111)Ihya' 'ulum al-din (The Revival of the Sciences of Religion), Book VI: Asrar al-sawm (The Mysteries of Fasting).
Spain, Almohad period, 12th-13th century
Important Arabic manuscript collated from the autograph copy, on thick, smooth, dense cream paper; 88 large leaves calligraphied in fine, regular Andalusian maghribi in sepia ink, with forty-one lines per page; the key words are highlighted in blue and red. Several margins bear collation marks. Modern embossed morocco flap binding.
Size: 31 x 21 cm (12.2 x 8.3 in.)
Marginal inscriptions:
"balagha bi-l-muqabala" ("collation completed") and "sahha asl" ("conforms to the original") - indicating that this copy has been checked against the author's autograph copy.
Provenance :
Sotheby's sale, London, 25 October 2023, lot 8.
Related works:
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Inv. no. 3353, (cf. A. Arberry, A Handlist of the Arabic Manuscripts, Dublin, 1956, p. 45).
John Rylands Library, Manchester, no. 73 [223], (cf. A. Mingana, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts, Manchester, 1934, pp. 88-89).
Christie's London, 26 April 2018, lot 7.
The rarity of this volume lies in the combination of three material elements that make it a direct witness to the turbulent history of the Ihya' 'ulum al-din in the Muslim West. The quality of the Hispano-Arabic paper, which is thick, smooth, dense and regular and of a beautiful cream, and the rigour of the Andalusian calligraphy, which is remarkably precise and balanced, bear witness to the exceptional care taken over this copy. What is more, the marginal notes on collation - balagha bi-l-muqabala and sahha asl - indicate that the text has been methodically checked against the autograph, giving it a textual value of the highest order.
The text and its author :
The work was censored and publicly burnt in al-Andalus and the Maghreb under the Almoravids in the early 12th century, before being fully rehabilitated under the Almohads, who turned it into a reference text. The present manuscript, copied in an Andalusian or Maghrebian workshop during the Almohad period, thus constitutes direct material evidence of this rehabilitation: it documents the official, careful and philologically demanding circulation of a text that had been banned a generation earlier.
The volume contains Book VI of the first section (ibâdât, acts of devotion), devoted to the mysteries of fasting, and forms a complete chapter of this monumental work, which is divided into four main sections: theology, law, ethics and mysticism.
Born in 1058 in Khorasan and nicknamed Hujjat al-Islam ("the Proof of Islam"), Abu Hamid al-Ghazali occupied the prestigious chair of the Nizamiyya madrasa in Baghdad before a spiritual crisis in 1095 led him to abandon this position in favour of the Sufi path - a decade of retreat during which he composed the essential part of the Ihya'. After the Koran and the great collections of hadith, this text was one of the most copied and widely read books in the medieval Sunni world, and its posterity extended to the Maghrebi Sufis and medieval Christian mystics through Latin and Hebrew translations.
An important Andalusi manuscript of al-Ghazali's Ihya' 'ulum al-din, Book VI, collated against the author's autograph. Arabic manuscript on thick, smooth, dense cream paper; 88 large leaves calligraphed in fine and regular Andalusi maghribi script in sepia ink, 41 lines to the page, with keywords picked out in blue and red. Several margins bear collation notes. Modern stamped morocco binding with flap. Spain, Almohad period, 12th-13th century (12.2 x 8.3 in.)
Inscriptions
Marginal collation notes: "balagha bi-l-muqabala" ("the collation has been completed") and "sahha asl" ("conforming to the original") - confirming that this copy was verified against the author's autograph manuscript.
The copy & his author
The Ihya' had been condemned and publicly burned in al-Andalus and the Maghreb under the Almoravids in the early 12th century, before being fully rehabilitated under the Almohads, who, on the contrary, established it as a reference text. The present manuscript, copied in an Andalusi or Maghribi workshop of the Almohad period, thus stands as direct material evidence of that rehabilitation: it documents the official, carefully executed and philologically rigorous circulation of a text that had been proscribed only a generation earlier.
The volume contains Book VI of the first section ('ibadat, the acts of devotion), devoted to the mysteries of fasting, and forms a complete chapter of this monumental work, which articulates, across four great sections, theology, law, ethics and mysticism. Born in 1058 in Khurasan and known by the honorific Hujjat al-Islam ("the Proof of Islam"), Abu Hamid al-Ghazali occupied the prestigious chair of the Nizamiyya madrasa in Baghdad until a spiritual crisis in 1095 led him to abandon that office for the Sufi path - a decade of retreat during which he composed the greater part of the Ihya'. The work became, after the Qur'an and the great compendia of hadith, one of the most widely copied and most widely read books of the medieval Sunni world, and its influence would extend as far as the Maghribi Sufis and the medieval Christian mystics, through the channel of Latin and Hebrew translations.
Location:
The work is currently stored in London; please contact the department for further information.
Notes:
British VAT of 20% will apply to this lot currently located in London. In case of export from UK, VAT on sale fees can be refunded upon presentation of customs documentation.
See original version (French)
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