Comments by
Ahmad Nazir Atassi
Greetings.
First of all, this is not a book, it is a Defter. It seems that it is the record book of Niqabat al-Ashraf. I am assuming that the place is Istanbul since the first witness mentioned on the first page is Shay al-Islam As’ad ibn Sa’d al-Din (r. 1615-1622) (شيخ الإسلام أسعد أفندي ابن شيخ مشايخ الإسلام سعد الدين). The second witness is Khalil Pasha the second vizier (خليل باشا الوزير الثاني); who became the Vezir-i Azam later I think. The third witness is Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad Tashkubrizadeh the ex-Qadi Askar in Rumeli d. 1030 AH (كمال الدين محمد بن أحمد طاشكبري زاده). The reason for the extravagant beginning is that the first inductee is the sufi master Mahmud ibn Fadlullah ibn Mahmud al-Iskudari d. 1038 AH (محمود الاسكداري بن فضل الله بن محمود). The writer reveals himself in the text as the student of Shaykh al-islam Sa’d al-Din (أستاذي وأستاذ الاساتذة الكرام) and the disciple of the sufi master Mahmud al-Iskudari (شيخي ومولاي). Each entry is an attestation in front of prominent witnesses that a certain person has proven to be a sharif by a document he produced that was signed by some previous Naqib al-Ashraf and that testifies the sharifian rank of one of his ancestors. The first entry is dated “the beginnings of Jumada al-Ula of the year 1024 (May 1615) and the last entry is dated Safar of the year 1026 (February 1617). These records are followed by a poem in Persian praising the Prophet Muhammad according to its title (در نعت حضرت سر در كائنات ومفخر موجودات عليه أفضل الصلوات وأكمل التحيات) “about the description of the Sire chief of all creature…”. Each entry in the record ends with the formula ( شهود الحال ختامة مجلس النقابة), “witnesses of the petition, seal the council of the Naqaba”. I am not sure about reading “the seal” in the formula. The left margin of the left page carries a seal. It is hard to read and seems in Ottoman Turkish or Persian. I can discern the words (شده اى سر فراز ال شم مير قاسم غبار خان .. 1025).
Incipit: الحمد لله الذي خلق من الماء بشراً فجعله نسباً وصهراً وربّى شجرة هذا النسب بمياه الحسب والأدب والتقوى وجعل أصلها آدم الصفي الذي اجتباه ربه وهدى وأطلع ثمرتها النامية السامية في غصنها الاعلى سيد الورى فصارت كشجرةٍ طيبةٍ أصلها ثابتُ وفرعها في السما … وبعد فالسبب الداعي إلى تحرير هذه النميقة الأنيقة والوثيقة الوثيقة هو أنه قد تبين وبهر وتعين وظهر وكالشمس في رابعة النهار اشتهر باخبار العالم الفاضل الرباني خادم الشرع الشريف الصمداني … أن شيخي ومولاي … من النسب الطاهر وسيادته بين الأنام بين وظاهر
Explicit: أن الشريف جليل ابن صلبي للشريف سيدى؟ ابن الشريف مصطفى ابن الشريفة سلام من النسب الطاهر وذلك بعد أن أبرز حجة دالة على شرف جده وهو الشريف مصطفى المذكور؟ معنونة يعنوان النقباء السالفين
The full title of the book is
تسهيل السبيل في فهم معاني التنزيل
Tashil al-Sabil fi Fahm Ma’ani al-Tanzil
writter by
أبو الحسن محمد بن محمد بن عبد الرحمن البكري الصديقي سبط الحسن (899-952 هـ)(1493-1545)م
Abu al-Hasan Muhammad b. Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Bakri al-Siddiqi Sibt al-Hasan
He lived in Cairo and was a sufi leader
As for the date that you have, it is the date of copying which appear on p. 561 of the manuscript. It say finished on Saturday 17 (units of the number not clear) of the month of Safar of the year 1145 AH, which corresponds to Saturday 9 August 1732 AD. The copyists name is Ali al-Buyuti al-Shafi’i
على يد السيد علي البيوتي الشافعي
the manuscript starts with verse 86 of Surat al-Kahf and goes to the end of the Quran.
The seals on pages 5 and 561 of the manuscripts say:
1. this is one of the books of ‘Abd al-Baqi al-Bakris
هذا من كتب السبد عبد الباقي البكري
2. An endowment for God, located at the house of al-Sajjada al-Bakriyya
وقف لله تعالى ومقره بيت السجادة البكرية
3. An endowment for God 1320
وقف لله تعالى 1320
4. …. endowed for God by al-Sayyid ‘Abd al-Baqi al-Bakri al-Siddiqi Sibt al-Hasan
يا رب أنت الله يسر لنا علم لا إله إلا الله وقف هذا الكتاب السيد عبد الباقي البكري الصديقي سبط الحسن
I did some research on the web and found that ‘Abd al-Baqi was the last of Nuqaba’ al-Ashraf in Cairo (20th century). He is a descendant of the Caliph Abu Bakr but one of his ancestors married a lady fro al-Hasan ibn Ali clan (the grandson of Muhammad) hence the word Sibt al-Hasan, i.e. a grandson of al-Hasan. The family is in charge of a sufi order which explain the House of al-Sajjada al-Bakriyya
The book is now in print, published in Saudi Arabia
Greetings. I found this volume to contain two books. All other pages are filled with prayers and remedies for the sick using Du’a’ and they do not constitute a book by themselves.