Oliver White
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Lot 15•
Muhya al-Din Lari (d. 1526), Kitab Futuh al-Haramayn, a guide in Persian verse for pilgrims on the Hajj, illustrating the stations of the pilgrimage and the rituals to be observed, with 15 coloured drawings of the holy shrines and sites India, 17th Century
11 June 2020, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£5,000 - £7,000
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Muhya al-Din Lari (d. 1526), Kitab Futuh al-Haramayn, a guide in Persian verse for pilgrims on the Hajj, illustrating the stations of the pilgrimage and the rituals to be observed, with 15 coloured drawings of the holy shrines and sites
India, 17th Century
India, 17th Century
Persian manuscript on paper, 40 leaves, 15 lines to the page written in two columns of nasta'liq script in black ink, double intercolumnar rules in gold, titles written in nasta'liq script in red, inner margins ruled in blue and gold, 15 illustrations in colours and gold, most with later additions, marbled endpapers, red morocco binding
219 x 145 mm.
219 x 145 mm.
Footnotes
The list of illustrations is as follows:
1. The Qa'ba.
2. Al-Ma'ala cemetery at Mecca, the burial place of the Prophet's mother and his first wife, Khadija.
3-4. Two illustrations of Jebel Nur and Ghar Hira, the cave where the Prophet received his first revelation from the Archangel Gabriel.
5. The site of the stoning of the three jamarat (pillars) near Mina.
6. Jebel (Mount Mifrah) between Mecca and Medina, with the mosque and well of 'Ali in the foreground.
7. The holy sanctuary of Medina.
8. The Guristan cemetery at Baqi' in Medina, the burial place of the Prophet's wives, children and Halima, his wet nurse.
9. Jebel (Mount) Abu Qubais and the split moon in gold.
10, Suq al-Layl (the Night Market), the birthplace of the Prophet, the Imam 'Ali, Fatima, and Abu Bakr's shop (dukan).
11. The road between Safa and Marwa.
12. Jebel 'Arafat, the mount where the Prophet delivered his farewell sermon.
13. Qaba mosque, with two wells and two palm trees.
14. The Masjid al-Qiblatayn (The Mosque of Two Qiblas).
15. Jebel Uhud, the tomb of the martyr Hamza, the Prophet's uncle, and the tombs of the martyrs of the battle of Uhud.
Kitab Futuh al-Haramayn (Revelations of the Two Holy Sites) was one of the earliest pilgrimage guides. Muhyi al-Din Lari dedicated the work to Muzaffar bin Mahmudshah, ruler of Gujarat, in 1505. The earliest known copy is in the British Museum (Or. 3633, dated AH 951/AD 1544). All were well illustrated, as here, with stylised depictions of the various holy places and other sites of interest. Twelve of the surviving copies of the text have colophons indicating that they were written in Mecca itself, though India was another frequent source at slightly later dates. See V. Porter (ed.), Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, London 2012, pp. 46-47; and J. M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam: Treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, Sydney 2007, pp. 200-201, no. 219 (an example from Mecca).
For further reading, see:
V. Porter (ed.), Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, London 2012.
V. Porter and L. Saif (edd.), The Hajj: Collected Essays, London 2013.
E. Wright, Islam, Faith, Art, Culture: Manuscripts from the Chester Beatty Library, London 2009.
M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam: Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010.