Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (d. 1110/1699), Miqbas al-Masabih, a text on prayers to be recited after daily prayers, copied for a certain Muhammad Quli Bikazadeh, by Muhammad Ibrahim Qumi, the well-known Safavid calligrapher, and formerly in the library of the Qajar Prince Farhad Mirza (1818-1888)

Persia, dated Ramadan 1104/May-June 1693

Footnotes

As this copy was made during the life of Majlisi, it may be one of the earliest recorded copies of this text. The patron, Muhammad Quli Bikazadeh (or his father), have not been identified. The colophon reads: The Miqbas al-masabih was copied by the order of the one close to the monarch, Muhammad Quli Bikazadeh, the beloved son of 'Abbas Quli Bikazadeh by Muhammad Ibrahim al-Qumi in Ramadan 1104 (May-June 1693).

The design on the binding is similar to that on a mid-19th Century bookcover in the Khalili Collection: see N. D. Khalili, B. W. Robinson, T. Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands: Part Two, London 1997, p. 197, no. 420.

Hand-written notes record that the manuscript was in the library of Prince Farhad Mirza in Sha'ban 1293/August-September 1876 and then in that of his son, Ihtisham al-Dawlah after AH 1306/AD 1888-89.

These various ownership notes in the front flyleaves are as follows in detail:

A. 'In turn, it entered (my library) and I am the sinner servant (of God), Farhad son of the Crown Prince - may his grave be fragrant - in the honoured month of Sha'ban 1293 (August-September 1876)'.

Farhad Mirza (1818-1888) was the 15th son of 'Abbas Mirza Na'ib al-Saltanah and younger brother of Muhammad Shah. He is referred to as a Qajar Prince, Governor and bibliophile as well as a fine writer of the Persian language, with an excellent knowledge of Arabic. His love of collecting Persian and Arabic manuscripts is well-known and his library was considered as one of the best private libraries in Persia. His library was scattered after his death. For more on his political life and his achievements see M. Bamdad, op. cit., vol. iii, Tehran 1966, pp. 86-92; and Encyclopaedia Iranica (http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farhad-mirza-motamad-al-dawla).

B. 'In turn, it entered (my library) after my father's turn [...] and I am the servant of God, 'Abd al-'Ali Mirza Ihtisham al-Dawlah son of Farhad Mirza Mu'tamidal-Dawlah son of [...] Nayib al-Saltanah, the Crown Prince, 'Abbas Mirza - may their graves be fragrant.

The oval seal impression reads 'Ihtisham al-Dawlah 1306 (1888-89).'

'Abd al-'Ali Ihtisham al-Dawlah (Ihtisham al-Mulk & Mu'tamid al-Dawlah) was the second son of Farhad Mirza. He received the title Ihtisham al-Dawlah after his father's death when his brother Uways Mirza received his father's title Mu'tamid al-Dawlah and 'Abd al-'Ali that of his brother's Ihisham al-Dawlah in AH 1305/AD 1887-88. He was Governor of Khamsah and Zanjan. He is first described as a young educated man and a poet but later on Bamdad comments: 'Despite being a literate and educated prince, he was self-satisfied, silly, undignified and a gambler'. (M. Bamdad, op. cit., vol. 2, Tehran, 1966, pp. 270-273).

C. 'It is the hand of the deceased Aqa Ibrahim Qumi- may his grave be fragrant, there are eighty-four folios'.

Muhammad Ibrahim Qumi was a calligrapher and illuminator of the Safavid period. Not much is known about him, though he is recorded as the teacher of Ahmad Nayrizi. The colophons of his works indicate that he copied a manuscript for Shah Sulayman. His recorded work, which includes manuscripts and lacquer illumination, is dated between AH 1070-1118/AD 1657-1706. See M. Bayani, Ahval va athar-e khawshnavisan, vol. 3, Tehran, 1348sh, pp. 625-626 and vol. 4, 1358 sh, pp. 127-129.

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