Portraiture of the Manuscript

This manuscript; transcription of which was done by Abu ‘Abdullah Mahmud ibn al Hassan al Hadiri, is a unique copy which is found in the collection of Shahid Ali Pasha in Istanbul, recorded under the number (539). Some of which is sixteen pages, I was guided to it by the distinguished scholar ‘Abdullah al Athari, may Allah divinely inspire him.

On the cover of the manuscript the name of the collection is written as: Qurbat al Darayn fi Manaqib Dhi al Nurayn (An act of devotion for the two realms in mentioning the virtues of ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan radiya Llahu ‘anhu), under which the name of the author and his attributes are mentioned as follows:

Imam al ‘Allamah Radi al Din Hujat al Islam Abu al Khayr Ahmed ibn Ismail ibn Yusuf al Talqani al Qazwini.

On the last page the following appears:

The collection of forty narrations on the virtues of ‘Uthman radiya Llahu ‘anhu has concluded. It was written by the most insignificant servant of Allah, Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn al Hassan al Hadiri, may Allah grant him his wishes whatever they may be and avail him His blessings.

He then mentions the attendees as follows:

The entire collection of forty narrations on the virtues of ‘Uthman )ra) was written by Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn al Hassan al Hadiri, may Allah grant him his wishes whatever they may be, and the attendees were: Fakhr al Din Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn al Hassan and the son of the great Imam, Radi al Din Rafi‘ al Islam Nasir al Sunnah, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al Imam al ‘Allamah Radi al Din Abu al Khayr Ahmed ibn Isma‘il ibn Yusuf al Qazwini;^[1] may Allah bless the Ummah with his long life and be pleased with him. This was on Saturday, 23 Muharram 599 A.H.

At the bottom of the last page it reads:

The great scholar and ascetic—may Allah protect him from all calamities—read it to me and my hearing it is verified. This was written (by Muhammad ibn Ahmed ibn Ismail)^[2] on the date mentioned above (Saturday, 23 Muharram 599 A.H).

NEXT⇒ Approach Adopted During Editing

[1] This is the son of the author. Al Rafi’i gave a detailed biography of him in his book al Tadwin fi Tarikh al Qazwin, he states, “He was man of great repute, lofty aspirations, valour, and proficiency in oratory skills and enjoyed the acceptance of the Sultans. He heard a lot of Prophetic traditions from his father and others in Baghdad, Qazwin, and many other cities. He assumed judgeship in Roman territories for a period, retiring afterwards. The Sultan summoned him and passed on his way to meet him the year 614 A.H.

[2] This has faded in the original document with few indications of it apparent only.

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