[IO Islamic 3082] Mathnawîs

• Mathnawîs
• This manuscript is now IO Islamic 1634 in the India Office collections.
• [metadata: Hermann Ethé, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, 2 vols. (Oxford: India Office, 1903): volume 1, number 3082 here with notations and hyperlinks].

1634

Mathnawîs by ‘Âḳilkhân Râzî.

Two romantic stories in verse by Mîr ‘Askarî ‘Âḳilkhân Râzî, who was in high favour with the emperor ‘Âlamgîr, and died as governor of the province of Dihlî in Rabî’ II, A.H. 1108 (A.D. 1696, Nov.); comp. Bodleian Cat., Nos. 1148 and 1149; Rieu ii. p. 699; A. Sprenger, Catal., pp. 123 and 543; W. Pertsch, Berlin Cat., p. 935; Khulâṣat-alkalâm, No. 29 (col. 297 in the Bodleian Cat.); Ouseley, Notices of Persian Poets, p. 167 sq. Besides the three mathnawîs, contained in The India Office Collection, he also composed the نغمات العشق , the ظفرنامۀ عالمگيرى, also styled واقعات عالمگيرى, a history of the first five years of ‘Âlamgîr’s reign (see Nos. 345 and 346 above), and a dîwân, which is described both in the Bodleian Cat. and in A. Sprenger, loc. cit. The present copy contains:

1.Ff.1-80: Sham’u Parwâna (شمع و پروانه), Candle and Moth, that is the Indian love-story of Ratan Sên (or Ratan) and Padamâwat (or Padam), composed A.H. 1069 (A.D. 1658, 1659), see fol. 80^a, l. 2: سال هجرت هزار و شصت و نهم. The title appears in the heading of fol. 1^a and on fol. 79^a, lin. penult. It is based on an older Hindî story (see fol. 80^a, l. 5), which had already been treated in Persian by Bazmî, A.H. 1028 (A.D. 1619), see Nos. 1582 and 1583 above.

Beginning:

اى فرازندۀ رواق سپهر – وى طرازندۀ سپهر بمهر

A Persian prose-version of the same story, founded on this poem of Râzî, viz. فرح بخش, Laćhmî-Râm, is noticed in Rieu ii. p. 768^b. Another prose-version is described in W. Pertsch, Berlin Cat., p. 998.

Ff.81-87 contain smaller poetical pieces, ta’rîkhs, rubâ’is and tarji’band, probably by the same author, and an epilogue in prose by the transcriber, Mîr ‘Alî Muḥammad Akbar, who dated this copy the 25th of Dhû-alḥijjah, A.H. 1148 (eighteenth year of Muḥammadshâh’s reign)=A.D. 1736, May 7, in a place near Seringapatan.

2.Ff.88-170^a: Mihr u Mâh (مهر و ماه), Sun and Moon, that is the Indian love-story of prince Manôhar and princess Madhumâlat, composed A.H. 1065 (A.D. 1655), see fol. 170^a, lin. penult.: زهجرت يكهزار و شصت و پنج است, and last line: بخوان تأريخ اين ديباچۀ غم. In the Khâtimah this poem is styled قصّۀ عشق, fol. 168^a, l. 7, and غم نامه, fol. 170^a, lin. penult. It is, like the preceding mathnawî, based on an older Hindî story by Shaikh Jamman or Manjhan, which was first translated into Persian verse A.H. 1059 (A.D. 1649), see Rieu ii. pp. 700^a and 803^b, and three years after the second Persian adaptation by ‘Âḳilkhân Râzî, turned into Dakhnî verses by Miyân Nuṣratî A.H. 1068 (A.D. 1657, 1658), under the title of گلشن عشق , copies of which are found in the India Office Collection, Nos. 1434, 2486, and 2621; in the Bodleian Library, No. 2320 of the Cat., etc. Comp. A. Sprenger, Catal., p. 630, and Garcin de Tassy, Histoire de la Littér.

Hindouie, etc. i. p. 388; ii. pp. 485 and 486; on prose-versions of the same story, see above, No. 803, 3.

Beginning:

خداوندا غم خود ده دلم را

زعشق آسان نما هر مشكلم را

Lithographed, Lucknow, 1846.

Ff. 170^b and 171^a contain eight rubâ’îs; ff. 171^b and 172^a an epilogue of the transcriber, who is identical with that of the first mathnawî, viz. Mîr ‘Alî Akbar, and dated this poem the 26th of Dhû-alḳa’dah, A.H. 1148 (A.D. 1736, April 8), at بنواسى (Banwasse, as the place is called on the last fly-leaf).

No. 3082, ff. 172, 2 coll., each ll. 13; Nasta’lîḳ; curious drawings on ff. 28^b, 50^b, 52^b, 64^b, 65^a, 65^b, 75^b, 79^a, 81^b, 101^b, and 142^a; blanks left for illustrations on ff. 41^a, 112^a, and 114^b; ff. 49, 70, 140, and 157 are left entirely blank; fol. 112^b is greatly injured; size, 8^1/8 in. by 4^1/2 in.