Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, work of Maliki Fiqh, possibly his commentary on Tirmidh's Hadith Collection 'Aridhat al-Ahwazi', in Arabic, decorated manuscript on parchment [Seville, Andalusia, dated 1 Ramadan al-Karim, 523 AH (1129 AD)] one section from a larger work, 5 leaves (10 pp. of text), plus 2 later flyleaves, single column, 17 leaves fine sepia maghribi, with some accents and diacritics in red, later stylised inscription to front free endpaper bearing the title, a few small chips to parchment with slight loss (particularly to outer edges), else an exceptionally clean and crisp condition, 260 by 190 mm.; late nineteenth-century tan morocco, elaborately blind-stamped with Islamic geometric motifs, very good condition This is an exceptionally important relic from a Muslim community in medieval Seville, securely naming the medieval town of its copying in the colophon The text is by Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (1076-1148), a native of Seville, who was known for his scholarly contributions to the Maliki school and for the spread of Ash'ari theology throughout Islamic Spain. He travelled around many Islamic countries during his lifetime and studied under important and influential figures in Muslim communities of Andalusia and North Africa including Al-Ghazali and Ibn Hazm. The text here is a single section from a larger body of work, on Maliki Fiqh, probably a commentary on one of the chapters from the Aridhat al-Ahwazi (a collection of Hadith compiled over a two-decade period and completed in the year 270 AH, 884 AD). The colophon clearly indicates al-Arabi as the author of the work and identifies the scribe as Al-Hafiz al-Ajil Yousif bun Abdullah al-Farid. It then continues to give a precise date of copying, firmly within the author's lifetime, and places the creation of the manuscript in Ishbillieh ... al-Andalus Seville in Andalusia. Very few comparable manuscripts from medieval Muslim Seville exist. The Bavarian State Library in Munich has a copy of a maghribi Qur'an copied in Seville and dated 624 AH (1226 AD) (BSB shelfmark: Cod.arab. 1), and an illuminated Qur'an section from Andalucia appeared at Sotheby's that was probably compiled in Valencia in the twelfth century (24 October 2018, Lot 5), and an Early Work on Hadith, was attributed to Andalusia or North Africa from the 13th or 14th century (Christie's 27 April 2017, lot 85). Indeed the location of such manuscripts to a named town in Medieval Spain is itself of great rarity. A bifolia from another work of Hadith appeared at auction last year that was apparently copied in Granada and dated 483 AH (dated 1090 AD, Chiswick auctions, 26 October 2018, lot 23). Beyond these two no other comparables have been found that identify a precise location in the colophon.
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, work of Maliki Fiqh, possibly his commentary on Tirmidh's Hadith Collection 'Aridhat al-Ahwazi', in Arabic, decorated manuscript on parchment [Seville, Andalusia, dated 1 Ramadan al-Karim, 523 AH (1129 AD)] one section from a larger work, 5 leaves (10 pp. of text), plus 2 later flyleaves, single column, 17 leaves fine sepia maghribi, with some accents and diacritics in red, later stylised inscription to front free endpaper bearing the title, a few small chips to parchment with slight loss (particularly to outer edges), else an exceptionally clean and crisp condition, 260 by 190 mm.; late nineteenth-century tan morocco, elaborately blind-stamped with Islamic geometric motifs, very good condition This is an exceptionally important relic from a Muslim community in medieval Seville, securely naming the medieval town of its copying in the colophon The text is by Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (1076-1148), a native of Seville, who was known for his scholarly contributions to the Maliki school and for the spread of Ash'ari theology throughout Islamic Spain. He travelled around many Islamic countries during his lifetime and studied under important and influential figures in Muslim communities of Andalusia and North Africa including Al-Ghazali and Ibn Hazm. The text here is a single section from a larger body of work, on Maliki Fiqh, probably a commentary on one of the chapters from the Aridhat al-Ahwazi (a collection of Hadith compiled over a two-decade period and completed in the year 270 AH, 884 AD). The colophon clearly indicates al-Arabi as the author of the work and identifies the scribe as Al-Hafiz al-Ajil Yousif bun Abdullah al-Farid. It then continues to give a precise date of copying, firmly within the author's lifetime, and places the creation of the manuscript in Ishbillieh ... al-Andalus Seville in Andalusia. Very few comparable manuscripts from medieval Muslim Seville exist. The Bavarian State Library in Munich has a copy of a maghribi Qur'an copied in Seville and dated 624 AH (1226 AD) (BSB shelfmark: Cod.arab. 1), and an illuminated Qur'an section from Andalucia appeared at Sotheby's that was probably compiled in Valencia in the twelfth century (24 October 2018, Lot 5), and an Early Work on Hadith, was attributed to Andalusia or North Africa from the 13th or 14th century (Christie's 27 April 2017, lot 85). Indeed the location of such manuscripts to a named town in Medieval Spain is itself of great rarity. A bifolia from another work of Hadith appeared at auction last year that was apparently copied in Granada and dated 483 AH (dated 1090 AD, Chiswick auctions, 26 October 2018, lot 23). Beyond these two no other comparables have been found that identify a precise location in the colophon.
.jpg?w=400 "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
