Abu Hamid Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Ghazali, Kitab Kimiyat al-Sa’ad (on the Muslim faith and Sufi life), copied by Isma’il bin Shaikh Hamad Razm’Ali, in Farsi, illuminated manuscript on paper [Ottoman Levant, dated 26 Sha’ban 904 AH (1499 AD)]

Abu Hamid Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Ghazali, Kitab Kimiyat al-Saad (on the Muslim faith and Sufi life), copied by Ismail bin Shaikh Hamad RazmAli, in Farsi, illuminated manuscript on paper [Ottoman Levant, dated 26 Shaban 904 AH (1499 AD)]

single volume, 205 leaves, single column, 15 lines of black taliq, some words in red, illuminated head-piece opening the text, decorated in blue and gilt, two marginal circular devices decorating outer edges of first two leaves of text, in gilt, additional marginal roundels marking important sections in the text throughout, all in gilt, leaves ruled in blue and gilt, a few small stains or smudges, else excellent condition, 282 by 260 mm.; eighteenth-century green morocco, a little rubbed and scuffed

Provenance: Copied for a female patron named "Rabi'a bint Qasim Nuri" (and described as one who longs for Ka'ba), as recorded in the colophon. Later passing to Muhammad bin Piri Katkhoda al-Baghdadi, military quartermaster: ink ownership inscription to title dated 1000 AH (1592-92 AD), and located in Constantinople at that time.

Text: This is an important treatise by the Persian mystic philosopher, al-Ghazali (d. 1111), here copied for a lady of rank. The inclusion of a female patron could explain the unusual marriage of manuscript styles present in the illumination of this volume. The taliq script is notably Persian, but the decorative roundels and heading unusually merge Mamluk and Ottoman traditions of manuscript illumination. These varied combinations suggest that the manuscript perhaps originated from Arab lands under Ottoman rule, despite the Farsi language used for the text.

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