Al-Tusi's Persian ethics

Tusi, Nasir al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-. Akhlaq-i Nasiri [Nasirean Ethics].

Persia or Central Asia, ca. 1770 / 18th century CE.

Folio (210 x 310 mm). Persian manuscript on polished paper. 287 ff. 11 lines of black nasta'liq with occasional red, numerous marginal glosses. Near-contemporary red morocco binding, restored with modern red spine.

 18.000,00

Eighteenth-century Persian manuscript of Al-Tusi's acclaimed work on ethics and political philosophy, a good example of the author's Persian writing and his fluency in rendering Arabic tradition into Farsi. The text includes an epitome of the (originally Arabic) "Tahdhib al-Akhlaq" of Miskawayh (d. 421/1030), "who had himself brought together Greek, Iranian, Arab, and Islamic traditions in his Arabic writings. The 'Akhlaq-i Nasiri' became a model for later writers, including Davvani (d. 908/1502), whose 'Akhlaq-i Jalali' likewise includes a Persian epitome of Miskawayh's treatise" (Medieval Islamic Civilization, ed. J.W. Meri, p. 826). "The Akhlaq-i Nasiri was originally dedicated to the Isma'ilite governor of Sertaht, Nasir al-Din 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Mansur, but Al-Tusi later retracted the preface written in his praise" (Brockelmann, Supplement).

Some browning throughout; upper and lower margins with old waterstains. A few occasional small tears to the edges, but altogether a well preserved manuscript.

Literatur

GAL I, 510, 22x & S I, 928.