Contemplation of birds and flowers

Maqdisi al-Wa'iz, 'Izzadin 'Abdassalam ibn Ahmad ibn Ghanim al-. Kashf al-asrar fi hikma al-tuyur wa al-azhar [Unveiling the Mysteries about the Wisdom of Birds and Flowers].

€ 12.000,00

Late 17th century manuscript of this mystical "contemplation of animate and inanimate beings, in particular of the birds and flowers, whose various qualities proclaim the existence and wisdom of their creator" (cf. Brockelmann), by the 13th-century mystic Ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi (d. AH 678).

From the collection of the French merchant and Arabist Jean-Georges Varsy (1774-1859) with a handwritten catalogue ticket pasted to the front flyleaf, according to which this manuscript served as the basis of the edition of the text ("Les Oiseaux et les Fleurs", Paris 1821) published by the young Joseph Garcin de Tassy: "No 2962 du catalogue Garcin de Tassy. Kichaf ul Asrar fi Hukmi it thoyour oua al Azhar [...] Allégorie morale en arabe par Azz-eddin al Mocadessi (mort en 678 de l'hégire). Manuscrit copié avec soin, ayant appartenu à M. Varsy de Marseille et que M. G. de Tassy a suivi constamment pour l'édition qu'il a donnée de cet ouvrage en 1821. Manuscrit copié en 1102 de l'hégire (Ere vulg. 1690)". Varsy, a student of Sylvestre de Sacy, came from a family of merchants long established at Rosetta but who had to flee Egypt after the defeat of the French army. Latterly in a Parisian private collection, kept in the family for several generations over the 20th century and dispersed in 2022.

Some dampstaining throughout, but altogether well preserved.