Folio from a dispersed manuscript
copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât  
written in the Sudani script


Nigeria or Western Sudan
early 20th Century

 


Folio 26a


Folio 26b

Folio 26a  from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât

Folio 26b  from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât

Return to Main Page

Return to Main Page




Description:

    Leaf Dimensions:  11.5 cm wide x 17.5 cm high

    Folio from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât.
    Inner margin of page edge is cut.
    Stiff, thick tan colored laid paper.
    Chain and rule lines are visible in the paper.
    No watermarks are visible on this leaf.
    
    
    
Side a

    Five lines of text.
    Main text is written in black ink in Arabic.
    Text markings in green, yellow and red ink.
    The text is written in a Sudani style Maghribi script (Ifriqi script).
    No interlinear or marginal notes present.


Side b

    Section divider.
    Simple decorated page.
    Decorative border with line outlines in black ink with
    yellow, red and green ink infilling.
    Ten lines written in black ink.
    Markings in red ink.
    The text on this page is written in a smaller and
    thinner script than that of the main text.  It matches the
    script used for the catchwords on the other pages.
    The last two lines of text on the page are catchwords,
    No interlinear or marginal notes present.
    Leaf is numbered 26 in pencil at the upper right corner of the page.
    Dealer (Griffon's Medieval Manuscripts, Inc.) catalog number 26435 
    written in pencil lower right corner of page. **


 

 


Additional notes. 
     

     The Dalâ’il al-khayrât or "Guide to Good Deeds" or 
     "The Indications of Grace" is a collection of prayers 
     and devotions.  It was composed by Muhammad bin Sulay-man 
     al-Juzuli, a Moroccan, who died in 1465.
     
     Copies of this immensely popular work often included 
     illuminated pages showing paintings of Mecca and Medina.
     The work also includes an elaborate genealogy of the Prophet.
       
     Sudani is an Arabic script which is used in Sub-Saharan 
     West Africa.  It is a thick densly written linear script 
     which originated in the 13th century in Timbuktu.  This 
     type of West African Arabic script is also known as the 
     Ifriqi script.  It belongs to the Maghribi family of scripts.
     
     
     **  It seems this leaf was mis-numbered/labeled.
     The normal Griffon's catalog numbers and leaf numbers generally 
     appear on side a (front side) of the pages.


     

 


Return to Manuscripts


Welcome Page / Exhibit / Articles / Site Links

 

 


All presented material is Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2009 by Theodore Bernhardt.
All Rights Reserved.