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

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

Closer Look

Closer Look



Folio 49a


Folio 49b

Folio 49a from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât

Folio49b from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât

Closer Look

Closer Look



Folio 100a


Folio 100b

Folio 100a from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât

Folio 100b from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât

Closer Look

Closer Look

  


Description:

    Leaf Dimensions:  11.5 cm wide x 17.5 cm high

    Folios 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.
    Partial unidentifieble watermarks are visible on some of the pages. 
    According to the colophon of the manuscript from which this 
    leaf originates, the manuscript was copied by 
    Muhammad al-Thani bin al-Haaj Muhammad al-Murham.
 

  


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.

 


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