Akhlaq-i Muhsini

Scope and Content

Akhlaq-i Muhsini, by Husain 'Ali Wai'z Kashifi.

This is one of the best known Persian ethical works and was originally composed in AH 900/AD 1495, and dedicated to Abu l'Muhsin, a son of Abu 'l Ghazi Sultan Husayn Baykara. This copy was written in AD 1548 only fifty years after the composition of the original. Copied by Mahmud al-Katib of Herat, dated last days of Rajab, AH955/early September AD1548. Written in nasta 'liq, Persian.

Note by BW Robinson of Victoria and Albert Museum enclosed.

Administrative / Biographical History

Kamal al-Din Husain 'Ali Wai'z Kashifi (d. 910/1504-5), Persian scholar and preacher. He settled in Herat where he preached and wrote prolifically, producing works on ethics, theology, folk tales, spiritual chivalry, poetry, alchemy, astronomy, as well as commentaries on the Qur'an. He compiled 2 anthologies from Rumi's Masnawi, and a new and much used version of a Persian collection of fables, Kalila wa-Dimna, called Anwar Suhayli, (The Lights of Suhayli), dedicated to Amir Shaikh Ahmad Suhayli, a Turkish amir at the court of Sultan Husayn. He also wrote Rawdat al-shuhada, (The Garden of Martyrs), a Persian martyrology of 'Ali and his family.

Arrangement

Single item

Access Information

By appointment with the Keeper of Manuscripts. Access to records containing confidential information may be restricted.

Acquisition Information

Tweedie Collection, catalogued by DM Dunlop and ETC, 1976.

Note

Call number used to be msPK6470.H8B48

Other Finding Aids

Individual Manuscripts and Small Collections database available as part of Manuscripts Database.

Archivist's Note

Description compiled by Maia Sheridan, Archives Hub project archivist, based on material from the Manuscripts Database.

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Keeper of Manuscripts. Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents.

Accruals

None

Related Material

See also MS (O) 24, this being a more elaborate copy.