Description
Manuscripts:
In our research on Kitab al-Ba, we
have relied on more than eight manuscripts. These manuscripts are further
divided into two categories.
1- Yusuf Agha Manuscript - 4868
o Some researchers believe that this manuscript is part of a collection in which most of the treatises were written by Sheikh Akbar himself, but according to our research, this is not correct. This collection is located in the Yusuf Agha Library in Konya. The book Kitab al-Ba is the third in the collection. It is highly probable that this collection was written between 602 AH and 617 AH, and most of its treatises were written in the city of Malatya. The collection contains a total of 11 treatises: Kitab Fadl Shahadat al-Tawhid, Bab min al-Tanazzulat al-Mawsiliyya, Kitab al-Ba, Kitab al-Khutba fi Kayfiyyat Tartib al-Alam wa-Shaklih, Hilyat al-Abdal, Kitab Taj al-Tarajim, Kitab Shawahid al-Haqq fi al-Qalb, Ash'ar, Jawab Su'al Ibn Sawdakin, Kitab al-Jalala, Kitab al-Thamania wa-al-Thalathin wa-Huwa Kitab al-Azal.
o This is the same collection that led the Ibn Arabi Society to collect Sheikh Akbar's manuscripts. This collection was stolen, and then in 2000, some of the treatises from this collection, including Jawab Su'al Ibn Sawdakin, Kitab al-Ba, Kitab al-Khutba, and Hilyat al-Abdal, were found being auctioned in London. Upon receiving this information, they were returned to their original library. The remaining treatises are still available in microfilm.
o As far as Kitab al-Ba is concerned, the text is written with diacritical marks. It is clear from the beginning of the manuscript that attention has been paid to punctuation marks, although this practice does not continue as consistently later on. There are 17 lines on a page, the words are easily readable, and the diacritical marks have made it even easier. There are no signs of collation in the margins anywhere in the entire manuscript, but at the end of the treatise, this phrase is written: "Quubila bi-al-asl fa-sahh wa-al-hamdulillah." This phrase was compared and corrected. Perhaps this manuscript was copied so carefully that there were no mistakes in it. This phrase also highlights that this is not the original manuscript of this treatise, as there would be many other pieces of evidence on the original manuscript. After research, it has come to light that this presents the text copied from Sheikh Akbar's first manuscript, because evidence from some other manuscripts has proven that Sheikh also made amendments to the text of Kitab al-Ba, and those amendments are also present before us today in the form of various manuscripts.
o In our personal opinion, this is the best manuscript of this treatise.
2- Jarullah – 1080
Written in Maghrebi script, this is a very fine manuscript. The complete text of the manuscript is adorned with diacritical marks, bold ink is used for titles, and red ink is also used in some places. On page number 15 of this collection, this phrase is written: that this treatise was compared with the author's original manuscript and was read in front of the author, and then the text of the manuscript was corrected as much as possible.
Kitab al-Ba starts from page number 53 and ends on page number 61. The last page of the manuscript is missing, so it is not known when it was copied. But from this single reference in the collection, it is clear that the entire collection was written and read in front of Sheikh Akbar. We found this to be the best manuscript of this treatise.
In its present state, this manuscript contains the following books and treatises of Sheikh Akbar: Kitab al-Azama, Kitab al-Sha'n, Insha' al-Dawa'ir (incomplete), Kitab al-Azal, Kitab al-Jalala, and Kitab al-Ba (incomplete).
3- Veliyuddin Manuscript – 51
Located in the Bayezid Library in Istanbul, this collection is a precious and rare collection of Sheikh Akbar's books and treatises. One of its features is that the scribe – Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Muthbit – copied it in Jerusalem in the middle of the eighth Hijri century, keeping Sheikh Akbar's original manuscripts in front of him. The complete collection consists of 17 books and treatises. The writing is in Naskh script, although the writing is not very good, but the scribe has shown excellence in copying, as the collection is largely free from spelling and writing errors. There are 20 lines on a page. There are signs of collation scattered on every page of the manuscript. Kitab al-Ba starts from page 125 and ends on page 131. At the end of the book, this phrase is present: Katabahu Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Muthbit bi-Bayt al-Maqdis fi sanat 762 min khat manshi'ih Ibn al-Arabi rahimahu Allah, wa-hasbi Allah wa-kafa. Faraghtuhu qira'atan muqabalan bi-aslih al-muktatab bi-khatt al-musannif fa-sahh in sha' Allah. In which the scribe's name is Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Muthbit, the date of copying is 762 AH, and the place of copying is Jerusalem. In our opinion, this is the best manuscript of this treatise, and its text is quite similar to the Yusuf Agha manuscript.
The glory of the Veliyuddin Library, this collection is one of the most authentic collections of Sheikh Akbar, which is not only of historical importance, but the samā'āt (hearings) present in it have also been very helpful in learning about his life. Mrs. Jane Clark and Dennis McAuley highlighted the importance of this collection in a paper in 2006, in which every aspect of it was discussed in detail. They write:
“This collection is of great importance for many reasons. One is that it presents many books and treatises of Sheikh Akbar copied from the original manuscript. And its scribe is the same person who copied it in Jerusalem in the middle of the eighth century. Secondly, this manuscript tells the story of the promotion and development of Sheikh Akbar's sciences or the Akbari tradition, how his sciences began to become common after his death. How the scribe arranged this manuscript. Thirdly, many of the footnotes in this manuscript also confirm when and where the original treatise was written. This information also describes Sheikh Akbar's life. Then, from several samā'āt, it is known which people were present with him in which place, who had the privilege of reading and listening to these books or treatises in front of him. Uthman Ismail Yahya and Mrs. Claudia Addas have proven Sheikh Akbar's presence in different places from this very manuscript.” For more details, read this article:
4- Istanbul University – 4408
On page 77 of the manuscript, its date of writing, Dhu al-Hijjah 748 AH, is recorded. This is an excellent manuscript of this book, which was copied from a manuscript written by Sheikh Akbar himself, and that original manuscript was given by Sheikh to Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Sawdakin? in 620 AH. At the end of the manuscript, this phrase is recorded: Katabahu manshi'uhu bi-khatti yadihi li-sahibihi Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn... fi Dhi al-Qa'dah sanat ishrin wa-sittami'ah. Naqal Kitab al-Ba' wa-al-hamdulillah al-Ali al-A'la, wa-huwa hasbuna wa-kafa, min nuskha katabaha al-Sheikh qaddasa Allah sirrahu bi-khatti yadihi al-sharif. Harrarahu al-faqir Yusuf ibn Ibrahim fi Dhi al-Hijjah hujjat thaman wa-arba'in wa-sab'ami'ah.
Black and red ink has been used in the writing of the manuscript. The text of the book is written in black ink, while most of the poems are highlighted in red ink. A red line has been drawn under the full stop and important phrases after each sentence to distinguish them. The book is divided into subheadings, and these subheadings are written in red ink on the margins of each page, which makes it very easy to reach the topics discussed on that page. In the margins, the meanings of difficult words and the titles of the list are recorded by another hand in various places. In our opinion, this is an excellent manuscript
5- Fakhr al-Din Khurasani:
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