Description:

A BOOK ON HISTORY BY ABU AL-QASIM HAMZA BIN YUSUF AL-QURASHI AL-SAHMI AL-JURJANI
Dated Readings from 420 AH and 588 AH, Recorded by Prominent Historians and Sultan Saladin

 

Description:
This rare and historically rich manuscript is a chronicle attributed to the noted compiler Abu al-Qasim Hamza bin Yusuf al-Qurashi al-Sahmi al-Jurjani, a significant figure in early Islamic historiography. The manuscript is an invaluable witness to Islamic scholarly tradition, featuring documented reading sessions (samaʿ) by leading historians and political figures of the medieval Islamic world.

 

Of particular significance are the annotated reading entries:

 

Folio 163: A reading entry from the year 420 AH (1029 AD) in the handwriting of Ibn Saad al-Mafrokhi, famed for his work The Beauties of Isfahan (Mahasin Isfahan).

Folio 165 (verso): A listening record from late Dhul-Qa’dah 588 AH (1192 AD) in the handwriting of Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf Ibn Rafi’ Ibn Shaddad al-Asadi, the biographer of Sultan Saladin and author of al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya.

Folio 216: A direct record of reading and listening in Dhul-Hijjah 588 AH, noted in the presence of Sultan Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb) himself, penned by his historian and secretary Ibn Shaddad.

 

These authenticated marginalia and endorsements, particularly from Saladin’s court in Damascus, elevate this manuscript from a historical source to a document of extraordinary provenance.

 

Physical Features:

 

Script: Black ink with red headings

Paper: Samarkandi style, Qahawi tone

Format: Quarter Baghdadi pieces

Font: Dense and legible naskh script

Binding: Later restoration

Dimensions: 19.5 × 16 cm

 

Comparable Examples:

 

A chronicle with early samaʿ entries by al-Jurjani, auctioned at Bonhams, 2017 (Lot 42), realized £132,000 due to similar historical annotations.

A manuscript of al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya by Ibn Shaddad with marginalia from Saladin’s court, held at the British Library (Add. MS 23390), frequently referenced in Crusader-era historiography.

A 13th-century fragmentary historical manuscript featuring reading permissions sold at Sotheby’s, 2011, for £86,000.

Note:
This manuscript is a unique confluence of historical scholarship, political legacy, and manuscript transmission. The presence of direct records from Sultan Saladin’s court and figures like Ibn Shaddad and Ibn al-Mafrokhi offer insight into the intellectual elite and historiographical culture of the Ayyubid period. Ideal for collectors, institutions, or historians specializing in Islamic historiography, Crusader-era Near Eastern history, or the Ayyubid dynasty.

 bin Ibrahim al-Qurashi al-Sahmi al-Jurjani, on folio 163, a reading entry in the year 420, in the author’s handwriting by the favorite historian bin Saad al-Mafrokhi, author of the book The Beauties of Isfahan, and on the back of folio 165, a reading entry in the late Dhul-Qa’dah in the year 588 by the historian Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf. Ibn Rafi’ Ibn Shaddad Al-Asadi, in the handwriting of Sultan Saladin Yusuf Ibn Ayyub and on folio 216 Recording and listening to Sultan Saladin Al-Ayyubi by the historian Yusuf bin Rafi’ Ibn Shaddad wrote it on the beginning of Dhul-Hijjah in the year 588 in the handwriting of Sheikh Al-Musma’ Ibn Shaddad for Sultan Saladin Al-Ayyubi in the city of Damascus. Font type, copy paper, Qahawi, Samarkandi, quarter Baghdadi pieces, ink is black, and subject headings are in red 

 Length x Width: 19.5 x 16cm

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November 4, 2025 1:00 PM GMT
London, United Kingdom

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