Highlight of the Dean:-
1. The Dean had been the first academician with D.phil.in Arab Peninsula and in the Gulf from Landon (1931) .
2. The writer of the unique book:”Suleyihids and Fatimid Movement" explaining Social, cultural and political situation in Yemen as a unified country ( 268-626A.H).
3. The first scholar who advised Imam to establish a national public library.
4. Provided secure shelter to many Yemeni revolutionaries when was in Egypt ( 1962).
5. One among the mot Yemeni intellectuals whose influence on revolutionary men success considered as an important factors of the26th September Revolution against Imamh regime,1962.
AL-MUHAMMADIYAH AL-HAMDANIYAH COLLECTION
The Sayyidi Muhammad ‘Ali AL- Hamdani Collection
The Sayyidi Muhammad ‘Ali AL-Hamdani Collection is extremely important, not only because of the rare and precious manuscripts it contains but because it was formed over generations by scholars in a single distinguished family. The manuscripts, mostly in Arabic with others in Persian, Urdu and Gujarati, were collected and often copied, in beautiful calligraphic hands, by Professor AL-Hamdani’s ancestors, beginning in Yemen in the 18th century and continuing from father to son into the twentieth century, particularly in Surat, Gujarat, where Professor: Husain.F.AL-Hamdani was born. Through seals and stamps of ownership, as well as handwritten notations, it is possible to trace the provenance of many of these manuscripts, beginning with Shaykh ‘Ali ibn Sa’id and continuing through Ibrahim, his son, and Fayd Allah, his grandson, to Muhammad ‘Ali AL-Hamdani himself, in whose honour the collection has been named, and continuing through Fayd Allah, his son, to Professor: Husain, his grandson.
The Sayyidi Muhammad ‘Ali AL-Hamdani Collection has long been known to scholars, many of whom came to consult its treasures. Over the years, many important Ismaili texts have been published using manuscripts drawn from this Collection.
· Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani: Kitab Tanbih al-Hadi wa’l-Muhtadi (“The Book of Exhortation to the Rightful Guide and the Rightly Guided”).
· Qadi al-Nu‘man: al-Muntakhab al-Manzumah fi Fiqh Ahl al-Bayt (“A Versified Selection on the Jurisprudence of the Ahl al-Bayt”)
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
‘Uyun al-akhbar
Idris ‘Imad al-Din: ‘Uyun al-akhbar (“The Springs of History”)
A world history from the creation of the world to the time of the Yemenite da‘is, the seven-volume ‘Uyun al-akhbar is an irreplaceable source for Ismaili history. It was completed in 1438 CE .
The AL-Hamdani Collection contains five volumes in manuscript of this monumental work, all by different hands and from different periods. The present manuscript is volume six which deals with Qadi al-Nu‘man and his works, the Caliph and Imam al-Hakim, and other notable figures in the history of the Fatimid da‘wa. It was copied in the month of Shawwal 1309 AH (May 1892 CE) in a precise and elegant hand and bears many notes and marginalia, as well as the AL-Hamdani family seals.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
al-Muntakhab al-Manzumah fi Fiqh Ahl al-Bayt
Qadi al-Nu‘man: al-Muntakhab al-Manzumah fi Fiqh Ahl al-Bayt (“A
Versified Selection on the Jurisprudence of the Ahl al-Bayt”).
This is the first volume of a two-volume compendium in verse drawn from the legal writings of the celebrated Fatimid scholar and historian Qadi al-Nu‘man - simultaneously, Ismaili chief da‘i and Fatimid chief qadi - who died in Cairo on 27 March 974 CE (Jumada II 363 AH). The selection is based on Qadi al-Nu‘man’s monumental work entitled al-Idah (“The Elucidation”) said to have comprised 3,000 folios and to have dealt with all aspects of Ismaili jurisprudence. That work is now lost; surviving only in summaries and verse compilations like the present manuscript.
The manuscript at the DMHSR was copied in Rabi’ al-akhar 1321 AH/ 1903 CE by Fatimah Ziya’iya, the grandmother of Professor : Husain.F. AL-Hamdani (and herself the grand-daughter of the da‘i Husam al-Din), in a clear and elegant hand. It is one of several manuscripts in the AL-Hamdani Collection copied by a woman scribe.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Kanz al-walad
Ivanow described this work, by the second Yemenite da‘i who died in 1162 CE, as “one of the most secret esoteric works” of the Ismailis. It is also the work which contains the earliest known reference by an Ismaili author to the Rasa’il (“ Epistles”) of the Pure Brethren of Basra, the Ikhwan al-Safa’. Al-Hamidi bases his work on quotations from such earlier Ismaili authorities as al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din, al-Kirmani and the Qadi al-Nu‘man, to illustrate and support his mystical philosophical thought.
The AL-Hamdani manuscript described here is something of a curiosity. It is written from beginning to end in the Khojki script. This was the script developed first by Ismaili merchants to maintain their business records in confidence but later came to be widely used by Ismailis for religious texts; the underlying language might be Arabic, as in this case, or Gujarati or Urdu, or any of a number of other tongues. The scribe was Muhammad ‘Ali al-Hamdani, Professor AL-Hamdani’s grandfather, who copied the entire book between the years 1294 AH and 1304 AH (1877-1886 CE), so that he could carry it with him on his travels, and especially when he made the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Since non-Ismailis could not read the Khojki script, he could carry this fundamental treatise of Ismaili thought without fear of criticism or persecution. The manuscript is elegantly bound in dark red leather with a prayer inscribed in Arabic on the flyleaf.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Kitab al-Maqalid
One of the most precious manuscripts in the AL-Hamdani Collection is the “Book of Keys” by al-Sijistani, the chief da‘i of Rayy and successor to the great Abu Hatim al-Razi. It is precious because this is a unique manuscript; no other copy is known to exist. Though al-Sijistani’s life remains obscure (even the date of his death, around 1002 CE, is uncertain), his more than two dozen works are among the most important in the Ismaili tradition. “The Book of Keys” is a treatise on Ismaili theology and metaphysics in which each chapter is a “key” to unlock the treatment of divine mysteries. In true Ismaili fashion, God is considered throughout as the “creator-from-nothing,” or mubdi’.
Our copy has been written in a fine scribal hand and was completed in the month of Shawwal 1304 AH (1887 CE). In some ways, it is a manuscript “in progress”: the scribe left blank spaces on certain pages which he obviously intended to come back and fill, probably with headings in red ink. Our copy also shows the hazards of leaving precious books where children can get at them for there are mischievous scribbles, in a childish hand, on the flyleaf and elsewhere-another sign of the family nature of AL-Hamdani Collection!
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Kitab A’lam al-Nubuwwa
This book derives from a public debate held in the 10th century in the presence of the governor of Rayy, a once-important Iranian city near modern-day Tehran. The philosopher and physician Abu Bakr Zakariyya’ al-Razi denied prophecy; he taught that reason, common to all human beings, provided the only path to salvation. His opponent was the Ismaili da‘i of Rayy, the great Abu Hatim al-Razi, who died in 934 CE, and whose work constitutes one of the most significant early treatises of Ismaili theology. Abu Hatim argued that both philosophy and science were not products of human reason but had divine origins. He further upheld the universal validity of prophecy, not only within the Islamic tradition but also in the teachings of other faiths, including Zoroastrianism as well as Christianity and Judaism.
The present manuscript, one of two in the AL-Hamdani Collection, is beautifully written in a clear scholarly hand and probably dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. The title-page bears several seals and stamps of ownership of successive members of the AL-Hamdani family. Since the AL-Hamdani manuscripts were handed down from father to son over several generations, from the 18th century to the present, such ownership seals and stamps constitute a precious family history.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Kitab al-Yanabi‘
Abu Ya‘qub al-Sijistani: Kitab al-Yanabi‘ (“The Book of Springs”).
The Book of Springs is a major early work by the Iranian da‘i Abu Ya‘qub al-Sijistani, who died sometime between 996 and 1002 CE; according to some reports, he was executed by the Saffarid governor of Khorasan. Known by the nickname Panbah danah or “Cotton-seed,” he succeeded Abu Hatim al-Razi as head of the da‘wa in Rayy and later became da‘i of the entire province of Khorasan in northeast Iran. He wrote more than twenty books. The present work is divided into 40 chapters called “springs,” beginning with God Himself, the spring of all being, and extending down to the human world and the realm of matter. It is one of the earliest, and most influential, works of Ismaili ta’wil, the inspired interpretation of existence.
The AL-Hamdani manuscript was one of the few known copies of this work until recently. Copied in 1306 AH, or around 1885 CE, it served as the basis of the edition which the great French scholar Henry Corbin edited and translated in 1961; another edition, based on manuscripts from Pakistan and Afghanistan, was edited later by Mustafa Ghalib. On the flyleaf of the manuscript, there is an ownership note “Sayyid Tahir al-Hamdani” in his hand and on the title-page further seals and statements of ownership, one of which reads “The AL-Muhammadiyah AL-Hamdaniyah Library in Surat.”
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Kitab al-Riyad
Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani: Kitab al-Riyad (The Book of ‘Gardens’)
This important philosophical work is by one of the most influential early Ismaili da‘is and authors. The AL-Hamdani manuscript is the oldest known copy of the work; it was copied in the year 765 AH, or 1364 CE. Unfortunately, we know very little about Kirmani. His name indicates that he came originally from Kirman; in another of his works, he remarks that he served as the da‘i of Imam al-Hakim in Iraq. He was involved on behalf of the Fatimid caliph-imam in the debate with the nascent Druze movement in Cairo and was active there sometime around the year 1020 CE. He was one of the first Ismaili thinkers to incorporate ancient Greek Neo-Platonic ideas into his system.
Da‘is didn’t always agree and in fact often debated ideas with one another. The ‘Book of Gardens’ is Kirmani’s critique of an earlier work by al-Sijistani, which was itself a critique of a treatise by Abu Hatim al-Razi, and Razi’s work was in its turn a refutation of a still earlier author, probably al-Nakhshabi!
The AL-Hamdani manuscript is one of two in the collection. It is beautifully and boldly written in very black ink on glazed paper; the paper is of such high quality that even the bookworms have managed to make holes only at the margins. Over the nearly 700 years since the book was copied, the pages have become disordered; in the process of repair and conservation which ALDAR will undertake, the precious volume will be put in proper order and the old marbled and leather binding will be restored.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Nahj al-Balagha
Hazrat ‘Ali: Nahj al-Balagha (“Sermons of Eloquence”)
The AL-Hamdani copy of the great compilation of sayings and discourses by Imam ‘Ali is unusual in that the scribe was “a pious woman who wrote it in the days of our Master Isma’il Badr al-Din the second.” The dates are given as between the years 1135 and 1150 AH. The calligraphy is bold and expressive. Like other manuscripts in the collection, it has been handed down from one generation to the next and below the colophon is the signature of Fayd Allah AL-Hamdani, dated 1922 CE. The manuscript has been much read and consulted over the years. It is included here because it is a good example of an old and treasured manuscript which will require conservation and repair; the binding is loose and the pages have suffered damage from worms, despite the aromatic leaves inserted at regular intervals. Many such precious manuscripts are in poor condition and it is one of the aims of ALDAR to restore them to their original condition, for the benefit of future generations.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Kitab Tanbih al-Hadi wa’l-Muhtadi
Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani: Kitab Tanbih al-Hadi wa’l-Muhtadi (“The Book of Exhortation to the Rightful Guide and the Rightly Guided”).
Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani was a leading 11th-century da‘i, a native of Kirman, and one of the greatest theologians in the Ismaili tradition. His masterpiece is the celebrated Rahat al-‘aql (“Tranquillity of Mind”), one of the most profound works of early Ismaili thought, which he wrote in the year 1020 CE. Al-Kirmani’s life is obscure; we know that he served as a da‘i of Imam al-Hakim in Iraq and in that capacity, travelled frequently back and forth between Baghdad and Basra. He was summoned to Cairo during the crisis surrounding the emergence of the Druze and defended the Imamate against Druze claims. The present work exhorts obedience to the law as well as to the Imam and offers specific guidance on a wide range of legal and ethical issues.
The AL-Hamdani manuscript was copied in the year 1202 AH, or around 1785 CE, in a graceful calligraphic hand, with full vocalisation of the Arabic text for the sake of clarity. Above the AL-Hamdani seal of ownership on the title-page is written the exclamation “Ya Kabikaj!” or “O Kabikaj!” This is a standard formula often written on manuscripts. “Kabikaj,” once thought to be a kind of genie who protects books, has been shown by Adam Gacek, formerly librarian at the DMHSR, to refer to a plant, a member of the mallow family, which was believed to have preservative powers.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’
Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa’ (The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity)
This manuscript contains the fourth part of the great philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia of the “Brethren of Purity” or Ikhwan al-Safa’, of Basra. The work was compiled in the tenth century by a group of scholars who remained long unidentified and shrouded in mystery. Through the research of the great scholar Samuel M. Stern, their identities were revealed and they themselves were shown to be closely linked with the early Ismaili movement and, most probably, Ismailis themselves (certainly, they were attacked as Ismailis by their critics). It was the stated purpose of the Brethren to bring about, in Stern’s words, “the reconciliation of philosophical and religious truth.” To that end, they arranged all the knowledge of their time in a series of 52 treatises (rasa’il) - to which a 53rd chapter is sometimes added by some Ismaili authors - which deal with astronomy and astrology, mathematics, psychology, logic, theology and philosophy; there is even a surprisingly advanced “ecological” chapter on what might be called “animal rights.” The work reveals an acquaintance with Greek thought in many of its formulations. It is also considered one of the early classics of Arabic literature because of the beauty and purity of its language. Despite its systematic character, its style has an appealing human quality; each chapter begins “Know, O brother!” (and often adds, “May God strengthen you!”). The authors evidently wished the work to read as the words of an Imam addressing a follower.
Our fourth volume, which was copied in Jumada al-Awwal 1126 AH, or 1892 CE, is missing the beginning pages but still contains almost 500 pages, written in an assertive Arabic calligraphy sprinkled with red dots throughout.
The Sayyidi Muhammad 'Ali AL-Hamdani Collection
Fihrist al-Kutub wa’l-Rasa’il
Ismail ibn ‘Abd al-Rasul al-Majdu‘: Fihrist al-Kutub wa’l-Rasa’il (“Catalogue of Books”)
Majdu‘ bore this nickname on account of his son Hibat Allah who had his nose cut off (majdu‘) in a conflict which arose after he challenged the da‘i of his time. Since his father had supported the son’s claims, he was saddled with the mocking name as well. His “catalogue” or Fihrist remains one of the most important sources for the description of Ismaili literature. It formed the basis of Ivanow’s pioneering Ismaili Literature: a Bibliographical Survey on which much modern scholarly work depends. As Ivanow explained in his preface, the catalogue (which he called “The Index of the Mutilated One”) is “the only real work” of its kind “in the whole of Ismaili literature.” Majdu‘, who died in 1770 CE, apparently compiled it as a guide for the religious education of a Bohra pupil.
The AL-Hamdani copy of this essential work was copied in 1310 AH/ 1893 CE in a beautiful scholarly hand. The volume is richly bound in crimson leather with gold stamped title. Like the other manuscripts in the collection, it bears the stamps, seals and signatures of AL-Hamdani family owners over the generations. It has been one of the most consulted manuscripts in the AL-Hamdani Collection and is still in demand by scholars.
