In the spring of 2017, the Islamic Art Department, within The Metropolitan Museum of Art (TMMA), acquired an Islamic prayer book, the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt by Muḥammad bin Sulaymān al-Jazūlī. This paper In the spring of 2017, the Islamic Art Department, within The Metropolitan Museum of Art (TMMA), acquired an Islamic prayer book, the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt by Muḥammad bin Sulaymān al-Jazūlī. This paper discusses the findings of a technical study undertaken in the museum’s Sherman Fairchild Center for the Conservation of Works of Art on Paper, focusing on the materials and techniques of one manuscript acquisition specifically, MMA 2017.301. The nature, properties, and characteristics of the text block paper, fiber and pigment identification, chemical compositions, condition assessment, and inherent deterioration mechanisms within the palette are described. The colophon at the end of the manuscript mentions a patron, Sīdī Aḥmad b. Dirham al-Mālikī and identifies its calligrapher as Muḥammad bin Aḥmad bin ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān al-Riyāḥī and confirms its creation date as AH 1035/1625–1626 AD.

The vast project to reconstruct a history and geography of the spread of the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt necessarily involves looking into the beginnings of the prayerbook’s manuscript transmission. Composed i The vast project to reconstruct a history and geography of the spread of the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt necessarily involves looking into the beginnings of the prayerbook’s manuscript transmission. Composed in Morocco before 869/1465, the prayerbook was already known in the Eastern Maghreb from the mid-11th/17th century. It then reached Turkey and the rest of the Mashriq. After that it found its way to Central, South and Southeast Asia. Returning to the core of the book’s diffusion, this article questions the existence of an autograph copy of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt. How was the manuscript tradition of one of the most copied religious books in pre-modern times established? This article also poses essential questions about the work of the actors (copyists, illuminators) responsible for the diffusion of the book in its early days.

Recent discoveries and overlooked documents help us to understand the spread of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt in a region stretching from the Tatar lands to the Tarim Basin, passing Bukhara and Kokand along Recent discoveries and overlooked documents help us to understand the spread of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt in a region stretching from the Tatar lands to the Tarim Basin, passing Bukhara and Kokand along the way. This paper by no means aims to provide a historical survey of al-Jazūlī’s prayer book in Central Asia. Rather, I introduce some leads for research on the basis of several manuscripts. A first issue is that of chronology and geography: terminus a quo, terminus ad quem, and the geographical extent of the book’s production and circulation should be revised. A second question regards the circuits of circulation: manuscript designs and illustrations reveal influences from various regions and an evolution in uses. A third lead consists in investigating the education: Sufi training and Qurʾanic institutions such as Dalāʾil-khānas played an important role, while Persian interlinear translations, reading notes in Chaghatay Turkish, and commentaries (sharḥs) suggest a complex reception process.

Das Layout (oder Mise-en-page) in arabischen Manuskripten ist ein Themenfeld, das trotz seiner hohen Bedeutung für die arabische Manuskriptkultur bislang nur wenig Beachtung gefunden hat. Schriftlich Das Layout (oder Mise-en-page) in arabischen Manuskripten ist ein Themenfeld, das trotz seiner hohen Bedeutung für die arabische Manuskriptkultur bislang nur wenig Beachtung gefunden hat. Schriftlich tradiertes Wissen wird durch das Layout organisiert und strukturiert. Dadurch erfüllt es wichtige Funktionen für die Rezeption der Manuskripte in verschiedenen Gebrauchszusammenhängen. Neben formalen Aspekten wie der Nutzung des Schriftraums oder dem Aussehen der Zeichen selbst umfasst dieser Gegenstandsbereich auch die Frage nach der Funktion verschiedener Layout-Komponenten. Es wird darüber hinaus untersucht, welche Faktoren die Gestaltungsweise von Manuskripten bestimmen, beeinflussen und verändern.
Die vorliegende Arbeit geht diesen Fragestellungen anhand der Layouts von Abschriften ausgewählter religiöser Texte nach. Diese liegen nicht nur in großer Zahl vor, sondern bieten sich als Untersuchungsgegenstände besonders durch ihre Layout-Vielfalt an. Frederike-Wiebke Daub deckt Entwicklungs- und Standardisierungsprozesse im Layout der Abschriften dieser Texte auf und geht gezielt der Frage nach, inwieweit die Parameter Entstehungszeit und -ort, Textart, Inhalt und Gebrauchskontext das visuelle Erscheinungsbild der Manuskripte beeinflusst haben. Zahlreiche Bildbeispiele veranschaulichen ihre Ausführungen.

Few texts are more ubiquitous in manuscript collections and libraries throughout the Sunni world than Muḥammad b. Sulaymān al-Jazūlī’s (d. 870/1465) Dalāʾil al-khayrāt wa-shawāriq al-anwār fī dhikr al Few texts are more ubiquitous in manuscript collections and libraries throughout the Sunni world than Muḥammad b. Sulaymān al-Jazūlī’s (d. 870/1465) Dalāʾil al-khayrāt wa-shawāriq al-anwār fī dhikr al-ṣalāt ʿalā al-Nabī al-mukhtār (Proofs of Good Deeds and Brilliant Burst of Light in the Remembrance of Blessings on the Chosen Prophet). The exact date of the work is unclear; however, studies have shown that al-Jazūlī started compiling the Dalāʾil and recruiting disciples either in the 1430s or, more likely, in the 1450s. To this end, al-Jazūlī drew on renowned ḥadīth collections and devotional texts and prayers (ṣalawāt). Over the following centuries, illustrations of the Rawḍat al-Mubārak (Blessed Garden) and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, for which the work is known, were added to manuscript copies of the Dalāʾil. These illustrations have become the most visible element of the work in scholarly and popular publications alike.

Illustrated and illuminated manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt from Southeast Asia are an invaluable resource for our understanding of the painting tradition of this region. The many copies now kep Illustrated and illuminated manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt from Southeast Asia are an invaluable resource for our understanding of the painting tradition of this region. The many copies now kept in various institutions attest to its popularity, while the lavish treatment often given to manuscripts indicates the high regard local communities had for this text. The types of images featured are similar to those from other parts of the Islamic world, yet these images, as well as the decorative illumination, also reflect local artistic styles. This paper examines a selection of Southeast Asian manuscripts of the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, situating them both within the broader context of manuscript production and usage, and the pietistic landscape of the region.

Copies of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt (Proofs of Good Deeds) by the Moroccan Sufi saint Muḥammad b. Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 870/1465) were in high demand in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire Copies of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt (Proofs of Good Deeds) by the Moroccan Sufi saint Muḥammad b. Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 870/1465) were in high demand in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire. This required producing manuscripts in large numbers and, later, printing the text. These mostly lithographic copies and corpora of the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, when combined with references to biographical dictionaries, inheritance records, inventories, library catalogues, and endowment deeds, reveal a great deal of information about the public and private prevalence of the text, within and beyond the empire. The Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt appealed to many individuals, from Ottoman sultans to royal women, and from madrasa students to members of the learned class. Its copies were endowed to mosques and libraries, held in different book collections of the Topkapi palace, and were available from booksellers. Be it silently or aloud, the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt could be read in private homes and in mosques from Istanbul to Medina, a feature of pious soundscapes across the empire.

The illustrations of Medina and Mecca in al-Ǧazūlī’s prayer book Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt have drawn the attention of many scholars, who have come up with different interpretations. In the present article, The illustrations of Medina and Mecca in al-Ǧazūlī’s prayer book Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt have drawn the attention of many scholars, who have come up with different interpretations. In the present article, a subgroup within the Maghribī manuscripts of that text is defined for the first time: luxury manuscripts that date from the 11–12th/17–18th centuries and that were mostly produced for important owners, certainly in Morocco, possibly in other parts of the Magrib. The manuscripts in this subgroup have an illustrated and illuminated addition that physically precedes the text of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, but that does not belong to the text of the prayer book. In the present article that addition is for the first time identified as such and described. A small corpus has been assembled and, by way of example, the article contains a detailed description of two manuscripts belonging to that newly defined subgroup: MS Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 6983, and MS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Or. oct. 240.

This article discusses the career of Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 869/1465), his compilation of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, and the place of this work in Jazūlite Sufism. The teachings of the Jazūliyya This article discusses the career of Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 869/1465), his compilation of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, and the place of this work in Jazūlite Sufism. The teachings of the Jazūliyya Sufi order emphasized intense spiritual devotion to the Prophet Muḥammad as a means of access to the Divine. As a manual of prayers and invocations on behalf of the Prophet, Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt became one of the most popular works of Islamic devotional literature. This widespread popularity was partly due to the Jazūliyya’s doctrinal connections with the Qādiriyya and Shādhiliyya Sufi orders. In Jazūliyya Sufi practice, the recitation of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt and the prayers and litanies of the order were used to instill a “Muḥammadan” consciousness in the mind of the disciple. This higher consciousness was meant to serve as a compass of spiritual guidance for the “true seeker of God” (al-murīd al-ṣādiq), who aspired to the highest levels of Sufi knowledge.

This article discusses The Met’s unpublished Dalāʾil al-khayrāt—2017.301—(MS New York, TMMA 2017.301), together with a group of comparable manuscripts. The earliest known dated manuscript within the c This article discusses The Met’s unpublished Dalāʾil al-khayrāt—2017.301—(MS New York, TMMA 2017.301), together with a group of comparable manuscripts. The earliest known dated manuscript within the corpus, it introduces several iconographic elements that are new to the Dalāʾil, and which compare with the traditions developing in the Mashriq and the Ottoman world in particular. The article discusses Dalāʾil production in seventeenth-century North Africa and its development in the Ottoman provinces, Tunisia, and/or Algeria. The manuscripts illustrate how an Ottoman visual apparatus—among which the theme of the holy sanctuaries at Mecca and Medina, appearing for the first time in MS New York, TMMA 2017.301—is established for Muhammadan devotion in Maghribī Dalāʾils. The manuscripts belong to the broader historic, social, and artistic contexts of Ottoman North Africa. Our analysis captures the complex dynamics of Ottomanization of the North African provinces of the Ottoman Empire, remaining strongly rooted in their local traditions, while engaging with Ottoman visual idioms.

In the Maghreb and the Mamluk sultanate during the 15th century, the production of books that encouraged devotion to the Prophet Muhammad—both commentaries on existing texts and new works—increased. T In the Maghreb and the Mamluk sultanate during the 15th century, the production of books that encouraged devotion to the Prophet Muhammad—both commentaries on existing texts and new works—increased. This literary production was an expression of the intensification of the veneration of the Prophet that occurred under the influence of Sufis and the political elite. The Arabic devotional literature dedicated to the Prophet began to take shape during the 12th and 13th centuries with the rise of the great saintly sufi figures who laid claim to Prophetic descent and composed celebrated prayers and litanies of blessings upon the Prophet. This article looks at how such texts were critical in the diffusion to popular audiences of doctrinal concepts developed by sufis who placed the figure of the Prophet at the heart of spiritual life and the doctrine of sainthood (walāya). Specifically, it examines a well known but nevertheless understudied 15th-century Moroccan prayer book that is still in use today: Dala'il al-Khayrat (Proofs of Good Deeds). In studying this text, which is both emblematic and exceptional, my aim is to cast fresh light on the novel political, economic, and institutional conditions surrounding the international circulation of an Arabic literature of devotion to the Prophet during the early modern period, and to explore the religious and political implications of these circumstances for sufis of the time.

Muḥammad al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt is one of the most popular and widespread Islamic prayer books in the Sunni Islamic world; consequently, most library collections around the world have many copi Muḥammad al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt is one of the most popular and widespread Islamic prayer books in the Sunni Islamic world; consequently, most library collections around the world have many copies of this manuscript. Despite its prolific written form, it is its recitation that should probably be considered the most prominent expression of the text. This paper undertakes a careful analysis of the vocalization and orthoepic signs added to three vocalized copies of 18th-century Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt manuscripts from Mali, the Maghreb, and Turkey. It reveals that they each have distinct recitation styles with their own phonological and morphological features, distinct from the rules applied in Classical Arabic prose text. Moreover, it is shown that these recitation styles clearly draw upon the rules of local Quranic reading traditions, while not entirely assimilating to them, thus giving a distinct local orthoepic flavour to the manner in which this text was recited.

The collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM), in Kuala Lumpur, includes over forty manuscript copies of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, the compilation of prayers and blessings for the Prophet Muhamm The collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM), in Kuala Lumpur, includes over forty manuscript copies of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, the compilation of prayers and blessings for the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Imam al-Jazūlī. The copies derive from the original source of the manuscript, Morocco, to as far as Southeast Asia and China. Five were produced in different parts of the Malay world, namely Patani, Terengganu, Aceh, and Java. This article examines the royal Terengganu manuscript of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, revealing its distinctive bookmaking technique and arrangement of its contents, as well as its special decorative style. It aims to understand the cultural setting within which such manuscripts were produced. It also looks at the personification of scholarly figures from nineteenth-century Terengganu—in particular Sayyid Muḥammad ibn Zain al-ʿĀbidīn al-ʿAydarūs (Tok Ku Tuan Besar), who is possibly the scribe of this royal manuscript—and their relationship with scholars in Hijaz.

Nearly a century after it was written by the Moroccan Ṣūfī Sīdī b. Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 869/1465), the book of salutations [on the Prophet Muḥammad] entitled the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, widely circulate Nearly a century after it was written by the Moroccan Ṣūfī Sīdī b. Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 869/1465), the book of salutations [on the Prophet Muḥammad] entitled the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, widely circulated throughout the Muslim Sunnī world. It soon became one of the most copied religious books after the Qur'an. Most importantly, it appears that the Dalāʾil manuscripts share a great amount of material and decorative features with the Qur'an manuscripts. Indeed, examination of copies produced in the Muslim West from the tenth/sixteenth century to the twelfth/eighteenth century reveals that several material characteristics of the manuscripts and their ornamentation closely follow those of Qur'an manuscripts in North Africa. This ‘imitation’ certainly indicates the esteem in which the Dalāʾil was held and the extent to which it was viewed with religious deference in Islamic piety. This is reinforced by some examples of texts appended to a few surviving manuscripts, in which instructions to the reader on attaining ritual purity before reciting or holding the book are provided.