Recueil de prières shiites, ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn,... Lot n° 49

Signed Muhammad Hadi al-Isfahani, Iran, Qajar art, 19th century Small Arabic manuscript on paper, al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, 192 folios, 12 lines of text per page on a gold speckled background, in black and red ink, in naskh script, in gilt fillet frames, and marginal annotations. Double first page illuminated in the margins with gilt floral scrolls and text in reserve in gilt clouds. Frontispiece decorated with a sarlowh illuminated with a starred cartouche. Colophon signed Muhammad Hadi al-Isfahani. Bound in dark brown morocco with gilt decoration of a mandorla with pendants. 17.8 x 11.5 cm Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya is a text of supplications and prayers attributed to 'Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (d. 712), the great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The title means "the book of Sajjad", Sajjad being the epithet of Ali ibn Husayn, the fourth Imam. According to Shiite tradition, this collection was composed after the battle of Kerbelah (680) and describes aspects of the relationship between man and God. This text is also known by several other titles, and is of great importance in the Shiite tradition. The text on the first page is pasted on another sheet, the double first page is a bit damaged; some old paper restorations and a few stains, some pages damaged, colophon partially erased. Expert L.S.