From the Library of Ibn Ḥakam of Menorca to the Library of the ṭarīqa al-Sanūsiyya. About a 13 th -Century Manuscript Kept in Benghazi (Libya) (Manuscripta libica I)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2023.004Keywords:
al-Andalus, Minorca, Benghazi, libraries, manuscripts, Saʽīd b. Ḥakam, Muḥammad b. ʽAlī al-SanūsīAbstract
This paper aims at giving a concise presentation of a manuscript held in the library of the University of Benghazi (Libya), the Kitāb al-Ǧawhara fī nasab al-nabī ṣallā Allāh ʽalayhi wa-sallam wa-aṣḥābihi al-ʽašara by Abū ʽAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr b. ʽAbd Allāh b. Mūsà al-Anṣārī al-Barrī al-Tilimsānī (596/1200-681/1282). Although it has previously been mentioned in other publications, this manuscript did not draw attention of the scholars dedicated to the cultural history of al-Andalus. Due to the situation of the conservation institution, it turned out impossible to get or present modern reproductions. Still, since a photography has been given in a catalogue, the last folio proved very useful. It is clearly stating the origin of the work, which was copied in Minorca by its very author in the year 645/1248. Moreover, it was offered as a gift to Saʽīd b. Ḥakam al-Qurašī, who was the governor of the island, and who founded a library whose richness has been celebrated by medieval authors. In the current state of the documentation, this manuscript is the fifth to be explicitly linked to this library - the others being kept in the royal library of San Lorenzo del Escorial. After that, the history of the manuscript remains quite unclear. It resurfaced only in 19th century Libya, being then the property of Muḥammad b. ʽAlī al-Sanūsī, founder of the powerful ṭarīqa al-Sanūsiyya.
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