A SAFINA PRAYER BOOK
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper, 101ff., each folio with 8ll. of black ink naskh script, most folios with interlinear Persian translation in red nasta’liq script, chapter headings in burnished gold, prayer titles in red nasta’liq, with black diacritic marks and catchwords, set within gold and black rules, in a soft reddish brown morocco binding, the text panel 8.2cm x 4cm, the folio 11.7cm x 6.3cm.

Opening with the popular Quranic sura Yasin (36, juz’ 22) and ending with the Kumail prayer attributed to Imam 'Ali, the present manuscript is a reflection of universal human desires and fears. In fact, the knowledge herein contained touchingly tackles all sorts of human challenges from improvement to one’s standard of living, increase in faith, victory over enemies, avoidance of epilepsy, neutralisation of poisons, cure for toothache, relief from bladder stones, protection from the plague and cholera, to comfort against depression, and many ills in between.