Dala'il al-Khayrat [Guide des bonnes actions] [دلائل الخيرات] - Manuscrit enluminé complet

Dala'il al-Khayrat [دلائل الخيرات] - Illuminated manuscript, n.d. (ca 1820-1850), 12° (10x15,5cm), 156 p., bound.
Illuminated Ottoman Dala'il al-Khayrat manuscript written on parchment paper in black and red ink, margins ruled in black (5,2x9,3cm) enhanced in gilt, some including illuminated gilt floral headings, text entirely in naskh script on 13 lines per page with gilt and polychrome florets between verses.
Two superb title-pages and two outstanding full-page illuminated miniature paintings enhanced in gilt depicting panoramic views of Mecca and Medina. The volume begins with the ninety-nine names of God on five pages written in red and black ink in checkerboard patterns, and then a collection of over one hundred names of Muhammad on nine pages.
Contemporary full dark red roan binding with a flap, smooth spine ruled in gilt, elaborately decorated boards triple-ruled in gilt, central gilt frame with lozenges and dotted lines in gilt, green paper pastedowns. Binding very skilfully restored.
A very fine copy produced in the 19th century, at the prime of Turkish calligraphy.
Moroccan Shadhili scholar Muhammad al-Jazuli is famously known for having written the Dala'il al-Khayrat (ca. 1404-1465), popular and most universally acclaimed collection of litanies of peace and blessings upon Muhammad, which was prompted by a revelation: « According to the legend, he was trying to draw water from a well to perform his ritual ablutions. A mysterious little girl (sabiyya) appeared and spat into a well which miraculously overflowed with water. Al-Jazuli immediately asked her how she was able to reach such a high spiritual station, to which she replied that it was due to the large number of prayers for the Prophet that she used to recite. The saint then vowed to write a breviary of prayers to bless the Prophet, which became the Dala'il al-Khayrat. » (Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino, Fès et sainteté, de la fondation à l'avènement du Protectorat).
The text written in Morocco quickly gained popularity throughout the Islamic world, circulating from East to West. This collection of prayers (salawat), first major book in Islamic history, became one of the most copied religious texts in Sunni Islam after the Qur'an.
As indicated in a bibliographic note left by its owner, this copy was acquired in Constantinople on April 10 1927.
Provenance: library stamp of Sheykh Evliyazade Ismail Hakki, famous nakshbandi cheikh from Kütahya, and poet, who died in 1865.
We would like to thank Mrs Nathalie Clayer, researcher at the Centre d'études turques, ottomanes, balkaniques et centrasiatiques (CETOBAC), for her kind assistance in the writing of this description.