al-mizan al-kubra, İllustrated Arabic manuscript on İslamic jurisprudence by Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565)

Rare copy with SİX illustrations in gold and colors. Naskhi fine script, dated 1024 AH. (1615 AD.), contemporary fine classic Ottoman binding tooled in gold, with flap. This is a copy of a work by one of the most important and prolific scholars of the Ottoman period in Egypt. The Mizan al-Kubra of 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad al-Sha'rani is a treatise on the four Sunni schools, and argues that their authority comes from the same source. As the title the 'Great Balance' suggests, al-Sha'rani was a moderate in all his views and in many of his works sought to reconcile differences among religious and social groups. He expounded moderate forms of Sufism that did not contradict the Shar'ia, condemned scholars who confused the population with hair-splitting legal and theological arguments and even wrote a treatise advising scholars and Sufis how to deal effectively with the military elite. (not: Sotheby's copy - İslamic sale 1 April 2009 - which contains seven illustrations) The present work contains SİX diagrams in a late Mamluk/early Ottoman style on the following subjects: 1. A geometric chain containing the words: Revelation, the Throne, the Chair, the Pen, the Tablet, Tablets, Gabriel, the Prophet Muhammad, the Companions, the Imams, the Followers. 2. A tree with the big branches representing the founders of the madhahib, and the small branches representing the followers. 3. A stylised flower with names of the eighteen sects which are shown stemming from the 'ayn al-Shar'ia, and a triangular fishing net. 4. The position of the four founders (Imams) in relation to the balance of the Day of Judgement. 5. The position of the four Imams in relation to their followers who had chosen the straight path to Paradise without falling into Hell. 6. The paths of the eight Imams leading to the gates of Paradise.