[Miscellany of texts in Arabic, Ottoman, and Avar]

This volume contains a compilation of Islamic religious texts in the Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, and Avar languages. The Avar texts are written in Arabic script. The text was copied for al-Amīr al-Muhājir Dāniyāl Sulṭān by Ghāzī Muhammad in 1270 AH/1853-4 CE. The contents of the volume are:. I. 2r-6r: [Wājibāt], a text in Arabic by Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī on religious obligations upon all Muslims. II. 8r-38r: [al-Kabā'ir al-manqūla min al-Zawājir], a text on the major sins translated from Arabic into 'Ajamiyya (i.e. Avar) by Ghāzī Muhammad al-Kamrāwī. III. 38v-54r: Bayān al-mukaffirāt al-madhkūra fi'l-zawājir[wa fī tadhhīb al-nufūs]: on means of expiation in Islamic law, translated into Avar from the two Arabic sources in question. IV. 55v-70r: Alfāẓ al-kufr: on utterances considered to connote unbelief in Islam, from Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī's Arabic doctrinal work al-I'lām fī qawāṭi' al-Islām. V. 71v-74v: Mubṭilat al-ṣalāt: on things that invalidate ritual prayer, in both Avar and Arabic. VI. 75r-77r: [Naẓm]: a didactic poem in Arabic by Ḥaydar Beg (?). VII. 78v-84v: Afat-i zünub: in Ottoman Turkish, on the baleful consequences of sin, excerpted from Tuhfetü'l-garib (?). VIII. 86v-89r: Ahlak-i zamime: on reprehensible traits of character, excerpted from a work in Ottoman Turkish by Kadızade. IX. 89v-91v: Afat-i küfür, on utterances considered to connote disbelief in Islam, in Ottoman Turkish, again from Kadızade. X. 92r-95r: On the importance of good traits of character, in Ottoman Turkish, from the Marifetname . XI. 95v-97v: On avoiding excessive preoccupation with worldly matters, in Ottoman Turkish, again from the Marifetname . XII. 98v-99v: A Sufi poem in Arabic, apparently composed in the name of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qādir (al-Jīlānī). XIII. 100r-101r: Sufi verse in Ottoman Turkish. XIV. 101v-128v: Text in Ottoman Turkish. XV. 129r-130r: Nazım, poem in Ottoman Turkish. XVI. 130r-131v: Text in Ottoman Turkish. XVII. 132v-168v: Text in Ottoman Turkish. Other contents include a brief passage in Ottoman Turkish on 'tasting sweetness in worship' on 78r, a passage from a seemingly Arabic work on Islamic doctrine on 85r-v, and an excerpt from a treatise on Quran recitation in Ottoman on 132r. There are notes and excerpts of poetry in all three languages between 168v and 172r. According to the calligraphed frontispiece, featuring highly distinctive ornamentation in pink and black, this volume was owned by Ayyūb Beg, the son of Yahya Beg, who was governor (wālī) of Avaria in the time of Imam Shāmil (died 1871 CE). As mentioned above, the text was copied by al-Amīr al-Muhājir Dāniyāl Sulṭān in 1270 AH/1853-4 CE, and several texts in the work also carry this date.

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For more information about the work, see Waley, M. I. (2019) 'The Avar Miscellany, a rare manuscript from the North Caucasus: (1) Historical Background'. The British Library Asian and African Studies Blog.