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6
INTRODUCTION.
| L | in my possession), 341 ff., 25 lines = 50 verses on a full page, clearly written in four columns. The prose prefaces are wanting. Dated the 7th of Rabíʿ al-Ákhir, 843 (17th of September, A.D. 1439). The text of the Mathnawi ends on f. 319. A later scribe has added the Wuṣlatnáma of Shaykh Bahlúl (see Sprenger's Oudh Catalogue, p. 370, N° 157). پ is distinguished from ب, چ from ج, and ذ is written for د after vowels. |
The two remaining MSS., designated C and D, contain the text of Books I and II respectively:
| C | (British Museum, Or. 6438), 114 ff., 18 lines = 18 verses on a full page, written in fairly legible naskhí, with frequent omission of diacritical points. Undated, but must be early 14th century, if it does not belong to the 13th. پ is not, as a rule, distinguished from ب, nor چ from ج, and the post-vocalic ذ is often marked. The unique character of this MS. of Book I will be illustrated below. Its pagination is in some disorder. The following table, in which the first column refers to my edition, shows how the text of C should be re-arranged, and also what lacunae occur in it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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