Collection View
Tadhkirat al-ghāfilīn, 1885
Azalī chronicle of early Bābī history in Persian. Other copy: A Descriptive catalogue of the Oriental mss. belonging to the late E.G. Browne (1932), F. 63(9), copied by Mīrzā Muṣṭafá, completed 8 Ṣafar 1331 (17 January 1913). This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian, mostly attributed to the Bāb. This ms. is described in Dr. Saeed Khan's notes (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian, mostly attributed to the Bāb. This ms. is described in Dr. Saeed Khan's notes (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Prayers, dates not examined
Prayers, dates not examined
Prayers, dates not examined
Letters, dates not examined
Extract from Panj shaʼn on al-Aḥyá (āyāt, munājāt, khuṭbah, tafsīr, Fārsī), dates not examined
Extract from Panj shaʼn on al-Ajmal (āyāt, munājāt, khuṭbah, tafsīr, Fārsī), dates not examined
Extract from Panj shaʼn on al-Aḥad (āyāt, munājāt, khuṭbah, tafsīr, Fārsī), dates not examined
Extract from Panj shaʼn on al-Abhá (āyāt, munājāt, khuṭbah, tafsīr, Fārsī), dates not examined
Letters, dates not examined
Letters, dates not examined
Prayers, dates not examined
Prayers, dates not examined
Prayer, dates not examined
Prayers, dates not examined
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian, mainly early works by the Bāb. This ms. is described in Dr. Saeed Khan's notes (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian by Baháʾuʾlláh.
Collection of unidentified prose and poetry texts in Arabic and Persian.
Collection of texts in Arabic mainly attributed to the Bāb.
Tārīkh-i jadīd, 1878
History of the early years of the Bābī movement in Persian. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Kitāb al-Jazāʼ, 1916
Consists of chants in Arabic.
Munājāt, after 1856
Consists of 38 prayers in poetry and prose in Persian and Arabic; introduction on fol. Ib-2a.
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian addressed to the kings and important leaders of the world, known as "Tablets to the kings" or "Tablets to the rulers."
Lawḥ al-Raʼīs -- Letter to the Ottoman Prime Minister Mehmet Amin ʻAli Pasha, dates not examined
Lawḥ-i Raʼīs -- Letter to the Ottoman Prime Minister Mehmet Amin ʻAli Pasha, dates not examined
Tablet by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá in Persian and its response in Persian with quotes in Arabic. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian concerning the succession of Subḥ-i Azal to the Bāb. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Ṣaḥīfah fī sharḥ Duʻāʼ al-ghaybah, 1911
Commentary on the Duʻāʼ al-ghaybah in Arabic. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Three texts in Arabic and Persian, one unidentified. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Collection of prose, 1904
Collection of unidentified texts in Persian and Arabic.
Collection of one treatise in Persian and two letters in Arabic.
Collection of letters by Subḥ-i Azal in Arabic and Persian.
Collection of texts by Baháʾuʾlláh in Arabic and Persian.
A compilation consisting of three parts: a letter from ʻAbduʼl-Bahá to his Azalī aunt, ʻIzzīyah Khānum; her reply; and a homily and refutation by the Azalī writer Shaykh Aḥmad Rūḥī Kirmānī. In Persian. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Mīrzā Muṣṭafá's negative reply to a letter from Zayn al-Muqarrabīn inviting him to become a Bahai; in Persian. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Collection of texts by Subḥ-i Azal and Baháʾuʾlláh, and other unidentified texts in Arabic.
Collection of texts by Baháʾuʾlláh in Arabic and Persian.
Tablet, dates not examined
Tablet, dates not examined
Letters, dates not examined
Tablet, dates not examined
Tablet, dates not examined
Letters, dates not examined
Tablet, dates not examined
Collection of texts in Arabic and Persian, many unidentified. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Ṣaḥīfah makhzūnah, 1846
A collection of fourteen prayers intended for specific days, followed by two prayers by Ṣubḥ-i Azal (fol. 44a-47a); in Arabic.
Gulzār-i qudsī, after 1862
Azalī poetry in Persian; introduction on fol. Ib-5a. This ms. is described in the notes of Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Ṣaḥīfat al-marāyā, dates not examined
A collection of prayers in Arabic.
Suʼālāt sabʻah, 1920
Seven questions concerning contemporary social and political matters and their answers from a Shiʻite perspective; in Persian. The author is not the well-known supporter and son-in-law of Ṣubḥ-i Azal, since it was written about 18 years after the former's death.
Kitāb-i Rizvān, 1917
A work containing a mix of prose and poetry in imitation of Saʻdī's Gulistān; in Persian.
Kitāb-i Asmāʼ, dates not examined
Contains wāḥids 2-6; in Arabic.
Mustayqiẓ, 1857
A polemical work written in the 1850s to refute the claims of a rival contender for the leadership of the Bābī community; in Arabic.
Ṣad khaṭābah, 1917
An anti-Islamic polemic structured as a fictitious correspondence between two princes; in Persian. The author was a son-in-law of Subḥ-i Azal. Published (Los Angeles, 2006).
Suʼāl va javāb, 1904
Answers to fundamental theological questions concerning the religion of the followers of Subḥ-i Azal; in Persian.
Dalīl al-mutaḥayyirīn, 1920
A polemical work written in the form of question and answer in refutation of the Bahai Faith, in Persian and Arabic. The author was a son-in-law of Subḥ-i Azal. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Written in support of Mīrzā Muḥammad ʻAlī, half-brother of and rival to ʻAbduʼl-Bahá; in Arabic and Persian.
Tarjamah-i Tārīkh-i Bābīyah, 1915
A translation of a history of the Bābī movement into Persian from Russian; original not identified.
ʻIshqīyah, 1894
A Sufi commentary in Arabic on various excerpts of Persian poetry.
Nuqṭat al-kāf, 1909
History of the early years of the Bābī movement in Persian; this ms. was likely copied from Third Series no. 43. This ms. is incorrectly described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Sih maktūb, circa 1900-1921
An anti-Islamic polemic structured as a fictitious correspondence between two princes; in Persian. The author was a son-in-law of Subḥ-i Azal. Published (Essen, 2000).
Contains a commentary on Sūrat al-Baqarah and a devotional work known as the Kitāb al-Jazāʼ; both in Arabic.
Qayyūm al-asmāʼ, 1909
Treatise known as "Commentary on Sūrat Yūsuf," due to the verses of this sūrah mentioned at the beginning of most chapters; in Arabic.
Kitāb al-Nūr, 1889
Azalī religious text in Arabic styled similarly to the Qurʼān. Missing two sūrahs. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Nuqṭat al-kāf, 1851-1852
History of the early years of the Bābī movement in Persian; this ms. was likely copied from the original draft. This ms. is described in the notes by Dr. Saeed Khan (William McElwee Miller papers, C0385, box 4).
Sufi texts from the Nimatullahi order of Iran.
A versification of Ibn al-Ḥājib's Shāfiyah, also known as al-Wāfiyah fi naẓm ṣarf al-Shāfiyah.
Collection of prayers, dates not examined
Collection of prayers in Arabic attributed to the Bāb and Subḥ-i Azal.
Tārīkh-i jadīd, 1909
History of the early years of the Bābī movement in Persian.
- Scope and Contents
The collection consists of 47 bound volumes chiefly of Babi texts in Arabic and Persian composed or copied between 1846 and 1923 in a numbered series of 45 octavo and two quarto bound books. This collection was purchased by Miller from Saʻid Khan Kurdistani (Dr. Saeed Khan). See the notes in William McElwee Miller papers, 1931-1979, C0385, Box 4. One volume is a blue line copy of an original text; another volume is a lithograph. Some volumes contain multiple texts.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Miller, William McElwee
William McElwee Miller was a Presbyterian clergyman, a missionary in Iran from 1919 to 1962, and an author of several books on aspects of Islam and Persian culture.
- Acquisition:
Gift of William McElwee Miller (1892-1993).
- Custodial History
Formerly owned by Saʻid Khan Kurdistani (Dr. Saeed Khan).
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
Finding aid written in 2010.
- Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
- Credit this material:
William McElwee Miller Collection of Bābī Writings and Other Iranian Texts; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/n296wz21b
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Bibliography
The following works were consulted in identifying texts and authors: Āghā Buzurg al-Ṭihrānī, M. Al-Dharīʻah ilá Taṣānīf al-Shīʻah. Maṭbaʻat al-Ghará: Najaf, 1936. Browne, E. G. Catalogue and Description of 27 Bábí Manuscripts, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1892), p. 433-499, 637-710. Browne, E. G. Some Remarks on the Bábí Texts Edited by Baron Victor Rosen, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1892), p. 259-322. Browne, E. G. Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion. Cambridge University Press, 1918. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Mss. Belonging to the Late E.G. Browne. Ed. Reynold A. Nicholson. Cambridge University Press, 1932. Jānī, M. Kitab-i Nuqṭat al-Kāf. Ed. E. G. Browne. E. J. Brill: Leiden, 1910. McCants, W. and Milani, K. The History and Provenance of an Early Manuscript of the Nuqtat al-Kaf Dated 1268 (1851-1852), in Iranian Studies 37:3 (Sept. 2004), p. 431-449. McEoin, D. The Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History: A Survey. E. J. Brill: Leiden, 1992. Notes on Babi Manuscripts by Dr. Saeed Khan and Miscellaneous Correspondence; 1955-1982; William McElwee Miller Papers, Box 4, Folder 8; Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Princeton University Library. Link to Notes. Writings published on H-Bahai web site (accessed July 2, 2010). Writings published on Hurqalya Publications web site (accessed July 2, 2010). Writings published on The Religion of Bayan web site (accessed July 2, 2010).
- Subject Terms:
- Arabic language -- Inflection.
Babism.
Bahai faith.
Iran -- Politics and government. -- 19th century
Islam.
Sufism. - Genre Terms:
- Manuscripts, Arabic.
Manuscripts, Persian.
