Dalālah [Dalā'il al-Khayrāt]

Hajj Ahmad al-Hilālī al-Kutubī, Istanbul, 1910

A beautiful late Ottoman-era devotional prayer book containing litanies and the names of God, as well as prayers about the Prophet Muhammad.

Description: Contemporary black cloth with a flap, covers extensively decorated in gilt. Marbled endpapers. Duodecimo: 18 × 14 cm; pp. 187, with two illustrations (one of which is the Kaaba in Mecca). Set in the calligraphic style of Hafız Osman, printed by Mahmud Bey Matbaası.

Provenance: A handwritten inscription on the last leaf: “In the year 1355 Hijri, during the summer in the village of Tur'anat [Tur'an – a village between Nazareth and Tiberias] I gifted it to my son, Kāmil Kāzim – may God be with him. Written by Muhammad ‘Alī, son of Mustafā Sādiq, in the year 1357 Hijri. I wrote these lines on a Thursday…”

Condition: Binding show wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Contents show signs of handling. Despite these blemishes, still a very good copy.