It is the finest and most carefully executed of all the witnesses; errors are few, omissions are rare, and it was compared with authoritative exemplars, as is stated both at the end of the volume and within its margins.
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The fourth manuscript, siglum (J): I received a microfilm of this copy from Dār al-Kutub in Cairo, where it is catalogued in the Egyptian National Library under no. 4155 (Sufism). Its date is unknown and the scribe is unnamed, yet its appearance suggests a relatively late transcription. It contains 270 folios—540 pages—in medium format, each page comprising 23 lines. The script is large, handsome, and clear; mistakes and omissions are few, and the copy was likewise collated.
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The fifth manuscript, siglum (D): I also obtained a microfilm from the Egyptian National Library in Cairo, catalogue no. 2540 (Sufism and Ethics). The scribe and date are not indicated, but the hand appears modern, like that of the preceding witness. It consists of 240 folios—480 pages—in medium format, each page holding 23 lines. The script is of medium size, very neat and clear, and the manuscript shows few errors or gaps; it, too, was collated. It often agrees with manuscript (J), and the discrepancies between them are so slight that I am inclined to think they were copied from the same exemplar.
- I also possess two additional copies that I consulted when the primary witnesses diverged, though I did not depend on them. The first—obtained from the Berlin Library in Germany—is incomplete: less than half of the latter portion survives, while its opening half and part of its conclusion are missing. It appears to have been copied around 800 AH and is kept in the Berlin Library under no. 2086.