al-Zāhiriyya (د), the Ahmad III manuscript (ث), and others.
- The first manuscript in the Egyptian National Library (م)
This is among the oldest and finest manuscripts of the book that we were able to obtain. It is held in the Egyptian National Library under number (231). Its scribe, al-Khalīl ibn Ahmad al-Kutubī, completed copying it in Cairo on Sunday, the fourth of Allah’s month of Muharram, 754 AH. At its end, he expressly states: “A meticulous collation against the author’s copy, bearing his handwriting, was completed on the blessed day of Wednesday, the sixth of Safar, in the year seven hundred and fifty-four.” Regrettably, however, the manuscript contains only the first volume, and approximately 62 folios are missing from its beginning. The eighth quire begins after eight folios, and each quire contains ten folios. This means that the first folio of this incomplete manuscript is fol. 63. We did, however, find two of these folios out of place: fols. 46–47 in the manuscript’s present arrangement, corresponding to 1/227–242 of this edition.
The manuscript begins with the author’s words in the section on the supplication in the Witr prayer: “… the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah …” (1/403). It ends with his words at the close of the section on the expedition to al-Ghāba: “For the revelation prescribing the fixed penalties affirmed it rather than abrogating it” (3/337).
The manuscript also has other lacunae.
It consists of 158 folios, with 25 lines on each page, and is written in a clear naskh script. Its margins contain additions and corrections resulting from collation, alongside a few annotations whose author is unknown.